Diocese of Niagara

Last updated
Diocese of Niagara
Colourfullogo.png
Location
Country Canada
Ecclesiastical province Ontario
Archdeaconries 5
HeadquartersCathedral Place, Hamilton
Statistics
Parishes80 (2022) [1]
Members12,967 (2022) [1]
Information
Denomination Anglican Church of Canada
Rite Anglican
Established1875
Cathedral Christ's Church Cathedral, Hamilton
Current leadership
Bishop Susan Bell
Website
niagaraanglican.ca

The Diocese of Niagara is one of thirty [2] regional divisions in the Anglican Church of Canada. The see city of the diocese is Hamilton, with the bishop's cathedra located at Christ's Church Cathedral on James Street North. Located within the ecclesiastical province of Ontario, it borders the Dioceses of Huron and Toronto. The area enclosed by the Diocese of Niagara includes much of the Golden Horseshoe, and moves north to include Erin and Orangeville as far as Shelburne. Moving sharply south, the boundary includes Mount Forest and widens, south-westerly to include Elora and Guelph. Skirting Brantford and the Territory of the Six Nations Confederacy, the line then travels, again, south-westerly to Jarvis and Lake Erie to include the entire Niagara Peninsula. Major urban centres within its borders are St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, Hamilton, Guelph, Oakville, Milton, Burlington, and Orangeville.

Contents

The current bishop of Niagara is Susan Bell, who succeeded Michael Bird as diocesan bishop on June 1, 2018. She was elected bishop by the synod of the Diocese of Niagara in March 2018, and consecrated and installed as bishop in May of that year.

There are just over 80 parishes within the diocese served by approximately 120 licensed parish priests, with a number of honorary clergy, vocational deacons and licensed lay readers. The diocese is divided into five regional deaneries: Brock, Lincoln, Hamilton-Haldimand, Greater Wellington and Trafalgar. Each deanery is overseen by a regional archdeacon and regional dean.

Early history

The first Anglican presence in what would become the Diocese of Niagara begin with St Mark's Church in Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake), the former capital of Upper Canada. The parish was founded in 1790 as Loyalist immigrants arrived from the former American colonies, in what would become the province of Ontario. At this time the area was part of the Diocese of Nova Scotia, and subsequently became part of the Diocese of Quebec, then of the Diocese of Toronto.

The diocese was formed by an act of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada; 39 Vic Chapter 107 in 1875. Royal assent was given in 1876. The first bishop was Thomas Brock Fuller, Archdeacon of Niagara and godson of Sir Isaac Brock, the hero of the Battle of Queenston Heights.

Parishes by region

Region of Greater Wellington

Region of Trafalgar

Grace Anglican Church, Milton, Ontario Grace Anglican Church, Milton, Ontario.jpg
Grace Anglican Church, Milton, Ontario
St. John Anglican Church, Campbellville, Ontario St. John Anglican Church, Campbellville, Ontario.jpg
St. John Anglican Church, Campbellville, Ontario

Region of Hamilton-Haldimand

Region of Lincoln

Region of Brock

Educational institutions

The diocese also has connections to campus ministries at three universities in its jurisdiction. The University of Guelph, Brock University and McMaster University all have chaplains whose ministries are affiliated with the Diocese of Niagara and its ecumenical partners.

Diocesan bishops of Niagara

  1. Thomas Fuller, 1875–1884
  2. Charles Hamilton, 1884–1896
  3. Philip Du Moulin, 1896–1911
  4. William Clark, 1911–1925
  5. Derwyn Owen, 1925–1932 Primate of All Canada, 1934–1947
  6. Lewis Broughall, 1932–1949
  7. Walter Bagnall, 1949-1973
  8. John Bothwell, 1973–1991 Archbishop of Niagara and Metropolitan of Ontario, 1985–1991
  9. Walter Asbil, 1991–1997
  10. Ralph Spence, 1998–2008
  11. Michael Bird, 2008–2018
  12. Susan Bell, 2018–present

Litigation

The diocese was involved with litigation against several former parishes affiliated with Anglican Network in Canada. The courts have generally upheld the diocese as owner of the church buildings and ejected the illegally assumed leadership.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Catharines</span> City in Ontario, Canada

St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2017, St. Catharines has an area of 96.13 square kilometres (37.12 sq mi) and 140,370 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, 51 kilometres (32 mi) south of Toronto across Lake Ontario, and is 19 kilometres (12 mi) inland from the international boundary with the United States along the Niagara River. It is the northern entrance of the Welland Canal. Residents of St. Catharines are known as St. Catharinites. St. Catharines carries the official nickname "The Garden City" due to its 1,000 acres (4 km2) of parks, gardens, and trails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island</span> Diocese of the Anglican Church in Canada

The Diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada of the Anglican Church of Canada. It encompasses the provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island and has two cathedrals: All Saints' in Halifax and St. Peter's in Charlottetown. Its de facto see city is Halifax, and its roughly 24 400 Anglicans distributed in 239 congregations are served by approximately 153 clergy and 330 lay readers according to the last available data. According to the 2001 census, 120,315 Nova Scotians identified themselves as Anglicans, while 6525 Prince Edward Islanders did the same.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Hamilton Merritt</span> Upper Canada businessman and politician

William Hamilton Merritt was a businessman and politician in the Niagara Peninsula of Upper Canada in the early 19th century. Although he was born in the United States, his family was Loyalist and eventually settled in Upper Canada. Merritt fought in the War of 1812, was captured by the invading American forces, and held as a prisoner of war. After the war, he returned to the Niagara region and began a career in business. He was one of the founders of the Welland Canal. He was a supporter of the Abolitionist cause to end slavery in the U.S., and of the settlement of escaped slaves in St. Catharines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut</span> Diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States

The Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing the entire state of Connecticut. It is one of the nine original dioceses of the Episcopal Church and one of seven New England dioceses that make up Province 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Hamilton, Ontario</span> Catholic ecclesiastical territory

The Diocese of Hamilton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Canada. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese in Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglican Diocese of Montreal</span> Diocese of the Anglican Church in Canada

The Diocese of Montreal is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada of the Anglican Church of Canada, in turn a province of the Anglican Communion. The diocese comprises the 21,400 square kilometres (8,300 sq mi) encompassing the City and Island of Montreal, the Laurentians, the South Shore opposite Montreal, and part of the Eastern Townships. The See city is Montreal, and the cathedral is Christ Church. The diocese maintains approximately 9,000 on its parish rolls in about seventy parishes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Catharines</span> Catholic ecclesiastical territory

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Catharines is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Toronto in St. Catharines, Ontario. It covers the municipalities of Niagara Region and Haldimand County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diocese of St Mark the Evangelist</span>

The Diocese of St Mark the Evangelist is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, in the geographical area of the Limpopo province in the north of South Africa.

Municipal elections were held in municipalities across Ontario, Canada on November 14, 1988 to elect mayors, reeves, councillors and school trustees.

The Niagara District Junior B Hockey League was a Canadian Junior ice hockey league in the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario from 1954 until 1979. The league was a part of the Ontario Hockey Association of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and was eligible for the Sutherland Cup.

The 1997 Ontario municipal elections were led in all municipalities across the Canadian province of Ontario on November 10, 1997, to elect mayors and reeves, councillors, and school trustees. There were also referendum questions in some municipalities.

William James Robinson was a Canadian Anglican bishop in the second half of the 20th century.

Thomas Brock Fuller was a Canadian Anglican bishop in the second half of the 19th century.

John Charles Bothwell was a Canadian Anglican bishop and author in the second half of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Spence (bishop)</span> Canadian retired Anglican bishop (born 1942)

David Ralph Spence is a Canadian retired Anglican bishop.

The Right Reverend Michael Bird is a retired Canadian Anglican bishop. From 2008 until 2018 he was the Bishop of Niagara in the Anglican Church of Canada.

References

  1. 1 2 Elliot, Neil (15 March 2024). "Dioceses of the ACC – by numbers". Numbers Matters. (Neil Elliot is the statistics officer for the Anglican Church of Canada.). Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  2. "Dioceses and provinces of the Anglican Church of Canada". The Anglican Church of Canada. Retrieved 2022-06-20.

43°15′47″N79°51′58″W / 43.26306°N 79.86611°W / 43.26306; -79.86611