Navajoland postpones June 13 bishop election until sometime in the future

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church in Navajoland’s Standing Committee announced June 11 that it would, for a second time, postpone its bishop election to an unspecified date in the future.

“After prayerful consultation and discernment, the election has been postponed to a future date. This is a postponement of the election process, not a cancellation,” the Standing Committee said in the June 11 statement.

“Both nominees remain in the process and will continue to be considered when the election is reconvened,” they continued.

The Rev. Cornelia Eaton, the missionary diocese’s canon to the ordinary, and the Rev. Leon Sampson, co-vicar of the diocese’s southeast region, were scheduled to stand for election on June 13.

In its statement, the Standing Committee acknowledged that suspension of the Election Convention may come “as a surprise and raise questions,” and added that the diocese will still gather June 12-13 for worship, fellowship, prayer, conversation, and discernment.”

The 80th General Convention authorized the creation of the Missionary Diocese of Navajoland in June 2024,  and that process was completed a year later, when Executive Council voted to accept the new missionary diocese’s constitution.

“Navajoland was already living as a missionary diocese in spirit and practice,” GJ Gordy, an Executive Council member from Navajoland, said before the council’s vote. “This is not just a structural change. It is recognition of our readiness to lead ourselves.”

The Episcopal Church’s ministry on the 27,000-square-mile Navajo reservation dates back more than a century to medical missions established in Fort Defiance, Arizona; Farmington, New Mexico; and Bluff, Utah. 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. He was scheduled to retire this year.

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.

Missionary diocese status empowered Navajoland to adopt its own constitution and canons, in compliance with The Episcopal Church Constitution and Canons, and to hold an annual diocesan convention and elect a bishop, standing committee, and clergy and lay deputations to General Convention.

After bishops and deputies authorized the elevation of Navajoland to missionary-diocese status at the 80th General Convention, Navajoland followed up by holding its first diocesan convention in June 2025, where it approved its new constitution. Its 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.”

The church’s 2025-27 triennial budget includes $800,000 for the bishop in charge of Navajoland, as well as a $1.4 million block grant.

In November 2025, the diocese announced a slate of three candidates for bishop, including Eaton and Sampson, who were set to stand for election on Jan. 3, 2026. Both Eaton and Sampson had been serving as members of Navojoland’s Standing Committee but took a leave of absence after being named to the bishop slate.

Then, in mid-December, the diocese announced it was postponing its election until sometime in June. “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,” the diocese said.

A few days later, the third bishop candidate, the Rev. Alyssa Stebbing of the Diocese of Texas, announced she was withdrawing from consideration. “I hope that I can continue to support the Episcopal Church in Navajoland and walk with the people and their clergy, including the new bishop,” Stebbing said.

The Standing Committee said it would answer questions about the election process and next steps during the June 12-13 gathering and in future updates.

“The Episcopal Church in Navajoland remains committed to the election of its first Bishop Diocesan and to seeking God’s guidance for the future of our Diocese,” its statement said. “Please continue to pray for the nominees, the Standing Committee, our clergy and delegates, and all the people of Navajoland.”