The Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney is one of the seven dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church. 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 a Christian heritage that can be traced back to Norman 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 bi ...

, 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 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 and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Samuel Seabury, the first Episcopal bishop outside the British Isles, was consecrated in 1784 by Robert Kilgour, 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, 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 area (population 393,000), the Banff, Buckie 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 and Lower Deeside areas of Kincardineshire (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 * 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 * 1922 to 1934: Robert Mackay * 1934 to 1948: George Bartlet * 1948 to 1953:

John Wattie John Wattie was Dean of Aberdeen and Orkney from 1948 to 1953. He was educated at King's College London and ordained in 1909. After curacies in Clapton Park and Aberdeen he held incumbencies in Kirkwall, Cambuslang, Dundee Dun ...

* 1953 to 1956: Frederick Easson, 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, later bishop * 1978 to 1983:

Alexander Adamson Alexander Adamson (21 June 1921 – 3 September 1983) was Provost of St Andrew's Cathedral, Aberdeen from 1978 to 1983. Adamson went to school in Springburn and was the Glasgow Welfare Department until he enlisted in the RAF in 1941. When peac ...

* 1983 to 1988:

Denis Bovey Denis Philip Bovey (2 December 1929 – 13 March 2023) was Provost of St Andrew's Cathedral, Aberdeen, from 1983 to 2008. Bovey was educated at Ely Theological College and ordained in 1954. After curacies in Southwick, Sunderland and West Ha ...

* 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