He currently serves as the Vicar for all military Chapels (and U.S. State Department Embassies) in Europe and in Asia for the Archdiocese. Spencer was born in Sylacauga, Alabama, and graduated from Sylacauga High School in 1969. He was an altar boy and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He then attended Jacksonville State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in law enforcement. He also received a Master of Education degree in counseling from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. He earned Master of Divinity and Bachelor of Sacred Theology degrees from St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland, and two honorary Doctor of Letters degrees. His military education includes: Military Police Officer Basic and Advance Courses, Chaplain Officer Basic and Advance Courses, Command and General Staff Officer Course and Clinical Pastoral Education, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC. and selected to attend the Resident National War College, Class 2010. Spencer was commissioned an Army officer in 1973 and began serving active duty 1974. Following Military Police Officer Basic Course and Advance training, he was assigned as the first active duty Provost Marshal since 1954 to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. He served as commander of the Military Police Detachment at Fort McCoy until summer 1977, when he was assigned to serve with the 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Casey in South Korea. Inspired by Father Emil Kapaun, an Army chaplain who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, Spencer was released from active duty in 1978 to pursue his studies for the priesthood. He initially studied under the Order of Friars Minor of the Holy Name Province, but was later recruited for the Archdiocese of Baltimore by Archbishop William Donald Borders. In total, he has served in Korea, Bosnia, Egypt, Pentagon (during 9/11) and Germany in capacities to include Brigade and Division positions. He has deployed into Iraq on five occasions and also served two deployments in Afghanistan. Bishop Spencer retired from the US Armed Forces as a chaplain, colonel, in February 2014. On May 14, 1988, Spencer was ordained a priest by Archbishop Borders at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. His first assignment was as an associate pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Glyndon, for three years. In 1991, he was named director of the Monsignor Clare J. O'Dwyer Retreat House in Sparks, and also accessioned again into the Army Reserve as a battalion chaplain, serving with the 92nd Field Hospital in Baltimore and the Aviation Brigade of the Maryland Army National Guard.