History
The roots of the Diocese of Eau Claire began in 1822 when the Oneida Indians, removing from New York state, settled near Green Bay. The first annual council of the Diocese of Wisconsin met in Milwaukee in 1847. In 1874, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church erected the Diocese of Fond du Lac from the Fond du Lac Deanery of the Diocese of Wisconsin. The remaining counties continued as the Diocese of Wisconsin until 1888, when it was renamed the Diocese of Milwaukee. Growth, time, and distance led to the erection of a third Wisconsin diocese. The Diocese of Eau Claire was created from counties of both the Diocese of Milwaukee and Diocese of Fond du Lac in 1928. [1]
On October 22, 2011, the Diocese of Fond du Lac and the Diocese of Eau Claire voted to "junction" into one diocese. [2] However, Russell Jacobus, Bishop of Fond du Lac, withheld consent because of the closeness and irregularities of the vote. [3]
In 2021 it was announced that the diocese of Eau Claire, Fond du Lac, and Milwaukee would contemplate entering an agreement of greater collaboration. With around 1,200 baptized members and most congregations having fewer than 80 members, Eau Claire is one of the Episcopal Church's smallest dioceses and the sustainability of its continued existence has been questioned. [4] In October 2021 it was announced that the three diocese would be actively pursuing reuniting as one diocese in Wisconsin. [5] On May 4, 2024, the three dioceses voted to approve reunion as the Diocese of Wisconsin. [6] The merger agreement received approval at General Convention in June 2024.
Bishops
On August 28, 2010, a special convention in the diocese elected Edwin M. Leidel, Jr. to be the bishop provisional. The diocese had been without a bishop since April 2008. [7]
On May 1, 2012 the diocesan bishop search committee announced it was accepting applications for the sixth Bishop of the Diocese of Eau Claire. [8]
On November 10, 2012, William Jay Lambert III was elected as the next bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire. [9]
On March 16, 2013, Katharine Jefferts Schori presided over the consecration of William Jay Lambert III at Christ Church Cathedral, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, as the Sixth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire. [10]
Since Lambert's retirement on December 1, 2020, Matthew Alan Gunter served as bishop provisional.
Bishops who served the Diocese of Wisconsin:
- Jackson Kemper (1847–1870)
- William Edmond Armitage (1870–1873)
- Edward Randolph Welles (1874–1888)
Bishops who served the Diocese of Milwaukee, prior to creation of the Diocese of Eau Claire:
- Cyrus Frederick Knight (1889-1891)
- Isaac Lea Nicholson (1891-1906)
- William Walter Webb (1906-1933)
Bishops who served the Diocese of Eau Claire: [11]
- Frank Elmer Wilson, First Bishop of Eau Claire, (1929-1944)
- William Wallace Horstick, Second Bishop of Eau Claire, (June 29, 1944 - Resigned Dec 31, 1969)
- Stanley Hamilton Atkins, Third Bishop of Eau Claire, (1970-1980)
- William C. Wantland, Fourth Bishop of Eau Claire, (1980-1999)
- Keith B. Whitmore, Fifth Bishop of Eau Claire, (1999-2008)
* Edwin M. Leidel, Jr., Bishop Provisional of Eau Claire, (2010-2013) - William Jay Lambert III, Sixth Bishop (elected November 10, 2012, consecrated March 16, 2013 - December 1, 2020) [12]
* Matthew A. Gunter (2020-2024, provisional)
Nashotah House is an Anglican seminary in Nashotah, Wisconsin. The seminary opened in 1842 and received its official charter in 1847. The institution is independent and generally regarded as one of the more theologically conservative seminaries in the Episcopal Church. It is also officially recognized by the Anglican Church in North America. Its campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
The Episcopal Church (TEC) is governed by a General Convention and consists of 96 dioceses in the United States proper, plus ten dioceses in other countries or outlying U.S. territories, the diocese of Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, and a diocese for Armed Services and Federal Ministries, for a total of 108 dioceses.
Jackson Kemper in 1835 became the first missionary bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Especially known for his work with Native American peoples, he also founded parishes in what in his youth was considered the Northwest Territory and later became known as the "Old Northwest", hence one appellation as bishop of the "Whole Northwest". Bishop Kemper founded Nashotah House and Racine College in Wisconsin, and from 1859 until his death served as the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Wisconsin.
The Diocese of Fond du Lac was a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing the northeastern third of Wisconsin. The diocese contained about 3,800 baptized members worshiping in 33 locations. It was part of Province 5. Diocesan offices were in Appleton, Wisconsin as were the diocesan Archives. Matthew Gunter was its final bishop. On May 4, 2024, the diocese voted to be disestablish itself and reintegrate into the Diocese of Wisconsin.
Grace Episcopal Church located at 1011 North 7th Street in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is an Anglo-Catholic parish of the Episcopal Church, part of the Diocese of Fond du Lac.
John Henry Hobart Brown was the first bishop of the Diocese of Fond du Lac in the Episcopal Church.
Russell Edward Jacobus was the seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Fond du Lac in The Episcopal Church. Jacobus was consecrated as bishop on 24 May 1994. Prior to becoming bishop, he served as Rector of St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Waukesha, Wisconsin. At the close of Diocesan convention on October 20, 2012, he announced his intention to retire one year hence, on October 31, 2013.
St. James' Episcopal Church, named for James the Greater, is a historic Episcopal church located in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The only Episcopal church in Manitowoc County, St. James' is a "broad church" parish in the Diocese of Fond du Lac. It is the oldest continually operating congregation in Manitowoc County, first meeting in 1841. and organizing in 1848. The current church building, an example of Gothic Revival architecture, was consecrated in 1902. The congregation is active in community service and social justice ministries.
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Reginald Heber Weller, Jr. was an Episcopal priest and bishop active in the ecumenical movement, establishing a dialogue among Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Christians.
Harwood Sturtevant was the Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Fond du Lac.
William Hampton Brady was a bishop in the American Episcopal Church.
William Wallace Horstick was an American prelate of the Episcopal Church who served as the second Bishop of Eau Claire from 1944 till 1969.
Stanley Hamilton Atkins was an English prelate of the Episcopal Church, who served as the third Bishop Eau Claire, from 1970 till 1980.
Edwin Max "Ed" Leidel Jr. was a bishop of the Episcopal Church who served as Bishop of Eastern Michigan from 1996 to 2006 and as the Provisional Bishop of Eau Claire from 2010 to 2013.
William Jay Lambert III is an American bishop of the Episcopal Church. He was the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Eau Claire based in the state of Wisconsin from March 2013 to December 2020. In October 2021 he became rector of St. Phillip's Episcopal Church in Jacksonville, Florida.
Matthew Alan Gunter is the ninth and current bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Wisconsin in The Episcopal Church. He assumed this post upon the 2024 merger of the Dioceses of Eau Claire and Fond du Lac with the Diocese of Milwaukee. From 2014 to 2024, he was the diocesan bishop of Fond du Lac. Prior to becoming bishop, he served as Rector of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and as Assistant Rector of St. David Church, Glenview, Illinois.
Jeffrey Dean Lee is a bishop of the Episcopal Church who served as the Twelfth Bishop of Chicago from 2008 to 2020.
The Episcopal Diocese of Wisconsin, originally the Diocese of Wisconsin and later the Diocese of Milwaukee, is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America located in the state of Wisconsin. It is in Province V. The diocese was originally formed in 1847, but was re-established in 2024 by the merger of the Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire and the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac into the Diocese of Milwaukee.
