The Diocese of Argyll and The Isles is in the west of Scotland, and 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 ...

. It is perhaps the largest of the dioceses, but has the smallest number of church members. As a ''united diocese'', Argyll and The Isles has two

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

s: St John's in

Oban Oban ( ; ' in Scottish Gaelic meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, th ...

and the Cathedral of The Isles in Millport, Isle of Cumbrae. The Diocese of the Isles, by itself, was founded by Patrick in 900, and the Diocese of Argyll was founded by Bishop Harald in 1193. During the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke with the Pope, Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Church of Scotland, Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterianism, Presbyterian in ...

, most of the heritage and jurisdiction of the church was given to the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

. However, the small

claims to have maintained the line of bishops of both dioceses through to the present day. In the seventeenth century, the Diocese of the Isles was united with the dioceses of

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

and

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, in 1819, was separated from them to unite with the Diocese of Argyll. In 1878, the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

created a Diocese of Argyll and the Isles. The diocese is responsible for the only two Episcopalian retreat houses in Scotland ( Bishop's House Iona and the College of the Holy Spirit at the Cathedral of The Isles).

Keith Riglin Keith Graham Riglin is an Anglican bishop in the Scottish Episcopal Church. Having ministered from 1983 within Baptist and Reformed churches, he took holy orders in the Church of England in 2008. In January 2021 he was elected Bishop of Argy ...

, Vice Dean of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, was elected by an Electoral Synod on 30 January 2021; his consecration was on 1 May 2021. The Diocese of Argyll and The Isles is twinned with the

Anglican Diocese of Zanzibar The Anglican Church of Tanzania (ACT) is a province of the Anglican Communion based in Dodoma. It consists of 28 dioceses (27 on the Tanzanian mainland, and 1 on Zanzibar) headed by their respective bishops. It seceded from the Province of East A ...

(

Anglican Church of Tanzania The Anglican Church of Tanzania (ACT) is a province of the Anglican Communion based in Dodoma. It consists of 28 dioceses (27 on the Tanzanian mainland, and 1 on Zanzibar) headed by their respective bishops. It seceded from the Province of East A ...

) and the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware ( Episcopal Church in the United States of America).

Area and population

The diocese covers the historic counties of

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

shire (population 60,000) and

Buteshire The County of Bute ( gd, Siorrachd Bhòid), also known as Buteshire, is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. The county comprises a number of islands in the Firth of Clyde, between the counties of Argyll and Ayrshire, the p ...

(population 12,500), the

Hebridean The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner a ...

parts of

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populatio ...

and

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latt ...

(population 38,000), and the

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; gd, Loch Abar) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creation ...

area of Inverness-shire (population 16,500). This total population of approximately 127,000 makes it the smallest British Anglican diocese by population apart from the Diocese of Sodor and Man. It gives the diocese a ratio of one priest to every 18,100 inhabitants and one church to every 3,850 inhabitants.

Deans of the diocese

Secessions

On 24 November 2017 the congregation of Christ Church, Harris, a Scottish Episcopal church in the Western Isles, announced that they could no longer remain under the oversight of their local bishop, Kevin Pearson, then- Bishop of Argyll and The Isles, owing to his support of the SEC's approval of same-sex marriage. They would instead be receiving the episcopal ministry of

Andy Lines Andrew John Lines (born 1960) is a British Anglican bishop. Since June 2017, he has been the Missionary Bishop to Europe of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), a province outside the Anglican Communion. In 2020, he became the first pres ...

, the Missionary Bishop to Europe of the Anglican Church in North America. Daniel Davies, the priest-in-charge of Christ Church, resigned his SEC position on 22 January 2018.

Churches

The diocese currently has 8 stipendiary clergy (including the Bishop who is also the Provost of Cumbrae Cathedral) and 32 active churches.

Former congregation

Closed churches in the diocese area

References

{{authority control Argyll and The Isles Religion in Argyll and Bute 1819 establishments in Scotland