[1] Created by General Convention in 1978, the Navajoland Area Mission comprises portions of the Navajo Reservation as well as parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah (see map).

Prior to its creation, the Church's ministry to the Navajo people was overseen jointly by the three Episcopal dioceses of the Rio Grande, Arizona and Utah.

The first full-time appointment to Navajoland was Frederick W. "Fred" Putnam, Suffragan Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma since 1963.

Bishop Plummer, who is widely regarded as having brought stability to the Mission and having moved it along a path of self-determination,[6] died in April 2005 following a long battle with cancer.

MacDonald had been appointed earlier in the year, and subsequent to accepting the position was invited to serve as National Indigenous Bishop for the Anglican Church of Canada.