Deon Kevin Johnson was consecrated as the 11th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri on June 13, 2020, at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis. He became the first black, first gay, first immigrant to serve as bishop in this diocese.
Johnson was born and raised in a small village on the Caribbean island of Barbados. His faith was formed under the watchful eye of his maternal grandmother who taught him how to pray, how to listen with his heart and introduced him to the beauty of worship in the hymns and spirituals she sang throughout Deon’s childhood. He immigrated from Barbados to New York at the age of 14.
"I see my role primarily as pastoral in this time in the church and the world," the bishop said.
Johnson and his husband Jhovanny Osorio are the proud parents of two children, Lilohalani and Ja’Lon. He enjoys cooking, photography, hiking and being an armchair movie critic.
Read the bishop's full biography
Retired Bishops
The Rt. Rev. George Wayne Smith
Bishop George Wayne Smith served as the tenth Bishop of The Diocese of Missouri from 2002 until 2020.
The Rt. Rev. Hays Hamilton Rockwell
Bishop Hays Rockwell was elected Bishop Coadjutor in 1990 and succeeded Bishop William Jones in 1992.
Read about all the Bishops who have served in the Diocese of Missouri.