The Diocese of Texas was the first mission field of The Episcopal Church. The Diocese of Texas is one of 110 domestic dioceses in the Episcopal Church and operates independently within the canons of the Church.  A diocese is the primary unit in denominational structures.  A diocesan bishop oversees each diocese. The Rt. Rev. C. Andrew Doyle was invested as the ninth Bishop of Texas on June 7, 2009 at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Houston upon the retirement of the Rt. Rev. Don A. Wimberly.

From   1838 to 1845 the Episcopal Church existed in the Republic of Texas as a foreign missionary district. Christ Church, Matagorda, was the first Episcopal Church in the Republic and was founded in 1839.  Christ Church, Houston, later the Cathedral (and therefore official "see" of the bishop), was the second Episcopal church, founded in 1839.

The district was first administered by Bishop Leonidas Polk, Bishop of Louisiana, and Bishop George Washington Freeman, Bishop of Arkansas, until Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845.

The diocese officially organized in 1849 and elected Alexander Gregg its first bishop. He served until 1893 when his coadjutor (elected to succeed), the Rt. Rev. George Herbert Kinsolving, became Bishop of Texas.  His coadjutor, the Rt. Rev. Clinton Simon Quin, succeeded Kinsolving 35 years later in 1928.

Bishop John Hines served as coadjutor under Bishop Quin for ten years and became diocesan in 1955.  Nine years later, in 1964 Bishop Hines was elected Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church where he served for a decade. Bishop Milton Richardson was consecrated the fifth Bishop of Texas on February 10, 1965, and served as diocesan until his death in 1981. The sixth Bishop of Texas, the Rt. Rev. Maurice M. Benitez, was elected in 1980.  In June 1993 Bishop Claude E. Payne was elected the fourth bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Texas and became the seventh Bishop of Texas February 10, 1995. Bishop Don Wimberly became the eighth bishop of Texas in June, 2003, retiring at the mandatory age of 72 on June 6, 2009.  Bishop Doyle, elected in May, 2008, was consecrated at St. Martins, Houston on November 22, 2008 and invested and seated on June 7, 2009.

Additionally, Texas has had nine bishops suffragan and six assistant bishops since becoming a diocese:  F. Percy Goddard, James P. Clements, and Roger H. Cilley; Scott Field Bailey; Gordon T. Charlton; William E. Sterling, Sr., and Leopoldo J. Alard served as bishops suffragan. Bishops Rayford B. High, Jr. and Dena A. Harrison are currently serving in that position. Bishops Anselmo Carral, William J. Cox, Bishop John Hines, James B. Brown, Ted Daniels and John Buchanan served as assistants.