[Diocese of Wyoming] The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming is pleased to announce the slate of two candidates who will be on the ballot for the election of the 10th bishop of the diocese.

The Rev. David L. Duprey returns to Wyoming as a candidate for bishop, having served as an active-duty U.S. military chaplain for the past 12 years. He graduated in 1988 with a master of divinity degree from Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. Duprey was ordained to the diaconate at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Laramie, Wyoming, in 1988, then to the priesthood in 1989. Duprey served as vicar of St. John the Baptist in Big Piney from 1988 until 1992 and as rector of St. Peter’s, Sheridan, until he answered the call to become a Navy chaplain in 2008.

As a chaplain, Lieutenant Commander Duprey has served the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy. When not deployed, Duprey has enjoyed rich connections with local Episcopal churches; first with St. Anne’s, Jacksonville, North Carolina, then for the past eight years as adjunct clergy with Christ & St. Luke’s, Norfolk, Virginia.

The Rev. Canon Paul-Gordon Chandler is the rector of the Anglican Church in Qatar (the Church of the Epiphany & the Anglican Centre) in the Persian Gulf, a church that hosts over 20,000 people from 65 countries in its building every weekend. Serving as an appointed mission partner with The Episcopal Church, he is an Episcopal priest, author, peace builder and art curator.

Chandler grew up in Senegal in West Africa and has lived and worked around the world in leadership roles with The Episcopal Church, faith-based publishing, the arts and Christian relief and development agencies. He is also the founding president of Caravan, an international peace building nonprofit closely associated with The Episcopal Church that uses the arts to build sustainable peace around the world, and which has held several strategic interreligious art exhibitions throughout Wyoming.

During the selection process the search committee was required to be more creative due to these challenging times. While the plan was to have a select group of candidates come to Wyoming for a discernment retreat, that did not happen. “By the grace of God, we were able to host a virtual retreat with the candidates,” according to search committee co-chair Linda Anderson.

The committee spent time in prayer and individual discernment before coming together by Zoom to have the final meeting. After three hours of discussion, the committee chose three candidates that they felt were the best of the best. One of the candidates subsequently withdrew from consideration, leaving Duprey and Chandler as the Standing Committee nominees.

The Search Committee is the primary method through which candidates for election are selected in the Diocese of Wyoming. A petition process allows additional qualified candidates to be considered. All candidates, including qualified petition candidates, will be in the diocese for a real or virtual walkabout, depending on COVID-19, before the Sept. 19 Electing Convention, so that Wyoming may get to know them better before the Convention.

The consecration of the 10th bishop of Wyoming is scheduled for Feb. 13, 2021, in Casper, Wyoming.