Varghese was born and raised in Dallas, Texas, to parents who immigrated from Kerala, India. Her family returned to India when she was young, but moved back to the U.S. several years later. Her first language was Malayalam, and she learned English at the age of 4.[2]
In 1993, as part of a yearlong Episcopal internship program, Varghese undertook outreach work with mentally ill and homeless residents in Long Beach, California.[2]
In 1999, following her graduation from Union Theological Seminary, she was ordained as a deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles.[3] She was ordained as a priest on January 8, 2000.[citation needed] She returned to the Los Angeles Diocese, working as a chaplain at UCLA and at a church in west Los Angeles.[2] In late 2002, Varghese moved to New York City, where she was an Episcopal chaplain at Columbia University until May 2009.[2][3]
In 2009, Varghese was appointed to serve as pastor and priest-in-charge of St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery in New York City[2] and in 2012 became its first female rector. The Rt. Rev. Barbara Harris, the first woman bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion, preached at the installation.[4] As rector, Varghese pushed to update the building to ensure accessibility for wheelchair users.[5] After leaving St. Mark's, Varghese served as a priest for ministry and program coordination at Trinity Church in New York City.[1]
Varghese is a co-founder and director of Enfleshing Witness: Rewilding Otherwise Preaching.[9] This initiative, funded by the Lilly Endowment via St. Luke’s Church in Atlanta,[10] supports Black, Indigenous and otherwise racially minoritized preachers in developing their preaching practices.
In 2023, Varghese helped the Episcopal Diocese of New York develop a credit union that serves New Yorkers with a goal of expanding access to financial services for low-income households and others who may struggle to be welcomed by traditional banks.[11] Her support for the idea was driven by her experience with a credit union established by the Diocese of Los Angeles in the 1990s.[12]
Varghese is a widely recognized leader in the Episcopal Church. She was called “the future of our church” by the Rev. Kelly Brown Douglas, the canon theologian at the Washington National Cathedral and visiting professor at Harvard Divinity School.[13] Union Theological Seminary said in 2025 that "Varghese has become one of the most prominent religious voices for justice and inclusion in our time."[14]
Awards include:
Auburn Theological Seminary Lives of Commitment Award, 2019[15]
City & State Community Engagement Power 50, 2021[16]
Metropolitan College of New York, Doctor of Humane Letters, June 2019[17]
Personal life
Varghese came out as queer at the age of 17.[2] She has two children and is married to a woman.[3] Her brother is the comic Paul Varghese.
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