The Diocese of Keewatin was a
diocese of the
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2017, the Anglican Church co ...
. As of 1 August 2014, it no longer had any territorial jurisdiction, but it continued to exist as a legal entity until 30 September 2015, when it was formally closed.
Formerly, the diocese straddled the border of the civil
provinces of
Manitoba and
Ontario, comprising over 900,000 square kilometres. The diocese was geographically isolated, consisting of mainly small, and mostly
First Nations, communities. The largest of these,
Kenora
Kenora (), previously named Rat Portage (french: Portage-aux-Rats), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District.
The his ...
,
Ontario, was also the diocese's
See city
See or SEE may refer to:
* Sight - seeing
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Music:
** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals
*** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See''
** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho
* Television
* ...
. There were just over 11,000 Anglicans on forty-eight parish rolls. The diocese was established by the
Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land
The Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land, founded in 1875, forms one of four ecclesiastical provinces in the Anglican Church of Canada.
Territorial evolution
The territory covered by the province is roughly coterminous with the western por ...
in 1902, and it was a major focus for
missionary activity among the
indigenous peoples there.
The last bishop (the diocese's ninth) was Archbishop
David Ashdown
David Norman Ashdown (1950–2021) was the (9th) Bishop of Keewatin in the Anglican Church of Canada and the 16th Metropolitan of Rupert's Land
Rupert's Land (french: Terre de Rupert), or Prince Rupert's Land (french: Terre du Prince Ru ...
. Elected Bishop of Keewatin in 2001, he was subsequently elected Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land in June 2009. The
dean was the Very Rev. Hugh Matheson.
Closure of diocese
As set out in a June 2013 resolution of the Anglican Church's General Synod, the diocese of Keewatin ceased to operate on 31 December 2014. It was formally closed on 30 September 2015, at which time Archbishop Ashdown retired as both diocesan bishop and as Metropolitan of
Rupert's Land. The
First Nations parishes in northwestern Ontario and northern Manitoba were separated from Keewatin on 1 June 2014 to form the new diocese of
Mishamikoweesh. The Rt. Rev.
Lydia Mamakwa, the area bishop for Northern Ontario within the former Keewatin diocese, is now diocesan bishop of Mishamikoweesh.
The southern parishes in the diocese were transferred to the
Diocese of Rupert's Land on 1 August 2014.
[Rupert's Land Keewatin Boundary Changes]
Rupert's Land diocesan website (pdf)
19 June 2014. There were also minor adjustments to the boundaries of the
Diocese of Brandon
The Diocese of Brandon is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land of the Anglican Church of Canada. It has an area of . The Rt. Rev'd William Grant Cliff, (formerly Rector of the Collegiate Chapel of St John the Evangelist at ...
.
Bishops of Keewatin
References
See also Anglican Church of Canada, ''Anglican Church Directory, 2007''. Anglican Book Centre, 2006.
External links
Diocesan website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keewatin
Christian organizations established in 1902
Keewatin, Anglican Diocese of
Anglican Province of Rupert's Land