Map of USA highlighting OCA Diocese of the West

The Diocese of the West is a

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 ...

of the

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian church based in North America. The OCA is partly recognized as Autocephaly, autocephalous and consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, commun ...

(OCA). Its territory includes

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

es, monasteries, and

missions Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion * Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

located in eight states in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

–

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. The diocesan chancery is located in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Benjamin (Peterson) was installed as

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 ...

of the West on October 2, 2007. He replaced Herman (Swaiko), who was also the OCA's ruling

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

. Metr. Herman had served as the locum tenens of the diocese of San Francisco, Los Angeles and the West since the retirement of Bishop Tikhon (Fitzgerald) in November 2006. During a special diocesan assembly held on January 31, 2007, Bishop Benjamin of Berkeley was unanimously nominated to replace Bishop Tikhon as Diocesan Hierarch.
!--Unsafe site?--> Bishop Benjamin's name was submitted to the Holy Synod of Bishops of the OCA, who elected him as Hierarch during their spring session on March 20, 2007. Bishop Benjamin had served as Chancellor of the Diocese of the West since January 2004, and had been the temporary Administrator of the diocese since Bishop Tikhon's retirement.

Deaneries

The diocese is grouped geographically into six deanery, deaneries, each consisting of a number of parishes. Each deanery is headed by a parish

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

, known as a dean. The deans coordinate activities in their area's parishes, and report to the diocesan bishop. The current deaneries of the Diocese of the West and their territories are: * Missionary District – Arizona, California, Hawaii, Montana, Oregon, and Washington * San Francisco Russian Missionary District Deanery – California * Pacific Central Deanery – California * Pacific Northwest Deanery – Oregon and Washington * Pacific Southwest Deanery – Arizona, California, and Nevada * Rocky Mountain Deanery – Colorado

References

External links

Official site

Biography of Bishop Benjamin
on oca.org {{OCA dioceses

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

Eastern Orthodoxy in Arizona Eastern Orthodoxy in California Eastern Orthodoxy in Colorado Eastern Orthodoxy in Hawaii Eastern Orthodoxy in Montana Eastern Orthodoxy in Nevada Eastern Orthodoxy in Oregon Eastern Orthodoxy in Washington (state)