The Right Rev. Lucinda Beth Ashby is the fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real and was ordained and consecrated as Bishop on January 11, 2020.
Exploring New Church is a significant part of Bishop Lucinda’s vision for our Diocese. Being New Church means being mobile, adaptive, and relevant. It calls us to travel light, being mindful of what is essential for our ministry and mission; stay in balance, taking into account the beauty and grounding of our tradition while exploring what is creative and innovative; and have the courage to be lost—being brave enough to step forward, especially when we don’t have all the answers. Being New Church is about walking a faithful path of pilgrimage, trusting in God, and taking each step with those we meet along The Way.
As part of that exploration, Bishop Lucinda and the Diocese of El Camino Real established the Community Trailblazer Role, inviting recent seminary graduates to return to the Diocese and work with a parish or region to help churches connect with their communities in new and vital ways.
She also helped create “A Storied Pilgrimage with Race,” a unique anti-racism training for clergy and laity in El Camino Real. This series explores the rich and complex diversity of the diocese through the lived experiences of its people—from first-generation immigrants to longtime farming families.
Bishop Lucinda knows the importance of forming leaders for the church we are becoming. To that end, she established a School for Ministry based on the curriculum from the Iona Collaborative. A bilingual school, this program quickly attracted the attention of two other dioceses, San Diego and Northern California, who joined our Diocese to form a three-way partnership for forming people for lay and ordained leadership called the West Coast Collaborative.
During her episcopate, Bishop Lucinda has worked tirelessly to build the best team for the Diocese, both in her staff at Sargent House and in the Diocesan Leadership. Her collaborative spirit and emphasis on adaptability have shaped a culture of innovation and inclusion.
Bishop Lucinda continues to nurture collaborative leadership, cultural awareness, and spiritual depth—qualities long valued by the Diocese of El Camino Real.
Her life before ordination provided a strong foundation for her ministry here. She taught Spanish and music in grades 7–12 and was Head of School at a private school in Sacramento. She was later called to help build a school on a Native American reservation in Capay Valley, California. While in seminary at CDSP, she served as Chaplain at St. Michael’s Episcopal Day School in Carmichael.
In recognition of her commitment to leadership development, bilingual education, and intercultural ministry, Bishop Lucinda was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity by Church Divinity School of the Pacific in May 2025. The degree honored her dedication to forming grounded, adaptive, and innovative leaders and her work in building flourishing communities across cultural and linguistic lines.
You can read more about the honor and her address HERE and watch the video of her commencement address HERE.
Bishop Lucinda grew up in Peru and northern New Mexico and is fluent in Spanish. She and her husband, Bob McEvilly, share two dogs, Sammi and Franki, and have three grown children who live in California with their spouses.