[3] A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Leidel became an ordained deacon at Christ Episcopal Church in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin in 1963.

[4][5] The following year, Leidel became an ordained priest at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Chapel, Guildhall, and Rectory in Racine, Wisconsin and was commissioned an officer and military chaplain in the United States Navy Reserve.

However, he spent a year of that time in Darwin, Northern Territory, in Australia as Acting Dean of the Anglican cathedral there.

In 1990, Leidel completed his Doctor of Ministry Degree at the School of Theology of the University of the South.

From 1996 to 2006, Leidel served as the first bishop of the newly created Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan.