The Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast 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 associa ...
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 ...
, part of
Province 4. The diocese was created in 1970 from portions of the adjoining dioceses of
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
and
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
Its territory encompasses the southern third of
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
and the
Florida Panhandle region, west of the
Appalachicola River
The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its fa ...
. Most of its churches are located in the
Mobile, Alabama area and in a
population strip along the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
extending from
Pensacola
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...
to
Panama City, Florida
Panama City is a city in and the county seat of Bay County, Florida, United States. Located along U.S. Highway 98 (US 98), it is the largest city between Tallahassee and Pensacola. It is the more populated city of the Panama City–Lynn ...
; most of the remaining churches are located in Alabama, typically in towns with greater than 10,000 population. Historically, the diocese's congregations have favored low, or evangelical, churchmanship, with a generally more conservative theological and cultural tone than the Episcopal Church nationally. However, in most places, and especially in smaller municipalities, they are often the most liberal and tolerant religious options available to residents.
Diocesan offices are located in Pensacola, while the
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 denominatio ...
is
Christ Church Cathedral in Mobile, making it one of only a few dioceses in the Episcopal Church where the diocesan offices and cathedral are located in different cities and the only diocese in which they are located in different states.
A Brief History
The Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast was organized in 1970 by combining the southern part of the Diocese of Alabama and the western section of the Diocese of Florida. In both the Diocese of Alabama and that of Florida, the problems of adequately caring for parishes had become greater over time, especially as congregations in the Mobile and Pensacola areas, at the far edge of each diocese, had grown. Bishops
George Murray (Alabama) and
E. Hamilton West (Florida) agreed that joining the southern counties of Alabama with the western portion of the Diocese of Florida was the best solution to the problem. Meeting at Christ Church, Pensacola, on December 3–5, 1970, the Primary Convention of the new diocese adopted canons and elected officers with the Right Reverend George Murray becoming the first bishop of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast.
In 1971 the new diocese included 25 parishes and 32 missions along with Beckwith Camp & Conference Center, a camp and conference center located on Weeks Bay on the Alabama Gulf Coast and Wilmer Hall Children’s Home in Mobile. The new diocesan offices at Wilmer Hall opened in January 1971. For 10 years Bishop Murray traveled throughout the diocese shepherding his flock, providing steady leadership during a period of great change in the Episcopal Church, not the least being the adoption of a new prayer book and the ordination of women, things that some parishioners were strongly outspoken against. In 1979, shortly after celebrating the 25th anniversary of his consecration as Bishop, he announced to the Standing Committee his intention to retire.
Meeting at St. Paul’s Church in Mobile on November 14–15, 1980, a special convention of the Diocese elected the Rev. Charles Farmer Duvall, from South Carolina, to succeed Bishop Murray. The new bishop was ordained on April 11, 1981, in the Field House of the
University of West Florida
The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida. Established in 1963 as part of the State University System of Florida, the university sits on the third largest campus in the State University Sys ...
in Pensacola before 2,500 people who had gathered to witness and celebrate the consecration.
From Bishop Duvall’s ordination in 1981, the Diocese grew steadily. In 1981, for example, the Diocese counted 57 churches including 25 parishes. Twenty years later when Bishop Duvall retired, the Diocese had grown to 38 parishes and 25 missions. In addition to being an owning diocese of the
University of the South
The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 southern dioceses of the Episcopal Church, and its School of Theology is an official seminary of ...
in
Sewanee, Tennessee
Sewanee () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Franklin County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 2,535 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Tullahoma, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Sewanee is best known as the home of ...
, the Diocese owns and supports three other institutions for ministry: Beckwith Camp & Conference Center, near
Fairhope, Alabama
Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, located on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The 2020 Census lists the population of the city as 22,477. Fairhope is a principal city of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolita ...
; Wilmer Hall Children’s Home, and Murray House Assisted Living Facility, the latter two located in Mobile. Diocesan budgets reflect that growth, increasing from $229,370 in 1981 ($668,370 in 2021 money) to $1,992,114 in 2001 ($2,981,159 in 2021 money).
[https://www.usinflationcalculator.com] Several major programs were launched during Bishop Duvall’s tenure, including a Companion Diocese relationship with
Guatemala and an annual medical mission to
Guatemala; the "Kairos" prison ministry; and "Happening" for young people. Meanwhile, the
Cursillo
''Cursillos in Christianity'' ( es, Cursillos de Cristiandad, "Short courses of Christianity") is an apostolic movement of the Catholic Church. It was conceived in Spain between 1940 and 1949 and began with the celebration of the so-called "first c ...
program that began under Bishop Murray continued to thrive. To improve access for the far-flung parishes of the Central Gulf Coast and enable the Bishop and his staff to better serve the people, the diocesan offices were relocated to downtown Pensacola in 1989. During Duvall’s episcopate, two successful fund drives raised money to enhance the capability of the Diocese to serve the people of southern Alabama and northwestern Florida. The first, "Venture in Mission," launched in 1983, raised $1.5 million ($3,989,111 in 2021 money), part of which financed construction of the Chapel of the Resurrection at Beckwith Camp & Conference Center. The second, "Fulfilling the Vision," initiated in 1994, raised more than $2.5 million (at least $4,468,235 in 2021 money) including $1 million ($1,787,294 in 2021 money) for a conference building and a new motel-type building at Beckwith; $1,025,000 ($1,831,977 in 2021 money) for new church development; and $325,000 ($580,871 in 2021 money) set aside for continuing education in a "Vocations in Ministry" fund for continuing education for both clergy and laypeople.
On September 30, 1999, Bishop Duvall called for the election of a successor bishop. After a year-long search process, meeting at St. Stephen’s Church in
Brewton, Alabama, on January 6, 2001, a special convention of the Diocese elected the Very Rev. Philip Menzie Duncan, II, dean of
St. Matthew’s Cathedral in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
, to succeed Bishop Duvall. The new bishop was ordained on May 12, 2001, at the Pensacola Civic Center, witnessed by a congregation of over 2,500 people.
In 2015,
Russell Kendrick, a native of the diocese whose first appointment as priest had been in the diocese itself, was elected as the fourth bishop, succeeding the retiring Duncan.
The Seal of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast
To represent the Gulf Coast itself, an anchor, representing "hope" which played a large part in theformation of the new diocese, was placed against a background of water which consists of seven wavy bars alternating gold and blue. To raise the Christian symbolism to a more confident degree than merely that of hope, the dove of peace transcends below a bishop’s miter between two St. Andrew’s crosses and directly above the anchor as the "unifying chief" which will continue its reign over the anchor. With the diocese extending into the lower portion of Alabama and the upper portion of Florida, two St. Andrew’s crosses were used to represent the heritage of Alabama and Florida, both of which have the St. Andrew’s cross as a predominant symbol on their state flags. Also, with the cross of St. Andrew being a Christian symbol, it makes a unique attribute of representing at once the Church and the two states. Since the diocese was formed from two older areas, the new union was symbolized by placing the two crosses of St. Andrew side by side in a single field, the "chief" of the shield. The shield was designed by Professor James Waring McCardy of the University of the South, Sewanee, who is recognized as a top authority on ecclesiastical heraldry in America.
List of bishops
See also
*
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 ...
*
Dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America
*
List of Succession of Bishops for the Episcopal Church, USA
References
External links
Web site of the Diocese of the Central Gulf CoastChrist Church Cathedral, Mobile, Alabama*
Journal of the Annual Convention, Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast'
{{Authority control
Central Gulf Coast
Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast
Episcopal Church in Florida
Christian organizations established in 1970
1970 establishments in Alabama
Province 4 of the Episcopal Church (United States)