DeDe Duncan-Probe, 61, the 11th Bishop of Central New York, was nominated by petition April 16 as the fifth and final candidate to become the next presiding bishop.
She joins the bishops announced by the nominating committee on April 2:
- Scott Barker, 60, Bishop of Nebraska
- Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez, 59, Bishop of Pennsylvania
- Sean Rowe, 49, Bishop of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Bishop Provisional of Western New York
- Robert Wright, 60, Bishop of Atlanta
Duncan-Probe was widely believed to be on the short list before the announcement of the first four candidates, which touched off a flurry of social media complaints about the all-male slate. In a statement on the diocesan website, she wrote: “Since last year I have prayed deeply, sought wise counsel, and participated in each stage of the search process, including the final discernment retreat which was held in mid-March. When my name was not included in the initial announcement on April 2, colleagues petitioned and I have been added to the slate as a nominee.” She added, “discernment is not linear.”
Her nomination tilts the slate further to the east, as Barker remains the only nominee who does not live in the Eastern time zone. Three of the five candidates are from New York, Pennsylvania, or both. Through a spokesperson, Duncan-Probe declined a request for an interview, as have the other candidates. Her nomination video and other information has been added to the General Convention Office website.
Duncan-Probe has led the Diocese of Central New York since her consecration in December 2016. She was ordained a priest in 2004 after a career in education and business, according to her biography on the diocesan website. She has been president of Province II since 2019, and is a member of the Presiding Bishop’s Council of Advice, and co-chair of the Task Force on Communion Across Difference. She has a master of divinity degree from General Theological Seminary, and a doctorate in theology from the Graduate Theological Foundation, completed at Oxford University. The second part of her last name is pronounced PRO-bee.
The Diocese of Central New York, one of six dioceses in the state, “comprises nearly 80 parishes and stretches from Canada in the north to Pennsylvania in the south and from Utica in the east to Elmira in the West,” the website says.
The successor to Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry will be elected this summer at General Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. The House of Bishops will vote in executive session on Wednesday, June 26, immediately after a morning Eucharist.
Assuming the bishops conclude their voting in a timely way, the House of Deputies will vote later in the day on whether to confirm the election. The canons are silent on what would happen if the deputies were to exercise their veto. In 2015, the deputies confirmed Curry’s election by vote of 800 to 12.
The new presiding bishop’s nine-year term begins November 1.
Kirk Petersen began reporting news for TLC as a freelancer in 2016, and was Associate Editor from 2019 to 2024, focusing especially on matters of governance in the Episcopal Church.
