Julian M. Dobbs (born 1968) is a
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
-born American
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 ...
. He serves as the
Diocesan bishop of the
Anglican Diocese of the Living Word
The Anglican Diocese of the Living Word, formerly the Missionary Diocese of CANA East, is a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). It was one of the four missionary dioceses of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, a dual ...
(ADLW), a jurisdiction of the
Anglican Church in North America
The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cuba ...
. Dobbs' ministry as a bishop includes overseeing congregations and clergy of the diocese. He became a naturalized citizen of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
on February 7, 2014.
Early career
Dobbs was born and raised in New Zealand, where he married his wife, Brenda, they have three children. Son Sam is married to Paige Dossett. Daughter Grace is married to Lt. Commander David Welborn and Frances who lives in Virginia. He and his wife have two grandchildren. In 1991, he was ordained in the
Anglican Church in New Zealand
The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia ( mi, Te Hāhi Mihinare ki Aotearoa ki Niu Tīreni, ki Ngā Moutere o te Moana Nui a Kiwa; formerly the Church of the Province of New Zealand) is a Anglican province, province of the Angl ...
. He has an L.Th., Th.M. and a D. D. He
planted three congregations, led the fastest-growing congregation in New Zealand and hosted a weekly hour-long television show in
Nelson
Nelson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey
* ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers
* ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
.
In 2004, Dobbs became executive director of the Barnabas Fund, promoting awareness of the
persecution of Christians
The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point of b ...
around the world, particularly in
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
. In the aftermath of the
Indian Ocean tsunami
An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...
, Dobbs' relief work in
Aceh
Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...
, Indonesia, was recognised by the New Zealand government with the
New Zealand Special Service Medal
The New Zealand Special Service Medal (NZSSM) was established by royal warrant by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand on 23 July 2002. The medal serves to recognize military service that would not otherwise be recognized by a Campaign medal.
Des ...
.
In 2006, Dobbs and his family relocated to the
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
area where he continued to work at the Barnabas Fund.
CANA ministry
In 2008, Dobbs was appointed
archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...
and canon missioner in the
Convocation of Anglicans in North America
The Church of Nigeria North American Mission (CONNAM) is a missionary body of the Church of Nigeria (CON). It has been in a ministry partnership with the Anglican Church in North America but no longer affiliated with it beyond mutual membership in ...
, where he contributed to clergy development, worked to help North American Anglicans understand and the challenges posed by the rise of
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
in Africa, and develop a West African-American clergy and lay mission partnership.
To continue this work, he was elected a bishop by CANA and the Church of Nigeria in spring of 2011, and consecrated by
Nicholas Okoh
Nicholas Dikeriehi Orogodo Okoh (born 10 November 1952, at Owa-Alero in the Delta State) is the former archbishop of Abuja Province and Primate (bishop), primate of the Church of Nigeria in the Anglican Communion. He retired on 25 March 2020. He ...
in
Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
on September 25, 2011.
Dobbs has been active in opposing and publicizing the
Boko Haram
Boko Haram, officially known as ''Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād'' ( ar, جماعة أهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد, lit=Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawah and Jihad), is an Islamic terrorist organization ...
attacks on Christians in northern Nigeria and calling for international prayer and action.
In August 2012, Okoh visited Washington, D.C., and through Dobbs' connections met with policymakers and officials to promote action against the Muslim militants in the north. He serves on ACNA's task force on Christian-Muslim relations.
On May 7, 2013, in Wayne, Pennsylvania, Dobbs became the first bishop of the newly formed Missionary Diocese of CANA East. CANA East stretches from Maine to Miami and from Tulsa, OK and The bronx, NY. The diocese has 38 congregations and over 80 clergy, it is one of the three dioceses formed out of The Convocation of Anglicans in North America.
Dobbs attended the GAFCON 2 meeting in Nairobi Kenya in 2013 and serves as a member of the International Board o
Barnabas Fund an organization that supports suffering Christians.
In 2013 Dobbs wrote an open letter to the President of the United States,
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, calling for urgent intervention in support of persecuted Christians in Syria.
In January 2014, Dobbs was appointed as the Missionary Bishop of CANA by the Most Rev. Nicholas D. Okoh, Primate of all Nigeria. Dobbs will remain in his current role as bishop of the CANA East diocese while taking on the additional responsibilities of providing oversight and leadership to CANA's overall ministry.
Dobbs wrote his first pastoral letter to CANA on January 24, 2014. In September 2014, Dobbs spoke at the "In Defense of Christians" forum in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of activists, including Christian clergy from across the Middle East and more than a dozen members of Congress attended a three-day conference aimed at training a serious policy-impacting force in Washington to protect persecuted Christians overseas. Dobbs presented a paper entitled "Why Christianity is Vital To the Middle East". He said: "Christianity is intrinsically linked to the Middle East. It is in the Middle East that Christianity was birthed in the backwaters of the Roman Empire and from where the message of the Christian gospel spread throughout the Roman Empire, to Ethiopia, and to the Persian Empire."
As missionary bishop, Dobbs presided over the 10th anniversary of the founding of CANA. In his anniversary address, Dobbs said, "CANA was missionary then and she is missionary now. As a Convocation we exist not only as a jurisdiction for the 120 congregations and 450 clergy and chaplains who serve as members of our Convocation, we exist as a missionary movement called by Almighty God to replant biblical missionary Anglican Christianity across North America. This is the mission to which we in CANA have all been called by Almighty God."
Living Through the Word
In 2019, Bishop Dobbs became the main host of Living Through the Word podcast. In the inaugural episode Bishop Dobbs interviewed his mentor, Bishop Martyn Minns.
Anglican Diocese of the Living Word
![The Based Bishop Julian Mark Dobbs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/The_Based_Bishop_Julian_Mark_Dobbs.png)
Dobbs is the diocesan bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word (formerly CANA East). He oversees the ministry of the diocese across 19 States with mission in Ghana and Haiti. three bishops serve with Dobbs, Bishop William Love, Bisho David Bena and Bishop Dan Herzog. Dobbs remains committed to the gospel once for all entrusted to the saints, the planting of new congregations, Christian discipleship and engaging the world with the good news of Jesus and sharing the gospel of jesus.
He was referred to as the
based bishop' in 2022by author and journalist, Rod Dreher. Dreher wrote, "I’ve been this week at the conference of the Anglican Diocese of the Living Word (ACNA), led by Bishop Julian Dobbs. The bishop gave his annual address on Friday morning, and … Lord have mercy, if only ten percent of bishops and pastors talked like this man, we would be living in a different country."
In that address Bishop Dobbs said, "Courage is not something that regularly appears in the conversation and discipline of many North America Christians. With respect, being a Christian in North America today does not always require a whole lot of courage. But brothers and sisters, as the clouds around our nation begin to gather and the powers of darkness extend their influence, we the followers of Jesus Christ in this generation must ready ourselves to act, where necessary, with courage."
Personal Life
Bishop Dobbs has resided in Virginia.
References
External links
Anglican Diocese of the Living Word , Welcome
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbs, Julian
1967 births
Living people
New Zealand Anglican priests
Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America
Bishops of the Church of Nigeria
21st-century Anglican bishops in the United States
Naturalized citizens of the United States
New Zealand emigrants to the United States
Anglican realignment people