Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia
Encyclopedia
General information
Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia is the dioceseDiocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America located in the southeast area of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. It is in Province III
Province 3 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America
Province 3 is one of nine ecclesiastical provinces making up the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It comprises thirteen dioceses in the Middle Atlantic States of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C..-Dioceses of Province...
(for the Middle Atlantic
Mid-Atlantic States
The Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...
region). The diocese includes the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
area; Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
south of the James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
; most of the region known as Southside Virginia; and Northampton County
Northampton County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 12,389 people, 5,321 households, and 3,543 families residing in the county. The population density was 63 people per square mile . There were 6,547 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...
, the southernmost of the two counties on the Eastern Shore of Virginia
Eastern Shore of Virginia
The Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties on the Atlantic coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is separated from the rest of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay. Its population was 45,553 as of 2010...
.
The Diocese of Southern Virginia was created as a split from the Diocese of Virginia
Episcopal Diocese of Virginia
The Diocese of Virginia is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America encompassing 38 counties in the northern and central parts of the state of Virginia. The diocese was organized in 1785 and is one of the Episcopal Church's nine original dioceses. However, the diocese has...
in 1892. The Diocese of Southwestern Virginia
Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia
Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America located in the southwest area of Virginia. It is in Province III . The diocese includes 56 parishes in the southwestern corner of Virginia, including the cities of Lynchburg and...
split off from the Diocese of Southern Virginia in 1919.
The diocese elected The Rt. Rev. Herman Hollerith IV as bishop on September 27, 2008, who was consecrated as the Tenth Bishop of the Diocese of Southern Virginia on February 10, 2009. The diocese does not contain a cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
church, though its offices are in Norfolk
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
.
Camp Chanco, the diocesan retreat center, is located in Surry
Surry, Virginia
Surry is an incorporated town in Surry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 262 at the 2000 census...
.
Historical significance
The Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia geographically encompasses the City of Williamsburg which includes Colonial WilliamsburgColonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
. Bruton Parish is located along the historic Duke of Gloucester
Duke of Gloucester
Duke of Gloucester is a British royal title , often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England, the next in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; this current creation carries with it the...
Street . During times when the House of Burgesses
House of Burgesses
The House of Burgesses was the first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America...
was holding its sessions in Colonial Williamsburg, American patriots George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, and Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry
Patrick Henry was an orator and politician who led the movement for independence in Virginia in the 1770s. A Founding Father, he served as the first and sixth post-colonial Governor of Virginia from 1776 to 1779 and subsequently, from 1784 to 1786...
worshipped at Bruton Parish..
When Jamestown
Jamestown, Virginia
Jamestown was a settlement in the Colony of Virginia. Established by the Virginia Company of London as "James Fort" on May 14, 1607 , it was the first permanent English settlement in what is now the United States, following several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke...
, Virginia was founded May 14, 1607, the town was established in the geographical area that would become the Diocese of Southern Virginia. The settlers there established one of the first churches in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
that became the meeting place of the first New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
legislative assembly
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly is the name given in some countries to either a legislature, or to one of its branch.The name is used by a number of member-states of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as a number of Latin American countries....
on July 30, 1619..
The Diocese also includes St. John's Episcopal Church
St. John's Episcopal Church (Hampton, Virginia)
St. John's is an Episcopal church located in Hampton, Virginia within the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia.-Overview:St. John's Episcopal Church, established in 1610, is the oldest English-speaking parish in continuous existence in the United States of America. -History:English settlers...
, Elizabeth City Parish
Elizabeth City (Virginia Company)
Elizabeth City was one of four incorporations established in the Virginia Colony in 1619 by the proprietor, the Virginia Company of London, acting in accordance with instructions issued by Sir George Yeardley, Governor.The plantations and developments were divided into four political divisions,...
, in Hampton, Virginia
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
. The church was established in 1610 making it the oldest English-speaking Parish
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
in continuous existence in the United States of America. In addition, St. John’s occationally uses Communion
Communion (Christian)
The term communion is derived from Latin communio . The corresponding term in Greek is κοινωνία, which is often translated as "fellowship". In Christianity, the basic meaning of the term communion is an especially close relationship of Christians, as individuals or as a Church, with God and with...
silver (a chalice and two patens) dating from 1618. This communion silver has the longest history of continuous use in the United States of any English church silver.
On Sunday June 24, 2007, The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori
Katharine Jefferts Schori
Katharine Jefferts Schori is the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States. Previously elected as the 9th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nevada, she is the first woman elected as a primate of the Anglican Communion...
, presiding bishop of ECUSA led the 400th anniversary celebration of the first Anglican service of Holy Communion in the new World at Jamestown, with Interim Bishop John Clark Buchanan serving as host.
Bishops
The Diocese of Southern Virginia has had 10 diocesan bishops:- Alfred M. Randolph (1892–1918)
Beverley D. Tucker Coadjutor (1906–1918) - Beverly D. Tucker (1918–1930)
Arthur C. Thompson Suffragan (1917–1919); Coadjutor (1919–1930) - Arthur C. Thompson (1930–1937)
- William A. BrownWilliam A. BrownWilliam A. Brown was the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia from 1938 until 1950....
(1938–1950)
George P. Gunn Coadjutor (1948–1950) - George P. Gunn (1950–1971)
David S. Rose Suffragan (1958–1964); Coadjutor (1964–1971) - David S. Rose (1971–1978)
C. Charles Vache Coadjutor (1976–1978) - C. Charles Vache (1978–1991)
Frank H. Vest Coadjutor (1989–1991) - Frank H. Vest (1991–1998)
O'Kelley Whitaker Assisting Bishop (1992–1997)
David C. Bane, Jr. Coadjutor (1997–1998) - David C. Bane, Jr. (1998–2006)
Donald P. Hart Assisting Bishop (1998–2001)
Carol Joy W. T. Gallagher Suffragan (2002–2005)
Robert H. Johnson Assisting Bishop (2006)
John C. Buchanan Assisting Bishop (2006–2009) - Herman Hollerith IV (2009-)