Episcopal Diocese of Olympia
The Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, also known as the Episcopal Church in Western Washington, is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in Washington state west of the Cascade Range. It is one of 17 dioceses and an area mission that make up Province 8. The diocese started as a missionary district in 1853 and was formally established in 1910. It comprises 25,490 members in 92 congregations.
Diocese of Olympia Dioecesis Olympianae | |
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Location | |
Ecclesiastical province | Province VIII |
Statistics | |
Congregations | 90 (2021) |
Members | 21,873 (2021) |
Information | |
Denomination | The Episcopal Church |
Rite | Episcopal |
Cathedral | St. Mark's Cathedral |
Language | English, Spanish |
Current leadership | |
Bishop | The Most Rev. Melissa M. Skelton (provisional) |
Map | |
![]() Location of the Diocese of Olympia | |
Website | |
www.ecww.org |
The name of the diocese refers to the region of "Olympia" and is not related to the state capital Olympia. The see city is Seattle, with St. Mark's the cathedral church of the diocese. Following the resignation of Greg Rickel (the eighth bishop of Olympia) on December 31, 2022, the diocese is led by Melissa M. Skelton as bishop provisional.[1]
Bishops
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These are the bishops who have served the territory now known as the Diocese of Olympia:[2]
Bishops of Oregon and Washington territories
- Thomas Fielding Scott (1854–1867)
- Benjamin Wistar Morris (1868–1880)
Bishops of Washington state
- John A. Paddock (1880–1894)
- William Morris Barker (1894–1901)
- Frederick W. Keator (1902–1910)
Bishops of Olympia
- Frederick W. Keator (1910–1924)
- S. Arthur Huston (1925–1947)
- Stephen F. Bayne, Jr. (1947–1960)
- William F. Lewis (1960–1964)
- Ivol Ira Curtis (1964–1976)
- Robert H. Cochrane (1976–1989)
- Vincent Waydell Warner, Jr. (1990–2007)
• Sanford Zangwill Kaye Hampton, assisting bishop
• Bavi Edna Rivera, bishop suffragan (2006–2009)[3] - Gregory Rickel (2007–2022)[4]
• Melissa M. Skelton, bishop provisional (2023–present)
Huston Camp and Conference Center
The Diocese owns a summer camp located in Gold Bar, WA next to the Wallace Falls State Park. Director Bill Tubbs for the last 20 years has overseen operation of both the Conference and Summer Camp seasons.[5]
References
- "Bishop Provisional Announcement". Episcopal Church in Western Washington. Retrieved 6 February 2023.
- The Episcopal Church Annual. Morehouse Publishing: New York, NY (2005)
- "Well, this is rather embarrassing..... | Diocese of Olympia". Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
- "Gregory Rickel elected bishop of Olympia" Archived 2007-05-14 at the Wayback Machine, Episcopal News Service, May 12, 2007
- "Huston Camp and Conference Center Website", Huston Camp and Conference Center, August 3, 2007