The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts is one of the nine original dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

History

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

was founded by

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

s who did not accept such aspects of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

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 ...

s and the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

. The first

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish in the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

was

King's Chapel King's Chapel is an American independent christianity, Christian unitarianism, unitarian congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association that is "unitarian Christian in theology, anglicanism, Anglican in worship, and congrega ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, founded in 1688, 58 years after the city. After the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, King's Chapel became the first Unitarian congregation in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The oldest remaining parishes in the

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 ...

are Christ Church in Quincy, founded in 1704, St. Paul's in

Newburyport Newburyport is a coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, northeast of Boston. The population was 18,289 at the 2020 census. A historic seaport with vibrant tourism industry, Newburyport includes part of Plum Island. The mo ...

, founded as Queen Anne's Chapel in 1711, St. Michael's Church in Marblehead, founded in 1714, Christ Church in

(

Old North Church Old North Church (officially, Christ Church in the City of Boston), at 193 Salem Street, in the North End, Boston, is the location from which the famous "One if by land, two if by sea" signal is said to have been sent. This phrase is related ...

), founded in 1723, and St. Andrew's Church in

South Scituate Norwell is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,351 at the 2020 United States census. The town's southeastern border runs along the North River. History Norwell was first settled in 1634 as a part of ...

(now

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

), founded in 1727. The diocese was organized in 1784, five years before the Episcopal Church itself. The first bishop (for New England and New York) was

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 ...

who was consecrated by the bishops 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 ...

in 1784. Today, it is one of the largest dioceses in the ECUSA in terms of membership. It encompasses the eastern part of Massachusetts, specifically, the nine counties east and southeast of Worcester County. The diocese was the first 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 ...

to consecrate a woman as a bishop. Barbara Harris became bishop

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 ...

of the diocese in 1989. It became the first diocese in the Episcopal Church to install an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

as diocesan bishop when John Melville Burgess was consecrated as the 12th bishop in 1970. The current diocesan bishop is Alan M. Gates. He was consecrated bishop in 2014 and succeeded M. Thomas Shaw upon the latter's retirement in September 2014. The current bishop suffragan is Gayle E. Harris, consecrated in January 2003. Historically, the diocese has been considered Low Church; however, there are a number of

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

parishes, the most notable of which is the Church of the Advent in Boston. Its best-known Low Church parish is Trinity Church in Boston's

Copley Square Copley Square , named for painter John Singleton Copley, is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to it ...

. However, Trinity and most other parishes in the diocese have become 'higher' in the last 25 years with the introduction of Mass vestments such as the chasuble. Earlier distinctions between Low and High Church have largely disappeared across every diocese. * The

see 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 * ...

city is

. *

Episcopal Divinity School The Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) is a theological school in New York City that trains students for service with the Episcopal Church. It is affiliated with the Union Theological Seminary. Students who enroll in the EDS at Union Anglican st ...

was located in the diocese from its formation in 1974 until moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 2017. Many of the diocese's

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

are

alumni Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...

of EDS. *

List of Bishops in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts {{short description, None The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts is one of the nine original Dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States, officially organised in 1784, five years before the Episcopal Church itself, its first bishop was co ...

The diocesan offices are located at 138 Tremont Street, adjacent to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul. The diocese had 87,000 members in 2013 and had fallen to 82,450 by 2014.Episcopal Church membership report
/ref>

Diocesan Bishops

Edward Bass Edward Bass (November 23, 1726 in Dorchester, Massachusetts – September 10, 1803 in Newburyport, Massachusetts) was the first American Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts and second bishop of the Diocese of Rhode Island. Biog ...

(1797-1803) # Samuel Parker (1804) #

Alexander Viets Griswold Alexander Viets Griswold (April 22, 1766 – February 15, 1843) was the 5th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States from 1836 until 1843. He was also the Bishop of the Eastern Diocese, which included all of New Englan ...

(1811-1843) #

Manton Eastburn Manton Eastburn (1801 in Leeds, England – 1872) was an Episcopal bishop who served as the fourth Bishop of Massachusetts from 1843 till 1872. Biography After graduation from Columbia University, he studied at the General Theological Seminary o ...

(1843-1872) # Benjamin Henry Paddock (1873-1891) #

Phillips Brooks Phillips Brooks (December 13, 1835January 23, 1893) was an American Episcopal clergyman and author, long the Rector of Boston's Trinity Church and briefly Bishop of Massachusetts. He wrote the lyrics of the Christmas hymn, "O Little Town of ...

(1891-1893) # William Lawrence (1893-1927) # Charles Lewis Slattery (1927-1930) #

Henry Knox Sherrill Henry Knox Sherrill (November 6, 1890 – May 11, 1980) was an Episcopal bishop. He was the 20th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church from 1947 to 1958, having previously served as Bishop of Massachusetts (1930-1947). Biography Henry Kno ...

(1930-1947) # Norman Burdett Nash (1947-1956) #

Anson Phelps Stokes Anson Phelps Stokes (February 22, 1838 – June 28, 1913) was a wealthy American merchant, property developer, banker, genealogist and philanthropist. Born in New York City, he was the son of James Boulter and Caroline Stokes. His paternal gran ...

(1956-1970) # John Burgess (1970-1975) #

John Bowen Coburn John Bowen Coburn (September 27, 1914 – August 8, 2009) was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts from 1976 to 1986. Early life and education Coburn was born on September 27, 1914, in Danbury, Connecticut, the son of the Reveren ...

(1976-1986) # David Johnson (1986-1995) # M. Thomas Shaw (1995-2014) # Alan McIntosh Gates (2014–present)

Suffragan Bishops

# Samuel G. Babcock (1913-1938) # Raymond A. Heron (1938-1954) #

Frederic C. Lawrence Frederic Cunningham Lawrence (May 22, 1899 – April 16, 1989) was a suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts (1956–1968). Early life and education Lawrence was born on May 22, 1899, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of Bis ...

(1956-1968) # John M. Burgess (1962-1969) # Morris F. Arnold (1972-1982) # Barbara C. Harris (1989-2003) # Roy F. Cederholm Jr. (2001-2011) # Gayle E. Harris (2003–present)

References

External links

Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
- official website *
Journal of the Annual Convention, Diocese of Massachusetts
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Massachusetts Diocese of Massachusetts Anglican dioceses established in the 18th century

Province 1 of the Episcopal Church (United States) Religious organizations established in 1784