Update: Navajoland Bishop Search

Missionary Diocese of Navajoland
By Navajoland Communications Office
December 15, 2025

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

We give thanks to God, Creator of all, for the unfolding journey before us.

In June 2025, the Executive Council approved our Constitution, the final step in our sacred journey to become a missionary diocese. This moment marked not an ending, but a beginning rooted in prayer, listening, and faithful courage. Today, we share an update as we continue forward on our bishop search journey.

Earlier this month, three bishop nominees visited Navajoland. They traveled among our congregations across the three regions, visiting, listening deeply, praying, and sharing meals with our Navajo people. This time together was holy work. It was relationship-building, story-sharing, and truth-telling within our communities and within the land itself.

The process we have undertaken is new for us, and it is also new for The Episcopal Church as a whole. As we walk this path, we are learning that it will take longer than we first imagined. We trust that the Holy Spirit works in God’s time. Creator knows our path, and places before us the learning processes needed for growth, wisdom, and grounding within Creation.

As our nominees walked with us within the four sacred mountains of the Navajo Nation, we recognized that our discernment among these three nominees must be extended by six months. This time is a gift, allowing us and our nominees to grow, learn, and strengthen our foundation through shared knowledge, lived stories, prayerful discernment, and truth spoken in love. We now expect to hold a bishop election in June 2026.

We ask you to continue walking with us. We are forging a path no one has walked before, faithfully stepping into a future shaped by the diverse leaders who walk with us today and by those who came before, each contributing to the journey and passing their wisdom to those who followed, by the Episcopal tradition we carry, and by the movement of the Holy Spirit. Your prayers, patience, and support sustain us as we continue this sacred work together.

May Creator continue to guide our steps.

Sincerely,
The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Church in Navajoland