The Diocese of Gaylord had a variety of notable moments in 2025. Dominating the Diocese was the vocations crisis. The Diocese had no ordinations to the priesthood in 2025. Additionally, priests of the Diocese have left, often with no explanation, and taking with them thousands of dollars invested in them to be pastors, only for them to leave after ordination. Notable examples included Tyler Bischoff (now a public school teacher) and Nicholas Cooper (a development director for a college).
Another topic of interest was that of Fred Szczepanski, a gay music director that was fired when a new pastor came to the parish of St. Francis Church in Traverse City. As we predicted, Szczepanski lost his legal battle as his discrimination lawsuit against the Diocese was thrown out in October.
Bishop Walsh initiated a vocations recruitment project in 2025. As part of this project, faithful of the Diocese are encouraged to supply the Diocese with the names and contact information of young men that may be thought of as possibly being priests in the future. The results of this project remain to be seen.
The other issue of note is the shrinking Diocese. Bishop Walsh announced a plan to consolidate, ie, close, parishes. This is slated to be detailed in February 2026. This sad state of affairs does not seem to be confronted by evangelization or a positive growth mentality; instead, it can be best described (as a reader stated) as managed decline of the Diocese.
At Gaylord Diocesan Watch, we look forward to 2026 with hope. We will continue our mission to advance the Church by providing the Bishop, clergy, and faithful of the Diocese with information that is important and useful to promote improvement in the Church. This Apostolate will carry on its work, started in 2019, with transparency and without any financial gain of its leadership team (ie, completely volunteer). Please keep Gaylord Diocesan Watch in your prayers at all times.