Diocese of Gulf Atlantic | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Ecclesiastical province | Anglican Church in North America |
| Statistics | |
| Parishes | 38 (2023) [1] |
| Members | 6,426 (2023) [1] |
| Information | |
| Rite | Anglican |
| Cathedral | St. Peter's Cathedral |
| Current leadership | |
| Bishop | Alex Farmer |
| Website | |
| Gulf Atlantic Diocese Official Website | |
The Gulf Atlantic Diocese is a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America, comprising 40 congregations in the American states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Florida is the state with most congregations. The diocese was originally divided in five deaneries: Gainesville, Jacksonville, Savannah, Tallahassee and Western. The diocese later changed the division into four deaneries, Central, Northeastern, Southern and Western. [2]
The Gulf Atlantic Diocese origin goes back to the founding of the Anglican Alliance, which took place at the third diocesan chapter of the American Anglican Council, in November 2001, having Stephen Jecko, Bishop of Florida, as the main proponent. His main purposes were stated as to enforce what he and others saw as "orthodox Anglican belief" against "liberal innovations" in the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Diocese of Florida was then one of the main proponents of this claimed orthodoxy among the Episcopalian dioceses. [3]
The diocese was very critical of the consecration of Gene Robinson as the first openly non-celibate gay bishop of the Episcopal Church in 2003. Stephen Jecko stepped down in 2004, after joining Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh, and an aggregate of 12 seceding Episcopalian bishops to create the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and Parishes. Jecko's successor as bishop was Samuel Howard, who despite sharing similar beliefs with the seceding bishops and parishes, declined to join the Network. Another move was led by Eric Dudley who left the Episcopal Diocese of Florida to form a new church, St. Peter's Anglican Church, under the auspices of the Church of Uganda, a move that was coordinated and supported by Stephen Jecko. Other seceding Episcopalians and Anglicans created the Anglican Alliance of North Florida.
After the birth of the Anglican Church in North America, the now called Anglican Alliance of North Florida and South Georgia reunited at Advent Christian Village, in Dowling Park, Florida, in a move to pass from a "Diocese in creation" to a full diocese in the newly created church, on August 29, 2009. In the reunion, 47 clergy delegates and 39 lay delegates were present in representation of 20 churches. The Inaugural Synod ratified a Constitution and Canons, electing Neil G. Lebhar as the first bishop of the new diocese. At the final meeting, the name of Gulf Atlantic Diocese was chosen for the new diocese.
The Provincial Council of the Anglican Church in North America, held on December 11, 2009, in Toronto, Canada, accepted as a full member the Gulf Atlantic Diocese and recognized Neil Lebhar as their first bishop.
On April 30, 2012, Lebhar announced in his pastoral letter that John E. Miller III, from Melbourne, Florida, of the Anglican Mission in the Americas, recently disaffiliated from the Anglican Church of Rwanda, would be received at the Gulf Atlantic Diocese as an Assisting Bishop for at least six months, as a temporary measure until the future of the AMiA is defined. It was also suggested the possible affiliation of some of his 20 congregations to the Diocese. [4] Miller, as an Assisting Bishop, a newly created position, will be in charge of the process of transition of the AMiA parishes.
The diocese announced that St. Peter's Anglican Church in Tallahassee, Florida, had been declared the new cathedral, St Peter's Cathedral, in January 2018. [5]
On 27 August 2022, the Rev. Charles Alexander Farmer was ordained to the episcopacy and consecrated as the second Ordinary of the diocese at St Peter's Cathedral. [6]
Notable parishes in the Gulf Atlantic Diocese include:
| Church | Image | City | Year founded | Year completed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christ Church Anglican |  | Savannah, Georgia | 1733 | 1913 | National Historic District contributing property |
| St. Peter's Cathedral |  | Tallahassee, Florida | 2005 | 2014 | Diocesan cathedral |
The Anglican Communion Network was a theologically conservative network of Anglican and Episcopalian dioceses and parishes in the United States that was working toward Anglican realignment and developed into the Anglican Church in North America.
Trinity Anglican Seminary, formerly known as Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, is an Anglican seminary in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. It is generally associated with evangelical Anglicanism.
The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama is located in Province IV of the Episcopal Church and serves the state of Alabama with the exception of the extreme southern region, including Mobile, which forms part of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast. The latter body was formed in 1970 from portions of the territories of the Diocese of Alabama and the Diocese of Florida.
The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America that covers roughly Middle Tennessee. A single diocese spanned the entire state until 1982, when the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee was created; the Diocese of Tennessee was again split in 1985 when the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee was formed. It is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, USA is one of 20 dioceses that comprise Province IV of the US Episcopal Church, and is a diocese within the worldwide Anglican Communion. The current bishop is Frank S. Logue, who succeeded Scott Anson Benhase on May 30, 2020, when he was consecrated 11th bishop of Georgia at a service held in Christ Church in Savannah, Georgia.
The Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh is a diocese in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Geographically, it encompasses 11 counties in Western Pennsylvania. It was formed in 1865 by dividing the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. The diocesan cathedral is Trinity Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh. The Rt. Rev. Ketlen A. Solak was consecrated and seated as its current bishop in autumn 2021.
The Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, part of Province 4. The diocese was created in 1970 from portions of the adjoining dioceses of Alabama and Florida.
The Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida is a diocese in Florida in Province IV of the Episcopal Church. It is bounded on the north by the Episcopal Diocese of Florida, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the dioceses of Southeast Florida and Southwest Florida and on the west by the Gulf of Mexico. The two largest cities in the diocese are Orlando, with over 220,000 people, and Port St. Lucie, with over 150,000 people. The Kennedy Space Center and Walt Disney World are located within the diocese. Orlando, where St. Luke's Cathedral is located, is the see city of the diocese.
The Episcopal Diocese of the Virgin Islands is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA/T.E.C) which includes both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. The diocese is a part of Province II of the Episcopal Church. The previous Diocesan Bishop of the Virgin Islands was Edward Ambrose Gumbs, the seat is currently vacant but Rafael Morales from the Episcopal Diocese of Puerto Rico serves as Bishop Advisor. The cathedral church of the diocese is the Cathedral Church of All Saints, Charlotte Amalie. The diocese currently comprises 14 churches. There is a functioning parish school on St. Thomas All Saints Cathedral School there was an academic campus on St. Croix, St. Dunstan's Episcopal High School. St. Dunstan's closed in the 1990s. There is also the St. Georges School located on the parish property of St. Georges Episcopal Church in Road Town, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, which also opened the St. Georges School in Palestina Estate near to the St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Sea Cow's Bay, Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. There is also the St. Mary's School located on the parish property of the St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Valley, Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.
The Episcopal Diocese of Florida is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA). It originally comprised the whole state of Florida, but is now bounded on the west by the Apalachicola River, on the north by the Georgia state line, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the south by the northern boundaries of Volusia, Marion, and Citrus counties. Its cathedral church is St. John's Cathedral in Jacksonville.
The Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota is a diocese of the Episcopal Church with jurisdiction over the state of South Dakota.
The Diocese of Quincy was a diocese of the Episcopal Church in western Illinois from 1877 to 2013. The cathedral seat was originally in Quincy, Illinois but was moved to St. Paul's Cathedral in Peoria in 1963. In order to avoid confusion with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria, the diocese retained the name of the location of its original "home" city, Quincy, where its cathedral seat was St. John's.
The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth is a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. The diocese comprises 56 congregations and its headquarters are in Fort Worth, Texas.
Peter Francis Watterson was an American Catholic priest who had formerly been a bishop of the Continuing Anglican movement.
Neil Gedney Lebhar is an American Anglican bishop. He was the first bishop of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese, a newly formed diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. He has been rector of the Anglican Church of the Redeemer in Jacksonville, Florida.
James Lafayette Hobby Jr. is a former American bishop of the Anglican Church in North America. He was elected the second bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh on 23 April 2016 and enthroned on 10 September 2016. He is married to Shari, also an Anglican priest, and they have three daughters.
St Peter's Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, is an Anglican cathedral in Tallahassee, Florida, USA, dedicated to Saint Peter and seat of the Bishop of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. It was built in 2012–2014 to provide a home for the young parish of St Peter's Anglican Church, and was made the cathedral of its diocese at the Diocesan Synod on 11 November 2017. From 2018 – 2020, Archbishop Emeritus Robert Duncan served as Bishop-in-Residence and interim rector of the cathedral.
Charles Alexander Farmer is an American Anglican bishop. He is the second bishop of the Gulf Atlantic Diocese, a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. He was formerly rector of the Servants of Christ Anglican Church, Gainesville, Florida.
David C. Bryan is an American bishop of the Anglican Church in North America. Consecrated in 2013 to serve in PEARUSA, the Anglican Church of Rwanda's missionary district in North America, Bryan has since 2016 been bishop suffragan and area bishop for South Carolina in the Diocese of the Carolinas.