Bishop Todd Ousley, formerly of Office of Pastoral Development, is Wyoming bishop provisional nominee

[Episcopal News Service] The standing committee of the Episcopal Church in Wyoming has nominated Bishop Todd Ousley, formerly head of the churchwide Office of Pastoral Development, to serve as the diocese’s bishop provisional as it navigates an ongoing leadership transition.

A special convention on Zoom is scheduled for March 2 to affirm the choice of Ousley as bishop provisional, a step that the standing committee said will “ensure continued leadership and support for the diocese during the discernment, search, and eventual consecration of a new bishop diocesan.”

The Rt. Rev. Todd Ousley is welcomed as the Episcopal Church’s new bishop for the Office of Pastoral Development in 2017 at the House of Bishops meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service

Ousley previously served as bishop coadjutor and bishop diocesan of the Saginaw-based Diocese of Eastern Michigan from 2006 until 2017, when he stepped down to lead the Office of Pastoral Development, a position on the presiding bishop’s staff. The office has several responsibilities, including assisting dioceses in bishop elections and consecrations, recruiting bishops provisional for dioceses in need of interim leadership and ensuring bishops received adequate pastoral support.

Ousley also initially served as intake officer for complaints against bishops under the church’s Title IV disciplinary process. In 2023, then-Presiding Bishop Michael Curry reassigned the role of intake officer to a newly created position, allowing Ousley to focus on his other responsibilities.

Curry and Ousley also were respondents in a recently concluded Title IV case. The ex-wife and two adult sons of former Rochester Bishop Prince Singh had accused Curry and Ousley of failing to promptly and adequately responding to their allegations of domestic abuse against Singh. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe, who took office Nov. 1, announced Dec. 30 that Curry and Ousley had agreed to write separate letters of apology to Singh’s family and that Ousley would complete training in the Title IV disciplinary canons.

Rowe previously had announced that Ousley would step down at the end of 2024 after “assisting me by transitioning the work he has done so faithfully for the last seven years.” The presiding bishop said he then would “assess the structure of the Office of Pastoral Development and plan for the future.”

If affirmed as bishop provisional of Wyoming, Ousley would follow the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Curry’s predecessor as presiding bishop, who has served Wyoming as a part-time assisting bishop since July 2024.

Wyoming’s last diocesan bishop, Paul-Gordon Chandler, was consecrated in February 2021. In March 2024, he agreed to a sentence of deposition in a Title IV disciplinary case against him, meaning he is no longer ordained in The Episcopal Church. The allegations were not detailed publicly, though a letter to the diocese from the chair of its standing committee cited “an alleged indiscretion with a member of our diocesan team.”

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.