Diocese of Easton looks north: A promising move

The Episcopal Diocese of Easton appears to be looking north rather than west for episcopal leadership, and we think that’s probably a good thing.

Episcopal News Service reports that Easton’s Standing Committee has nominated Delaware Bishop Kevin Brown as bishop provisional. Brown, who has led the Diocese of Delaware since 2017, would remain its diocesan bishop while providing episcopal leadership to Easton. He is the sole nominee, with an election scheduled for Easton’s diocesan convention February, 26-27, 2027, in Cambridge, Maryland.

If Easton elects Brown, the arrangement gives the diocese something Anglican Watch previously suggested made sense: a shared bishop rather than another full-time diocesan or a merger with a neighbor. And importantly, that neighbor would be Delaware, not Maryland.

Easton needs time

Easton has been without a diocesan since Santosh Marray resigned in October 2025. The diocese has fewer than 7,000 members based on 2023 data, according to ENS. Its Standing Committee has framed the choice as calling a new bishop as a fully independent diocese, sharing operations with a neighbor while remaining independent, or moving toward formal partnership.

That discernment has stalled for a reason. In April 2025, Easton’s Discernment Committee concluded it could not engage the diocese in discerning its future while there remained “dysfunction, discord, hurt and grief.” Easton then brought in the Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves, a trained conflict mediator, to lead a listening and reconciliation process.

A diocese in that condition should not rush into a permanent structural arrangement. A provisional bishop who already leads a neighboring diocese gives Easton breathing room, and a chance to see what shared episcopal leadership actually looks like before making decisions that would be far harder to reverse.

We previously suggested something very similar

Last year, Anglican Watch argued that Easton should consider a “bishop lite” arrangement: a part-time or shared bishop, combined with collaboration among neighboring dioceses on bookkeeping, auditing, clergy discipline, conflict resolution, and infrastructure. Why assume a diocese the size of Easton needs a full-time bishop?

The Brown proposal isn’t identical, but it’s pretty darned close. Easton keeps its identity and governance while gaining a bishop who already knows the diocese and the Delmarva region.

Nor is Brown a stranger. During the Title IV complaints against Marray, Brown, and now-Assisting Bishop James “Bud” Shand provided delegated episcopal oversight to the complaining parishes, and when those cases closed, the diocesan chancellor said Marray had invited both to continue supporting those congregations at their request. The relationship extends beyond Brown: in its January 2026 update, the Standing Committee said it had enlisted Delaware’s canon to the ordinary, the Rev. Brad Hinton, to help with parish transitions.

In other words, this isn’t a blind date.

And yes, we prefer Delaware to Maryland

We have previously expressed serious reservations about Easton reuniting with the Diocese of Maryland, and those reservations remain.

Easton separated from Maryland in 1868. Geography alone doesn’t require reunion more than a century and a half later, particularly when other neighbors offer opportunities for collaboration. Easton’s own members have said as much. Responses gathered at its 2025 convention warned that a potential merger could dilute the diocese’s identity, noting that Eastern Shore culture is “VERY different from the culture on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay, and also different from the culture in Delaware, except maybe Lower Delaware.” Participants suggested talking with both Maryland and Delaware, and several specifically floated cooperation with Delaware short of merger.

We have also raised concerns about governance in Maryland under Bishop Carrie Schofield-Broadbent. Whatever one makes of those concerns, Easton already faces conflict and questions about trust and power. Folding it into a much larger organization while those issues remain unresolved would be a remarkably consequential gamble.

Scale matters too. According to the most recent denominational figures, Maryland has about 26,000 members, compared with Easton’s fewer than 7,000, while Delaware reports just under 7,000. As ENS notes, Maryland is nearly four times Easton’s size; Delaware and Easton are roughly comparable. A merger with Maryland would not be a partnership of equals. Easton would become a small component of a large, Baltimore-based diocese. That may someday prove desirable, but bigger doesn’t automatically mean better.

Delaware isn’t perfect

None of this means the Diocese of Delaware gets a free pass. As we noted previously, Delaware has had governance issues of its own, including questions about financial reporting. Easton should conduct the same due diligence with Delaware that it would with Maryland or any other partner.

Brown’s performance should likewise be evaluated, not presumed. How does he handle conflict? Does he encourage transparency? Does he respect the authority of Easton’s Standing Committee and other elected bodies? How does he handle Title IV complaints? Does a shared bishop actually reduce costs and duplication? And do clergy and laity believe the arrangement improves the health of the diocese? Those questions can be answered through experience rather than speculation if Brown becomes bishop provisional.

Try before you buy

That may be the strongest argument for the arrangement. Easton doesn’t need to decide today whether its future lies with Delaware, Maryland, another diocese, or continued independence. It needs competent episcopal leadership while it figures that out.

Sharing Brown with Delaware lets Easton test a different model without surrendering its identity or committing prematurely to a merger. If it works, Easton and Delaware can consider deeper collaboration. If it doesn’t, Easton can pursue another path. That is what genuine discernment looks like, and from where we sit, it looks considerably more promising than crossing the Chesapeake and handing the keys to the Diocese of Maryland.