Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina

The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina is a diocese of the Episcopal Church within Province IV that encompasses central North Carolina. Founded in 1817, the modern boundaries of the diocese roughly correspond to the portion of North Carolina between I-77 in the west and I-95 in the east, including the most populous area of the state. Raleigh, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Durham are the largest cities in the diocese. The diocese originally covered the entirety of the state, until the Diocese of East Carolina which stretches to the Atlantic was formed in 1883, and the Diocese of Western North Carolina which lies to the west extending into the Appalachian Mountains was formed in 1922[lower-alpha 1].

Diocese of North Carolina
Location
CountryUnited States
Ecclesiastical provinceProvince IV
Statistics
Congregations109 (2021)
Members44,695 (2021)
Information
DenominationEpiscopal Church
EstablishedApril 24, 1817
Current leadership
BishopSamuel Sewall Rodman III
Assistant bishopJennifer Brooke-Davidson
Map
Location of the Diocese of North Carolina
Location of the Diocese of North Carolina
Website
www.episdionc.org

About the Diocese

The diocese has no cathedral[lower-alpha 2], but its offices are located in the state capital of Raleigh. Representatives of the dioceses' 109 parishes meet annually at a diocesan convention in November. Between conventions, the diocese is administered by a Diocesan Council in conjunction with the diocesan staff who work under the bishop.

The current diocesan bishop is Samuel Sewall Rodman III. He was consecrated bishop on July 15, 2017, as the twelfth bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina, after the election of his predecessor, Michael Bruce Curry, as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.[4][5] The assistant bishop of the diocese is Jennifer Brooke-Davidson.[6] The bishop suffragan of the diocese, Anne Hodges-Copple, retired in December 2022.

Other bishops who have served the diocese since 1980 are the late Robert W. Estill (ninth bishop of the diocese), the late Robert C. Johnson (tenth bishop of the diocese), the late Frank Vest (suffragan bishop of the diocese who subsequently became bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia), the late Huntington Williams, Jr. (retired suffragan bishop), J. Gary Gloster (retired suffragan bishop), William Gregg (retired assistant bishop and previously the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon), the late Alfred C. Marble, Jr. (retired assisting bishop and previously the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi), and the late Peter James Lee (formerly provisional bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina and bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia).

Congregations in the diocese vary from conservative to liberal and from low church to high church, but the diocese itself is generally considered moderate and is highly supportive of the Episcopal Church. Consisting of approximately 48,000 communicants,[7] the diocese is the tenth-largest in the nation and has shown a 3% compound annual growth rate over the last ten years. The density of Episcopalians varies across the diocese but is highest in Wake County, the county of the state capital, Raleigh.

Programs and institutions

Principal programs of the diocese include campus ministries and social ministries:

The diocese no longer operates a camp and conference center, having sold its facility near Browns Summit, North Carolina to the State of North Carolina for use as Haw River State Park.[11] However, the diocese maintains an active youth program. The territory of the diocese includes independent schools with current or former diocesan affiliations including Trinity Episcopal School and Palisades Episcopal School in Charlotte, Canterbury School in Greensboro, and St. Mary's School, St. Timothy's School, St. David's School, and Ravenscroft School in Raleigh.

Other major institutions affiliated with the diocese are Penick Village in Southern Pines, a retirement community; and Thompson Child and Family Focus in Charlotte, a youth services ministry.

The diocese used to operate St. Peter's Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital in Charlotte, both founded by Jane Renwick Smedburg Wilkes, who served as President of the Diocese' Women's Aid Society.

Bishops
Bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina[6][12]
From Until Name Title Notes
18231830John Stark Ravenscroft1st bishop of North Carolina
18311852Levi Silliman Ives2nd bishop of North Carolina
18531881Thomas Atkinson3rd bishop of North Carolina
18731881Theodore B. LymanCoadjutor bishop of North Carolina
188118934th bishop of North Carolina
18931893Joseph Blount CheshireCoadjutor bishop of North Carolina
189319325th bishop of North Carolina
19181928Henry Beard Delany1st bishop suffragan of North Carolina
19221932Edwin Anderson PenickBishop coadjutor of North Carolina
193219596th bishop of North Carolina
19511959Richard Henry BakerBishop coadjutor of North Carolina
195919657th bishop of North Carolina
19601965Thomas FraserBishop coadjutor of North Carolina
196519838th bishop of North Carolina
19671975Moultrie Moore2nd bishop suffragan of North CarolinaBishop of Easton, (1975–1983)
19801982Robert Whitridge EstillBishop coadjutor of North Carolina
198319949th bishop of North Carolina
19851989Frank Vest3rd bishop suffragan of North CarolinaBishop of Southern Virginia (1991–1998)
19901996Huntington Williams, Jr.4th bishop suffragan of North Carolina
19942000Robert C. Johnson Jr.10th bishop of North Carolina
19962007J. Gary Gloster5th bishop suffragan of North Carolina
20002015Michael Bruce Curry11th bishop of North Carolina27th Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church (2015 – Present)
20052013Alfred C. "Chip" Marble, Jr.Assisting bishop of North CarolinaBishop of Mississippi (1993–2003)
20072013William O. GreggAssistant bishop of North CarolinaBishop of Eastern Oregon (2000–2007)
20132022Anne Hodges-Copple6th bishop suffragan of North CarolinaThe first female bishop in the Diocese of North Carolina.
20152017Bishop pro tempore of North Carolina
20152017Peter LeeAssisting bishop of North Carolina[13]Bishop of Virginia (1985–2009); bishop provisional of East Carolina (2013–2015)

Lee was brought in as a temporary bishop of North Carolina after Bishop Michael Curry was called to serve as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Lee served until Samuel S. Rodman, III was consecrated in April 2017.[14]

2017PresentSamuel S. Rodman, III12th bishop of North Carolina
2022 Present Jennifer Brooke-Davidson Assistant bishop of North Carolina 6th bishop suffragan of West Texas (2017–2019); assistant bishop of Virginia (2019–2022)

Notes
  1. While the Diocese of Western North Carolina was not formed until 1922, the Diocese of North Carolina offered the territory of the western part of the state to the general Episcopal Church to act as a missionary district, and therefore did not manage the west after 1894.
  2. The Church of the Good Shepherd in Raleigh was named the pro-cathedral of the diocese in the mid-1890s, but was never raised to full cathedral status at a diocesan convention. It has continued to perform many of the traditional functions of a cathedral in the years since.[1][2][3]

References
  1. "A Memorial Church". The News and Observer. June 21, 1894. p. 4. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD - The Silver Jubilee of the Church". The News and Observer. October 29, 1899. p. 14. Retrieved December 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Concerning the General Convention". The News and Observer. Oct 27, 1895. p. 8. Retrieved Feb 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Sennott, Adam (March 4, 2017). "Massachusetts reverend elected Episcopal bishop of North Carolina". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017.
  5. "The Rev. Samuel Rodman Elected XII Bishop Diocesan of the Diocese of North Carolina". The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. March 4, 2017. Archived from the original on April 11, 2017.
  6. "The Bishops of North Carolina". The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  7. As announced by Curry at the Diocese's 2007 Convention
  8. "Campus Ministry". The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina.
  9. "Our Ministry". Episcopal Farmworker Ministry.
  10. "Hispanic / Latino Ministry". The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina.
  11. "History." History | NC State Parks, www.ncparks.gov/haw-river-state-park/history.
  12. "Previous Bishops". The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  13. "Diocese of NC Welcomes the Rt. Rev. Peter Lee as Assisting Bishop". The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. November 12, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
  14. "Diocese of NC Welcomes the Rt. Rev. Peter Lee as Assisting Bishop." Diocesan House, www.dionc.org/dfc/newsdetail_2/3175359.

Further reading

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