[Episcopal News Service] The Rt. Rev. Bruce Caldwell, who served as bishop of Wyoming from 1997–2010, died on April 13. He was 77.
Caldwell, a 1978 graduate of General Theological Seminary, was rector of St. George’s Church, in Bismarck, North Dakota, when he was elected bishop.
Shortly after he became bishop, Caldwell was asked to preside at the funeral at St. Mark’s in Casper, Wyoming, of a young man who had served as an acolyte in the diocese and was active in its campus ministry – Matthew Shepard. Shepard was tortured and murdered near Laramie in 1998 in a hate crime because he was gay.
At an event that took place during the 2009 General Convention, Caldwell spoke in favor of “full inclusion for the LGBT community” in the life of The Episcopal Church, noting the impact Shepard’s funeral had on him.
After he retired, he served as the interim dean of St. Mark’s Cathedral, Minneapolis, Minnesota, as assisting bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of New York and as bishop provisional of the Diocese of Lexington.
His wife, the Rev. Brenda Caldwell, died in 2023. He is survived by daughters Kela and Morgan and granddaughter Lydia.
Final details of his funeral, which is expected to take place at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Minneapolis, are pending.