St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Bluff, Utah, is one of the churches that make up the Episcopal Church in Navajoland, which includes parts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Photo: St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church
[Episcopal News Service – Linthicum Heights, Maryland] The Episcopal Church welcomed its newest diocese on June 24 – the Missionary Diocese of Navajoland – though, as Navajo Episcopalians and church leaders noted, the elevation of Navajoland from an Episcopal mission formalizes a reality already felt for years in Navajo Nation communities.
“Navajoland was already living as a missionary diocese in spirit and practice,” GJ Gordy, an Executive Council member from Navajoland, said before the council voted to accept the missionary diocese’s new constitution. “This is not just a structural change. It is recognition of our readiness to lead ourselves.”
Executive Council, the church’s governing body between the triennial meetings of General Convention, is meeting June 23-35 in suburban Baltimore. Council’s vote was the final step in a process dating back at least to 2022, when General Convention sought to empower Navajo Episcopalians to plan for the future of the mission, covering a region that includes Navajo congregations in parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
That step responded to their call for self-determination after years of work toward sustainability and dreaming of someday calling their own bishop, which they now are preparing to do as a missionary diocese.
“This has been a long time coming,” the Rev. Cathlena Plummer said during Executive Council’s meeting in suburban Baltimore. “It’s been in the works for years and years and years.”
Plummer and other Navajo clergy and elders joined the meeting via Zoom to share their gratitude to the church for establishing the new missionary diocese. The Rev. Leon Sampson struggled to speak through tears as he thanked Executive Council.
“This is a wonderful journey,” Sampson said. “We thank you for allowing us to be a part of [the church] … to see us as we are, Episcopalians.”
GJ Gordy, an Executive Council member from Navajoland, speaks to the governing body June 24 before its vote to accept the new missionary diocese’s constitution. Photo: David Paulsen/Episcopal News Service
Navajoland was the name given to the area mission created by The Episcopal Church in 1977. Area missions’ bishops are appointed to the role by the House of Bishops rather than elected by a local convention. The Rt. Rev. Barry Beisner was the last bishop appointed to the area mission in this way. By becoming a missionary diocese, Navajoland’s members can elect their own bishop while continuing to receive financial and other support from the wider church.
In 2022, the 80th General Convention passed a resolution entrusting Navajoland “to establish its own rules and procedures for a process of discernment for the calling of a bishop that reflects the values, teachings, and traditions of the Diné.” Navajoland leaders worked on the plan with the church’s Standing Commission on Structure, Governance, Constitution and Canons, and in January 2024, a special convocation in Navajoland voted in favor of the request for missionary diocese status. Bishops and deputies then authorized the missionary diocese when they gathered in June 2024 at the 81st General Convention.
On June 7, Navajoland held its first diocesan convention and approved its new constitution. The preamble, written in English and the Diné language, incorporates Navajoland’s mission statement into a document that respects Navajo culture and spiritual practices.
“In the name of Jesus Christ, the Holy One, we set out to walk in harmony, seeking forgiveness and wholeness,” the preamble says. “Through compassion and service, Love binds us in relationship to all creation. In the Beauty Way all is restored again.”
One of the constitution’s articles says that the diocese will strive to adhere in its communications and decision-making to “the historic and sacred traditions of the Navajo people as well as the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church.”
In its June 24 session, Executive Council voted to accept the constitution with a round of applause.
“I am very grateful for this opportunity for all of us here at Navajoland to be present at Executive Council and witness this historic moment in the life of the church,” the Rev. Cornelia Eaton, Navajoland’s canon to the ordinary, said on Zoom. “I also want to acknowledge all the hard work that has been put into this over the last few years.”
Separately, the 2025-27 churchwide budget plan includes a three-year block grant of nearly $1.5 million to support Navajoland’s congregations and ministries. An additional $800,000 was budgeted over three years for the office and staff of the bishop appointed by the House of Bishops to serve Navajoland, though it is unclear how much money would support a new diocesan bishop. Gordy said a search committee has been appointed to begin the process of calling the missionary diocese’s first bishop.
The Rev. Paula Henson, a priest serving a Navajo congregation in Utah, was among those joining the meeting via Zoom to thank Executive Council.
“On this day, at this hour, at this second, we live our lives the way our people have lived long ago, by way of our Navajo ways, and we continue to thrive with that,” Henson said.
– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at dpaulsen@episcopalchurch.org.