The Episcopal Diocese of Liberia is a diocese in the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

founded by missionaries from the Episcopal Church. During the 1851

General Convention of the Episcopal Church The General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority ...

, the Rev. John Payne, a missionary from Virginia was consecrated as missionary bishop for

Cape Palmas Cape Palmas is a headland on the extreme southeast end of the coast of Liberia, Africa, at the extreme southwest corner of the northern half of the continent. The Cape itself consists of a small, rocky peninsula connected to the mainland by a san ...

and other areas of West Africa, which became

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. The name of the jurisdiction was changed to the Missionary District of Liberia on October 17, 1913, and to the Episcopal Diocese of Liberia on January 1, 1970. In 1951, the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

authorized creation of the

Province of West Africa The Church of the Province of West Africa is a province of the Anglican Communion, covering 17 dioceses in eight countries of West Africa, specifically in Cameroon, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Ghana is the ...

. On March 18, 1982, the diocese of Liberia joined the Church of the Province of West Africa. Although some Anglican churches in Africa recently broke away in a dispute concerning the ordination of homosexuals as clergy, the Episcopal Diocese of Liberia remains in full communion and maintains a covenant relationship with The Episcopal Church.

Bishops

Bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of Liberia include: * John Payne (1851-1871) * John Gottlieb Auer (1873-1874) * Charles Clifton Penick (1874-?) *

Samuel David Ferguson Samuel David Ferguson (January 1, 1842 – August 2, 1916) was an African American clergyman in Liberia. He was the first African American to be elected as a bishop of the Episcopal Church in Liberia. Biography Samuel David Ferguson was born in ...

(1885-1916) * Walter H. Overs (1919-) * Theophilus Momolu Gardiner (1921- * Robert E. Campbell (bishop) (1925-1936) * Leopold Kroll (1936-1945) * Bravid W. Harris (1947-1964) * Dillard H. Brown Jr. (1961-1969) *

George Browne George Browne may refer to: *Sir George Browne (died 1483) (1440–1483), took part in Buckingham's rebellion *George Browne (archbishop of Dublin) (died 1556), Anglican bishop in Ireland * George Browne (by 1517–62 or later), MP for Berwick-upon ...

(1970-1989) * Jonathan Hart (2007- )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberia Christian missionary societies Christian missions in Africa Religious organizations established in 1851 1851 establishments in Liberia Anglicanism in Liberia Dioceses of the Church of the Province of West Africa