Team of Missioners
Bishop Craig Loya
The Rt. Rev. Craig Loya is the X Bishop of Minnesota
Meet Bishop Craig Loya
The Rt. Rev. Craig Loya is the tenth bishop of the Diocese of Minnesota, which comprises one hundred faith communities, spread across rural, suburban, and urban contexts, regularly worshipping in six languages. He was consecrated on June 6, 2020. Early in his time as bishop, he led a process of priority-setting for the diocese, together identifying four core areas of focus: discipleship--daily practices that help us follow Jesus as our whole way of life; faithful innovation--joining the spirit in new ways to proclaim and live out the Gospel; justice--becoming the beloved community; and congregational vitality--thriving faith communities of all sizes and in all places.
From these priorities, the diocese is working to cultivate a diverse church ecology by focusing on the basic practices of Christian discipleship. In 2024, Loya announced the creation of a new center for lay formation designed to deepen discipleship for every Minnesota Episcopalian, nurture leaders of existing congregations, and seed the future by planting new, intentionally small, lay led and clergy-supported communities.
Loya is a third generation Mexican-American. He was born and raised in North Platte, Nebraska, and graduated from Hastings College and Yale Divinity School.
He was ordained priest in the Diocese of South Dakota in 2003. His first ministry was serving four congregations on the Rosebud Reservation. He later served congregations in Massachusetts, on the bishop’s staff in the Diocese of Kansas, and as Dean of Trinity Cathedral in Omaha before being elected the tenth bishop of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. He is married to Dr. Melissa Tubbs Loya, a Hebrew Bible scholar, and they have two children.
Team of Missioners
The team of Missioners exists to nurture vital faith communities everywhere in Minnesota.
Email addresses are formatted firstname dot lastinitial at episcopalmn dot org.
Archdeacons
ECMN’s archdeacons help extend the reach of the bishop in the nurture and care for the community of deacons, raise the profile of the diaconate around the diocese, advise on matters related to forming and deploying our deacons, assist with deacon placement and transitions, and visit congregations to represent and educate about the order of deacons.
