Diocese of Canterbury

Diocese of the Church of England

51°16′47″N 1°5′0″E / 51.27972°N 1.08333°E / 51.27972; 1.08333StatisticsParishes231Churches327InformationCathedralCanterbury CathedralCurrent leadershipBishopJustin Welby, Archbishop of CanterburySuffragansRose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover (pseudo-diocesan)
Norman Banks, Bishop of Richborough (PEV)
Rob Munro, Bishop of Ebbsfleet (PEV)ArchdeaconsWill Adam, Archdeacon of Canterbury
Darren Miller, Archdeacon of Ashford
Andrew Sewell, Archdeacon of MaidstoneWebsitewww.canterburydiocese.org

The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering eastern Kent which was founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest see of the Church of England.

The Report of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty to inquire into the Ecclesiastical Revenues of England and Wales (1835) noted the net annual revenue for the Canterbury see was £19,182.^[1] This made it the wealthiest diocese in England.

Bishops

The diocesan bishop is the Archbishop of Canterbury, presently Justin Welby. However, because of his roles as metropolitan bishop of the Province of Canterbury, Primate of All England and "first bishop" of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the archbishop (whose primary residence is at Lambeth Palace in London) is often away from the diocese. Therefore, his suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Dover (presently Rose Hudson-Wilkin), is in many ways empowered to act almost as if she were the diocesan bishop.

The diocese had from 1944 to 2009 a second locally focussed suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Maidstone (this version of the post was discontinued in November 2010), who had a similar though subordinate role to that of the Bishop of Dover.^[2] Two suffragans have nominal sees in the diocese — the Bishops of Ebbsfleet and Richborough, who are provincial episcopal visitors with a wider focus than the diocese.

Besides the Archbishop and the Bishop of Dover, three honorary assistant bishops supervise and officiate. Alternative episcopal oversight (for parishes in the diocese who reject the ministry of priests who are women) is provided by the provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), the Bishop suffragan of Richborough, Norman Banks. There are three honorary assistant bishops licensed in the diocese:

2003–present: Michael Turnbull, retired former Bishop of Durham and Bishop of Rochester, lives in Sandwich.^[3]
2008–present: Richard Llewellin, retired former Bishop at Lambeth (chief of staff for the Archbishop at Lambeth Palace) and former Bishop of Dover, lives in Canterbury.^[4]
2009–present: Graham Cray, retired Archbishops' Missioner and fresh expressions Team Leader and former Bishop suffragan of Maidstone lives in Harrietsham.^[5]

Diocesan structure

For organisational purposes, the diocese is divided into three archdeaconries,^[6] containing a total of fifteen deaneries, which are further subdivided into parishes:^[7] Canterbury Diocese comprises 204 parishes organised in 101 legal benefices. ^[8]

Diocese	Archdeaconries	Rural deaneries
Diocese of Canterbury	Archdeaconry of Canterbury	Deanery of Canterbury
		Deanery of East Bridge
		Deanery of Reculver
		Deanery of Thanet
		Deanery of West Bridge
	Archdeaconry of Ashford	Deanery of Ashford
		Deanery of Dover
		Deanery of Elham
		Deanery of Romney and Tenterden
		Deanery of Sandwich
	Archdeaconry of Maidstone	Deanery of Maidstone
		Deanery of North Downs
		Deanery of Ospringe
		Deanery of Sittingbourne
		Deanery of Weald

References

^ The National Enclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol.III, Charles Knight, London, 1847, p.362
^ Canterbury Diocese — Synod News Archived June 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Turnbull, Michael". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 25 April 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Llewellin, (John) Richard (Allan)". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 25 April 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Cray, Graham Alan". Who's Who. Vol. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 25 April 2014. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Drew, Anna (11 September 2016). "New Archdeacon of Canterbury appointed". The Diocese of Canterbury. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
^ "Deaneries and parishes". The Diocese of Canterbury. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
^ "Diocese of Canterbury | Deaneries and Parishes". www.canterburydiocese.org. Retrieved 28 October 2022.

External links

Official website
Church of England Statistics 2002 Archived 3 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
Diocese of Canterbury in the Province of Canterbury

Anglican dioceses in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands

Church of England
(list of dioceses)

Province of Canterbury	Bath and Wells Birmingham Bristol Canterbury Chelmsford Chichester Coventry Derby Ely Europe Exeter Gloucester Guildford Hereford Leicester Lichfield Lincoln London Norwich Oxford Peterborough Portsmouth Rochester St Albans St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Salisbury Southwark Truro Winchester Worcester
Province of York	Blackburn Carlisle Chester Durham Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle Sheffield Sodor and Man Southwell and Nottingham York

Church in Wales

Scottish Episcopal Church

Church of Ireland

Province of Armagh	Armagh Clogher Connor Derry and Raphoe Down and Dromore Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh
Province of Dublin	Cashel and Ossory Cork, Cloyne and Ross Dublin and Glendalough Tuam, Limerick and Killaloe Meath and Kildare

v t e Diocese of Canterbury
Canterbury Cathedral The Old Palace, Canterbury Diocesan House, Canterbury
Office holders	Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury (Primate of All England) Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop suffragan of Dover (pseudo-diocesan) AEO: the Bishop suffragan of Richborough & the Bishop suffragan of Ebbsfleet David Monteith, Dean of Canterbury Will Adam, Archdeacon of Canterbury Darren Miller, Archdeacon of Ashford Andrew Sewell, Archdeacon of Maidstone
Provincial episcopal visitors	Norman Banks, Bishop suffragan of Richborough Rob Munro, Bishop suffragan of Ebbsfleet
Selected deaneries	Elham Deanery Romney Deanery
Historic offices	Bishop suffragan of Croydon (1904–1985; transferred to Southwark) Bishop suffragan of Maidstone (1944–2009) Archdeacon of Croydon (1930–1985; transferred to Southwark)