The Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney is one of the seven

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

s of the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...

. Created in 1865, the diocese covers the historic county of

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

, and the

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

and

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

island groups. It shares with the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen The Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen ( la, Dioecesis Aberdonensis) is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. Foundation The see is the successor of that founded in 1012 at Mortlach by Beyn, which was moved t ...

a Christian heritage that can be traced back to

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

times, and incorporates the ancient

Diocese of Orkney The Bishop of Orkney was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Orkney, one of thirteen medieval bishoprics of Scotland. It included both Orkney and Shetland. It was based for almost all of its history at St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. The ...

, founded in 1035. The diocese is considered the most conservative of the dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and was the only diocese to reject a change in the church's teaching to allow

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

in 2017. The first female bishop of the SEC,

Anne Dyer Anne Catherine Dyer (born February 1957) is a British Anglican bishop, previously a rector and an academic administrator. In 2018, she became Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney in the Scottish Episcopal Church. Subject to a report process, with a rec ...

, was appointed to the diocese in November 2017 and consecrated and enthroned on 3 March 2018. Her gender, support of same-sex marriage, and the fact that she was not elected by the diocese itself (she was appointed by the College of Bishops in accordance with the SEC canonical process when a diocese fails to meet the requirements to elect its own bishop), caused some controversy, and two senior clergy, the Dean ( Emsley Nimmo) and another member of the Cathedral Chapter, resigned their diocesan roles in protest. After further resignations by other clergy, the Westhill Community Church voted to leave the SEC in January 2019. The diocese has a strong companion link with the

Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut The Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut (also known as The Episcopal Church in 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 ...

and the

Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...

Samuel Seabury Samuel Seabury (November 30, 1729February 25, 1796) was the first American Episcopal bishop, the second Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and the first Bishop of Connecticut. He was a leading Loyalist ...

, the first Episcopal

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

outside the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

, was consecrated in 1784 by

Robert Kilgour Robert Kilgour (1714–1790) was a Scottish clergyman who served in the Scottish Episcopal Church as Bishop of Aberdeen from 1768 to 1786 and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church from 1782 to 1788. He was an outspoken supporter of the Jacob ...

, Bishop of Aberdeen, and John Skinner,

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) is a bishop in the Catholic, Anglican, and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese. The coadjutor (literally, "co ...

. Clarence Coleridge,

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

bishop of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, was consecrated by a Bishop of Aberdeen in 1981; he was elected 13th diocesan bishop of Connecticut in 1993.

Area and population

The diocese covers the historic counties of

(population 21,500), Zetland (population 23,000),

except the

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlemen ...

area (population 393,000), the Banff,

Buckie Buckie ( gd, Bucaidh) is a burgh town (defined as such in 1888) on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. Historically in Banffshire, Buckie was the largest town in the county until the administrative area was abolished in 1975. The town is the ...

and Cullen areas of

Banffshire Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...

(population 29,500), and the

Banchory Banchory (, sco, Banchry, gd, Beannchar) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is about west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee. Prehistory and archaeology In 2009, a farmer discovered a short cist ...

and

Lower Deeside Lower Deeside is a region along the River Dee in Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen in Scotland. The boundaries of this area are subject to interpretation, since the usage has altered through historic times; however, the area is generally associated wit ...

areas of

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and w ...

(population 26,000).

List of bishops

List of provosts

List of deans

The following served as Dean of Aberdeen diocese: *bef. 18461850:

John Cumming John Cumming may refer to: *John Cumming (clergyman) (1807–1881), Scottish clergyman *John Cumming (Scottish footballer) (1930–2008), Scottish footballer who played for Heart of Midlothian and Scotland *John Cumming (Australian footballe ...

, of Longside''The Clergy List'', 1846 p. 262 & 1850 p. 288 *1850''1865'': David Wilson, of Woodhead The following have served as Dean of Aberdeen and Orkney: * ''1865'' to 1880: David Wilson (title changed) * 1880 to 1886:

Arthur Ranken Arthur Ranken (23 October 1806 – 24 September 1886) was Dean of Aberdeen and Orkney from 1880 to 1886. He was born at Tyrie, Aberdeenshire in 1806, and educated at Marischal College and the University of Aberdeen and ordained in 1829. Af ...

* 1886 to 1887: Alexander Harper * 1887 to 1896: William Webster * 1896 to 1906:

William Walker William Walker may refer to: Arts * William Walker (engraver) (1791–1867), mezzotint engraver of portrait of Robert Burns * William Sidney Walker (1795–1846), English Shakespearean critic * William Walker (composer) (1809–1875), American Ba ...

* 1907 to 1909:

Myers Danson James Myers Danson (1845 in Carnforth – 1909 in Aberdeen) was Dean of Aberdeen and Orkney from 1907 to 1909. He was educated at Ingleton School and Trinity College, Dublin and ordained deacon in 1871 and priest in 1873. His first post ...

* 1910 to 1922:

James Wiseman James Monteinez Wiseman (born March 31, 2001) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently in the NBA G League for the Santa Cruz Warriors. He played ...

* 1922 to 1934: Robert Mackay * 1934 to 1948:

George Bartlet George Bartlet (13 November 1866 – 13 February 1951) was a Scottish clergyman who was dean of Aberdeen and Orkney from 1934 to 1948. Bartlet was born in 1866 in Forgue, Aberdeenshire, to George Bartlet and his wife, Isabella Cruickshank. ...

* 1948 to 1953: John Wattie * 1953 to 1956:

Frederick Easson Edward Frederick Easson (29 July 1905 – 11 February 1988) was a Scottish Episcopal Church bishop of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney in Scotland from 1956 to 1972 and Dean of Aberdeen and Orkney from 1953 to 1956. Biography He was educated a ...

, later bishop * 1956 to 1969:

Richard Kerrin Richard Elual Kerrin (4 July 1898 – 4 November 1988) was Dean of Aberdeen and Orkney from 1956 to 1969. The son of a clergyman, he was educated at Robert Gordon's College and the University of Aberdeen. After wartime service with the Arti ...

* 1969 to 1972:

Ian Begg Ian Forbes Begg (12 February 1911 – 18 March 1989) was an Anglicanism, Anglican prelate who served in the Scottish Episcopal Church as the Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney from 1973 to 1976. Biography He was born on 12 February 1911, the son of ...

, later bishop * 1973 to 1978:

Frederick Darwent Frederick Charles Darwent (20 April 1927 – 15 January 2020) was bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney, from 1976 to 1991. Biography Born in Liverpool, Darwent was educated at Ormskirk Grammar School. After military service in the Far East with the ...

, later bishop * 1978 to 1983: Alexander Adamson * 1983 to 1988: Denis Bovey * 1988 to 2008: Gerald Stranraer-Mull * 2008 to 2017: Emsley Nimmo * ''2017 to 2020: vacant'' * 2020 to 2021: Dennis Berk * 2021–present Alison Simpson

Churches and clergy

The diocese currently has 23 stipendiary clergy and 40 churches.

Former congregation

Closed churches in the diocese area

References

{{Coord, 57.1497, -2.0962, region:GB-SCT, format=dms, display=title Aberdeen and Orkney Christianity in Aberdeen