Bishop Oliveto was consecrated as a bishop of The United Methodist Church and assigned to the Mountain Sky Episcopal Area, which includes 355 congregations in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and a small section of Idaho. She is the first woman to serve as senior pastor of one of The United Methodist Church’s 100 largest congregations.

 

Bishop Oliveto also has the distinction of being the first openly gay bishop in The United Methodist Church. She and her wife, Robin Ridenour, a nurse anesthetist and United Methodist deaconess, met in Junior High Church Camp and have been together for 24 years. They were married in 2014.

 

Bishop Oliveto is the co-author of Talking About Homosexuality: A Congregational Resource, and the author of Our Strangely Warmed Hearts: Coming Out into God’s Call and Together at the Table: Diversity without Division in The United Methodist Church. 

 

​Bishop Oliveto was named by NBC as one of 30 contemporary LGBTQ change-makers as part of their #Pride50 series. She was also named one of the Faith Leaders to Watch in 2021 by the Center for American Progress.