08/03/2026
07/30/2026
Beloved,
In recent weeks, words spoken in the name of Christianity by Pastor Sarah Lucas of Foundations for Nations Church in Riverton, Wyoming, have caused deep pain — among the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone people, in our congregations there, and throughout our diocese. I write because it is my responsibility to say clearly what our church believes and what I believe.
The wounds opened in recent days are not new. They are a part of an unfortunate and long history of colonization, broken promises, and the distortion of Christian faith to diminish Native peoples, cultures, languages, and spiritual traditions. Generations of Native children were told that to follow Jesus they must first stop being who God made them. Our own church was part of that history — in the boarding schools, and in the founding of congregations that came to this land believing Native ways had to be replaced rather than honored. We have acknowledged that history, and we are committed to the ongoing work of reconciliation.
In times of trouble, I turn to the scriptural witness. I am reminded again by the prophet Micah that what is required of me is to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Walking humbly means recognizing that God has always been at work in this land and through the people who inhabit and steward it. I do not believe the Creator of heaven and earth was ever absent from the people who have loved this land since time immemorial.
So let me say plainly what I believe. Every human being is made in the image of God and is worthy of dignity and honor. God's Spirit has always been at work in the world, long before the arrival of any church. To tell a people that their prayers are empty, and that centuries of their most sacred traditions and faithfulness have borne no fruit — is not the Gospel. It is not what the Episcopal Church teaches, and it is not what I believe. Pastor Lucas’ distortion of Christian teaching is the same repugnant perspective that led to attempts to annihilate Native language and Native children's names, all in service to an evil attempt to eradicate Native culture and replace it with majority culture. Because I follow Jesus, I reject any attempts to expect or require anyone to surrender their culture, language, or identity as a people. To do so is not Christian.
To the Native members of our congregations: you should never be asked to choose between who you are as Native people and who you are as followers of Jesus. I give thanks for the faithful ministries at St. David’s in Ft. Washakie and Our Father’s House in Ethete, where Native identity and Christian faith have been held together with courage and grace for generations. Your witness teaches the rest of us what Christ's love actually looks like. It does not erase what God has made, but honors it.
I know that words are not enough to repair broken trust, and I do not offer these words as if they were. I am ready to come to the Wind River Reservation, to listen to whoever is willing to speak with me, whenever that would be welcome. I will not presume to set the terms or the timing. Where we have caused harm, I want to hear it. Where trust has been broken, I want to help rebuild it, at whatever pace those who were harmed may set. I pray that together we may find a path forward in healing broken hearts and spirits.
Peace,
Todd
The Rt. Rev. Todd Ousley
Bishop Provisional
The Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming
episcopalwy.org
