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 22 parishes. Diocesan headquarters are located at Ascension School Camp and Conference Center, in Cove, Oregon – the heart of the diocese.

Created as a missionary district in 1907, EDEO became a diocese in 1980. But the Episcopal presence in eastern Oregon dates to the late 1800s. One circuit riding priest, the Rev. Reuben D. Nevius, especially left his mark. Nevius, also a botanist, worked in eastern Oregon from 1873 to 1879. He designed and built churches, small architectural gems that still serve congregations. Among them: Ascension Chapel, Cove; St. Stephen’s, Baker City; St. James, Milton-Freewater; St. Thomas, Canyon City; and the Diocesan Chapel in The Dalles.

The Rt. Rev. Patrick Bell, who was ordained Bishop Diocesan in April, 2016, is the diocese’s eighth bishop.