04/07/2026
BISHOP PROVISIONAL
for the
EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF EASTERN OREGON
The Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon (EDEO) is seeking a Bishop Provisional. Having reached the age of mandatory retirement and extended his service for two years, our Bishop Diocesan, The Rt. Rev. Patrick Bell, is retiring in June 2026. As a diocese, now we are called to welcome the Holy Spirit into our discernment process and search for our next bishop.
As so well introduced on the EDEO website, we invite you to catch a glimpse of our context:
Follow the line of the Cascade Mountain range in Oregon north to south, and you have the western boundary of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon. From there, the 69,000-square-mile diocese is bounded by Washington state to the north with a small detour to include Klickitat County, Washington, by Idaho to the east, and Nevada and California to the south.
Rugged and wide open, with mountains and rangeland, high desert and pine forests, fruit orchards and wheat ranches, eastern Oregon lends its own character to the people who live there. The total population of the 18 Oregon counties and one Washington county that compose the diocese is about 552,000. There are more than 2,600 Episcopalians in the diocese’s 18 parishes. Diocesan headquarters are located at Ascension School Camp and Conference Center, in Cove, Oregon – the heart of the diocese.
Since the 1980s, some of our small, rural parishes have yoked with other denominations, primarily Evangelical Lutheran. Today, many of our parishes are blended with Lutherans and a few have multi-denominational services while maintaining Episcopal Church traditions. All our parishes, in some way, are in relationship with other churches, having joint services during Advent, Lent, Holy Week or in the summertime, coming together for book studies, picnics and dinners.
Due to our geography and our abundance of small communities, our parishes not only embrace ecumenism, but also community involvement. Beyond the food bank support and feeding the hungry call most churches answer, Eastern Oregon Episcopalians are in relationship with other groups focused on the arts and music, creation care, children and adults at risk of violence and neglect, and Indigenous justice, to name a few.
The Diocese has focused on intentionally re-imagining our relationships with our Indigenous brothers and sisters. The EDEO Truth and Conciliation Commission, an active ministry, in addition to “Caretakers of the Land” strengthen our partnership with those who have been traditionally overlooked.
Rural, remote and vast – our landscape pushes us to be creative in solving problems. We embrace “Ministry of the Baptized” that empowers all people to engage in ministry – both inside and outside the walls of the church. Relationships, across the hundreds of miles between parishes, as well as within our communities, are what best defines us. Faithful Innovation is our commission working with parishes to extend their reach of radical hospitality and storytelling; ways we share how the Spirit lives and moves in our lives.
The EDEO Commission on Ministry supports not only those discerning ordained ministry, but all ministers in the diocese, providing the necessary training required by The Episcopal Church as well as further education and experiences that help us grow as disciples of Christ. For almost 50 years, EDEO has hosted its own ordained ministry school, High Desert School for Ministry. While not currently active, this school comes online when needed to form priests and deacons to serve the diocese’s church communities.
Our most long-standing and vibrant ministry is Ascension School Camp and Conference Center. Known as a “thin place,” it is the center for Diocesan life together – our “cathedral” at the base of the wilderness in the rural Cove community. It is also home to the Diocesan office and staff. Ascension School’s mission is to be “A Place Apart to connect with God’s sacred mystery, celebrating the dignity, diversity and oneness of all creation.” The Center’s values align with the Diocese – human dignity, creation care, and spiritual formation. For over 100 years, we have offered summer camp for children and youth as our primary ministry, as well as retreat experiences for the Diocese. Kids from all denominations and kids who have no church experience come together for a week of discovering the Spirit through building relationships and having FUN! In more recent decades, we have become a year-round center for spiritual formation, an event and retreat facility for the public, a community center for the people Cove, and a full-service Outdoor School for rural students. Ascension has a robust scholarship program that creates an inclusive camp experience. Most recently, Ascension School completed a successful capital campaign which will add a camp and community pool to its offerings and help create sustainability by funding an endowment.
We seek a Bishop Provisional who will honor the frontier spirit of the people in Eastern Oregon while encouraging continued creative approaches to living into our Baptismal Covenant; supporting faith-based formation; collaboration with other parishes in the diocese and churches of other denominations; and helping us share our faith outside the walls of the church as we work for justice and peace.
EDEO Bishop Provisional At-a-Glance
Pastoral Leadership:
● Demonstrate leadership in proclaiming and teaching the Gospel;
● Provide care and guidance for the spiritual health of the Diocesan family;
● Lift up the centrality of common worship and sacramental life throughout the Diocese; and
● Assist in implementation of strategic and long-term planning for the Diocese.
Bishop’s Schedule:
● Commit the equivalent of two weeks or 80-100 hours each month - in-person or remote - to the mission and ministry of the EDEO;
● Of the above, be in residence one week each month at the EDEO offices at Ascension School in Cove to build relationships with and provide support for the EDEO and Ascension School staff;
● Make official Visitations to all churches in the diocese on a 12-month cycle. (Recognizing the geographic expanse of the diocese, it may prove helpful to make visits regionally, either visit multiple parishes per trip or invite multiple parishes to a regional visitation. This would cut down on travel and encourage relationship building across the diocese.); and
● Be on call to respond to such issues as arise from time to time, eg Title IV matters.
Diocesan Meetings:
● Diocesan Convention
● Standing Committee
● Diocesan Council; and
● Collegium, semi-annual in-person meetings and monthly on-line meetings.
Clergy:
● Provide robust programming for collegium;
● Perform ordinations; and
● Give adequate attention and care to Title IV matters.
Liaison to Province VIII and TEC:
● Maintain strong relationships with the dioceses of Province VIII.
● Participate regularly in the House of Bishops and General Convention.
Working Relationships:
● Work collaboratively with the Standing Committee, Diocesan Council, Diocesan Administrator, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Director of Ascension School and Ascension School staff.
If it is true that people support what they help create, we offer ourselves as partners in this holy journey. The Bishop Provisional will find an engaged and dedicated Standing Committee, Diocesan Council and Diocesan staff who want to see this Diocese continue to flourish. Thanks be to God!
