Navajoland postpones its first bishop election until June 2026
[Episcopal News Service] The Missionary Diocese of Navajoland said in a Dec. 15 statement that it is moving the election date of its first bishop from Jan. 3, 2026, to sometime in June.
On Nov. 10, the diocese announced a three-candidate slate:
- The Rev. Alyssa Stebbing, rector of St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, Austin, Diocese of Texas.
- The Rev. Leon Sampson, co-vicar of the Southeast Region, Missionary Diocese of Navajoland.
- The Rev. Cornelia Eaton, canon to the ordinary, Missionary Diocese of Navajoland.
In its latest announcement, the diocese stated that the three priests had visited the diocese earlier this month, “visiting, listening deeply, praying, and sharing meals with our Navajo people.”
It said, however, that “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.”
It also noted that the process of electing a bishop is new to Navajoland, which officially became a missionary diocese, rather than an Episcopal Church area mission, in June 2025.
The statement said this additional time would be used for both the diocese and the three nominees “to grow, learn, and strengthen our foundation through shared knowledge, lived stories, prayerful discernment, and truth spoken in love.”
This extension will also require a new date for a bishop’s consecration, which had been set for May 9, 2026, in Farmington, New Mexico.
