The Episcopal Diocese of New York is a

diocese In 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 provinces were administratively associat ...

of the

Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...

, encompassing three

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

and seven

New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a U.S. state, state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the List of U.S. ...

counties.The Episcopal Diocese of New York, The Diocese
Retrieved 8 December 2022. Established in 1785, it is one of the Episcopal Church's original

dioceses In 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 provinces were administratively associate ...

. The current diocesan bishop is the Rt. Rev. Andrew Dietsche, whose seat is at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.The Episcopal Diocese of New York, Our Bishops
Retrieved 8 December 2022

Overview

The Diocese of New York contains approximately 190 places of worship in the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

and

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

and the

counties of Dutchess, Orange,

Putnam Putnam may refer to: People * Putnam (surname) Places Canada * Putnam, Ontario, community in Thames Centre United States * Putnam, Alabama * Putnam, Connecticut, a New England town ** Putnam (CDP), Connecticut, the main village in the town ...

Rockland Rockland may refer to: People *Per Bergsland, nicknamed Peter Rockland, one of three successful escapees from Stalag Luft III (the "Great Escape") Places ;In Canada *Rockland, Greater Victoria *Rockland, Nova Scotia *Rockland, Ontario ;In the Uni ...

Sullivan Sullivan may refer to: People Characters * Chloe Sullivan, from the television series ''Smallville'' * Colin Sullivan, a character in the film ''The Departed'', played by Matt Damon * Harry Sullivan (''Doctor Who''), from the British science f ...

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label=Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...

and

Westchester Westchester most commonly refers to Westchester County, New York, immediately north of New York City. __NOTOC__ It may also refer to: Geography Canada *Westchester Station, Nova Scotia, Canada United States *Town of Westchester, the original seat ...

. Beyond New York City, the diocese is divided into two regions (Region II and the Mid-Hudson Region), which are made up of geographical deaneries, each of which is known as a "clericus". The diocese was established in 1785 after the

Anglican Church 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 t ...

was disestablished following 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 Revolu ...

, and is one of the nine original

dioceses of the Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church (TEC) is governed by a General Convention and consists of 99 dioceses in the United States proper, plus eleven dioceses in other countries or outlying U.S. territories and the diocese of Convocation of Episcopal Churches in E ...

. It is one of ten dioceses, plus the

Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe The Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe (formerly the Convocation of American Churches in Europe) is a jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church created in 1859 by an action of its general convention. The convocation includes all Episcopal con ...

, that make up Province 2. The diocese is led by the Rt. Rev. Andrew Dietsche, 16th Bishop of New York, who is assisted by the Rt. Rev.

Allen K. Shin Allen Kunho Shin is a Korean-American bishop of the Episcopal Church who is the current Suffragan Bishop of New York. Education and ministry Shin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Vocal Performance from Eastern Michigan Universi ...

as bishop suffragan and the Rt. Rev.

Mary Glasspool Mary Douglas Glasspool (born February 23, 1954) is an assistant bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of New York. She previously served as a suffragan bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles from 2010 to 2016. She is the first avowed lesbian to ...

as assistant bishop. Dietsche is expected to retire in 2024 and will be succeeded as diocesan bishop by the Rev.

Matthew Heyd The Rev. Matthew Foster Heyd is an American clergyman currently serving as rector of the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City.Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City.Episcopal Diocese of New York Bishop Search, "The Rev. Matthew Foster Heyd Is Bishop Coadjutor-Elect of the Episcopal Diocese of New York"
3 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022. The Bishop's seat is the

Cathedral of St. John the Divine The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhood ...

on Amsterdam Avenue in

, where the diocesan offices are also located. The national headquarters of the Episcopal Church are also located in the diocese, at 815 Second Avenue. The diocese has approximately 50,000 members and 500 canonically resident priests.

History

Colonial and revolutionary period

Anglicanism in New York can be traced to the English acquisition of the territory from the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands ( Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

in the latter part of the 17th century. In 1664 the English king, Charles II, awarded the

Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the ...

to his brother, the Duke of York (later

James II James II may refer to: * James II of Avesnes (died c. 1205), knight of the Fourth Crusade * James II of Majorca (died 1311), Lord of Montpellier * James II of Aragon (1267–1327), King of Sicily * James II, Count of La Marche (1370–1438), King C ...

),New York to Pennsylvania 1664-1744 by Sanderson Beck
/ref> and English rule over New York was firmly established by 1674. Initially, since James II was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

, little was done to promote 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 Britai ...

in New York, but in 1683 the '' New York Charter of Liberties and Privileges'' was adopted, guaranteeing religious tolerance and liberty, and, after the Glorious Revolution, the English monarchy actively promoted the growth of the Church of England in the province. In 1693 it became the province's

established church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a ...

, although certain accommodations were made for the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family a ...

. In 1693, the first Anglican parish in New York, St. Peters Church, was founded in what was the town of Westchester (today Westchester Square in the Bronx) followed a year later by Trinity Church in lower Manhattan. With royal patronage and the assistance of the

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

, other churches were founded in the ensuing decades, such as Grace Church (now Christ's Church) in

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

in 1705. As Anglicanism grew in New York and throughout the American colonies, the Church of England began to see the need to establish an episcopate in the Americas. This plan caused fear among a number of colonists and may have contributed to the

. The Church's involvement in the creation of King's College (now

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

) and its large

endowment Endowment most often refers to: *A term for human penis size It may also refer to: Finance *Financial endowment, pertaining to funds or property donated to institutions or individuals (e.g., college endowment) *Endowment mortgage, a mortgage to b ...

, far surpassing all other colonial colleges of the period, added to the fear of creating an

episcopacy 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 ...

and of Crown influence in America through the College. During the Revolution, many thought that the Church harbored loyalties to

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. It has been estimated that as many as 90 percent of Anglican clergymen in the diocese remained loyal to the Crown during the revolution.

Post-revolutionary period

After the Revolution, the Church was disestablished and a number of prominent clergymen were imprisoned, including Samuel Seabury, rector of St. Peter’s in the Bronx, who later became the first Bishop of Connecticut. After an act was passed in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

whereby the English bishops were empowered to confer the episcopate upon men who were not subject to the British Crown, Samuel Provoost was consecrated as the first Bishop of New York in 1787. Two years later, the Episcopal Church formally separated from the Church of England so that its clergy would not be required to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown. The selection of Provoost served to mollify anti-Anglican sentiments that had arisen during the Revolution. In his ''Addresses on the History of the United States Senate'', Senator Robert Byrd noted that in the years before the Revolution Provoost "was a passionate Whig, and his sympathy for the colonies against English rule did not sit well with his wealthy loyalist congregation. Before long, his patriotism cost him his parish. During the Revolution, Provoost ... narrowly escaped capture and death at the hands of the British". Having thus established his revolutionary credentials, Provoost was chosen as the first chaplain of the United States Senate in 1789, when the government was based in New York. Immediately following his inauguration as the first

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

, George Washington, together with members of Congress, proceeded to

St. Paul's Chapel St. Paul's Chapel is a chapel building of Trinity Church, an episcopal parish, located at 209 Broadway, between Fulton Street and Vesey Street, in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1766, it is the oldest surviving church building in Man ...

, where Provoost led a service of prayer for the new government.

Later history

In the 1830s and 1840s the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...

caused controversies and divisions within the diocese, as it did elsewhere within the Episcopal Church and the broader Anglican communion. In New York, the divisions crystallized in a dispute over the ordination of Arthur Carey. A graduate of the

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating Seminary in the Anglican Commu ...

, Carey had been greatly influenced by the '' Tracts for the Times'', and as his ordination approached, he was opposed by a number of clergy and laity.

Benjamin Onderdonk Benjamin Treadwell Onderdonk (July 15, 1791, New York City – April 30, 1861, New York) was the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York from 1830–1861. Early years A member of a prominent Hempstead family, Onderdonk graduated from Colum ...

and other presbyters conducted an examination of Carey, which ultimately found him fit for ordination, and he was thus ordained in 1843. The dispute did not end, however, and a number of letters were published accusing Carey and ultimately Onderdonk of being overly sympathetic to

Roman Catholicism 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 ...

. The controversy spread beyond the diocese, and at least one other diocese adopted a resolution condemning Onderdonk. As the controversy continued, charges were presented to the

House of Bishops The House of Bishops is the third House in a General Synod of some Anglican churches and the second house in the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

alleging that Onderdonk had committed an "immoral act" with a Mrs. Butler and other women (charges of intoxication were also mentioned, but downplayed).Project Canterbury: Statement of Bishop Meade
/ref> After a trial, the House of Bishops suspended Onderdonk in 1845.
Whether or not this was the result of the dispute over the issues raised by the Carey affair was hotly debated at the time, in a series of tracts and published letters of the parties involved. After Onderdonk's suspension, the episcopacy was vacant for seven years until Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright I was called as Provisional Bishop in 1852. The healing work that he began in the diocese was continued by his successor, Horatio Potter, under whose leadership the Episcopal Church continued to grow. As a result of this growth, it was decided to split the diocese into four separate areas in 1868, with the creation of the dioceses of Long Island, Albany and Western New York. Under Potter's nephew and successor, Henry Codman Potter, plans were developed and, after much deliberation, a site was chosen for the construction of the

, in the

Morningside Heights Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningside H ...

area of Manhattan. The cornerstone was laid in 1892 and the Cathedral was consecrated and opened for worship in 1911. Since the late 19th century, and especially in the mid-to-late 20th century, the diocese has been noted for its social activism, with Bishops

Horace Donegan Horace William Baden Donegan (May 17, 1900 – November 11, 1991) was a bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America and served as the Bishop of New York from 1950 to 1972. Early life Donegan was born at Cordella, the ...

and Paul Moore, for example, prominent advocates of the

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

movement. It was under Donegan that the diocese permitted women to serve on vestries and ordained its first women deacons and priests. The late 20th and early 21st centuries have been marked by increased diversity. During Bishop Mark Sisk's tenure, Japanese- and Spanish-speaking congregations were established, and, as of 2022, worship services were offered in the diocese in at least 10 languages, including Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Igbo. In 1996 Episcopal Charities was founded to fund local programs and, as of 2022, has provided some $17 million in support.

Bishops of New York

The following have served as diocesan bishops, provisional bishops, bishops coadjutor, bishops suffragan or assistant bishops in the Diocese of New York:

Diocesan bishops

Bishops suffragan

Assistant bishops

Churches

As of 2022, there were approximately 190 Episcopal places of worship in the diocese, located in the New York

and

and in the

counties of Dutchess, Orange,

and

. They include the following, some of which may no longer be active:The Episcopal Diocese of New York, Maps of the Diocese
Retrieved 8 December 2022.

New York City

Manhattan

Staten Island

The Bronx

Dutchess County

Orange County

Putnam County

Rockland County

Sullivan County

Ulster County

Westchester County

Educational and other institutions

Schools

The following schools are located within the Diocese of New York and affiliated with the Episcopal Church:

Spiritual communities

Anglican spiritual communities and religious orders active within the Diocese of New York include:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New York Episcopal Diocese of New York Episcopal Church in New York (state) New York New York Province 2 of the Episcopal Church (United States) Christianity in New York City Episcopal bishops of New York Religious organizations established in 1785