The Diocese of Keewatin was 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 Anglican Church of Canada. As of 1 August 2014, it no longer had any territorial jurisdiction, but it continued to exist as a legal entity until 30 September 2015, when it was formally closed. Formerly, the diocese straddled the border of the civil

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, comprising over 900,000 square kilometres. The diocese was geographically isolated, consisting of mainly small, and mostly

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

, communities. The largest of these, Kenora,

, was also the diocese's

See city 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 * ...

. There were just over 11,000 Anglicans on forty-eight parish rolls. The diocese was established by the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land in 1902, and it was a major focus for

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

activity among the

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

there. The last bishop (the diocese's ninth) was Archbishop David Ashdown. Elected Bishop of Keewatin in 2001, he was subsequently elected Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land in June 2009. The

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

was the Very Rev. Hugh Matheson.

Closure of diocese

As set out in a June 2013 resolution of the Anglican Church's General Synod, the diocese of Keewatin ceased to operate on 31 December 2014. It was formally closed on 30 September 2015, at which time Archbishop Ashdown retired as both diocesan bishop and as Metropolitan of

Rupert's Land Rupert's Land (french: Terre de Rupert), or Prince Rupert's Land (french: Terre du Prince Rupert, link=no), was a territory in British North America which comprised the Hudson Bay drainage basin; this was further extended from Rupert's Land t ...

. The

parishes in northwestern Ontario and northern Manitoba were separated from Keewatin on 1 June 2014 to form the new diocese of Mishamikoweesh. The Rt. Rev.

Lydia Mamakwa Lydia Mamakwa is the first bishop of the Indigenous Spiritual Ministry of Mishamikoweesh, a diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada established on 1 June 2014. Mamakwa is from the Kingfisher First Nation Kingfisher First Nation (Oji-Cree lan ...

, the area bishop for Northern Ontario within the former Keewatin diocese, is now diocesan bishop of Mishamikoweesh. The southern parishes in the diocese were transferred to the

Diocese of Rupert's Land The Diocese of Rupert's Land is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert's Land of the Anglican Church of Canada. It is named for the historical British North American territory of Rupert's Land, which was contained within the origina ...

on 1 August 2014.Rupert's Land Keewatin Boundary Changes
Rupert's Land diocesan website (pdf)
19 June 2014. There were also minor adjustments to the boundaries of the Diocese of Brandon.

Bishops of Keewatin

References

See also Anglican Church of Canada, ''Anglican Church Directory, 2007''. Anglican Book Centre, 2006.

External links

Diocesan website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keewatin Christian organizations established in 1902 Keewatin, Anglican Diocese of Anglican Province of Rupert's Land