The Diocese of Wangaratta 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 associ ...

of the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the ...

. It is situated in the north-eastern part of the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. Its geographic remit includes the cities of

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had an estimated urban population of 19,318 at June 2018. Wangaratta has recorded a population growth rate of almost 1% annually ...

, Albury-Wodonga and

Shepparton Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparto ...

. The cathedral is the church of the Holy Trinity in Wangaratta. The diocese was erected in 1902, when Thomas Henry Armstrong was installed as the first Bishop of Wangaratta. The current bishop is

Clarence Bester Clarence Edgar Bester (born 1970/1971) is a South African-born Australian bishop in the Anglican Church of Australia. He has served as the 11th Bishop of Wangaratta since February 2020. Early life and parish ministry Bester was born, raised and ...

who was enthroned in 2020.

History

The diocese was founded in 1902. In 2019, the diocese voted in favour of a motion authorizing a blessing rite for same-sex unions. In November of 2020, the Appellate Tribunal, the church's highest court, ruled that a diocese may authorize blessing rites for same-sex unions, allowing the Wangaratta motion to go into effect.

Cathedral

The cathedral church of the diocese is Holy Trinity Cathedral,

. The land on which the church is built was donated to the parish by William Henry Clark, a pioneer of Wangaratta. The

foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

was laid in 1908 by Bishop Arthur Green, the Bishop of Ballarat, and was dedicated on 24 August 1909. A second section was built between 1922 and 1924. The building was faced in locally quarried

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

to a design by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Walter Butler. The baptistery, designed by the church architect Louis Williams, was completed in 1965. Holy Trinity Cathedral, Wangaratta, 2018 (02)

The cathedral

bells Bells may refer to: * Bell, a musical instrument Places * Bells, North Carolina * Bells, Tennessee * Bells, Texas * Bells Beach, Victoria, an internationally famous surf beach in Australia * Bells Corners, Ontario Music * Bells, directly st ...

, cast in 1806, are the oldest ring of eight in

. The current

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

was built in 1902 by

Henry Willis & Sons Henry Willis & Sons is a British firm of pipe organ builders founded in 1845. Although most of their installations have been in the UK, examples can be found in other countries. Five generations of the Willis family served as principals of th ...

and is the fourth instrument to be housed in the cathedral.

Deans of Holy Trinity, Wangaratta

The Rector of the Parish of the Holy Trinity, Wangaratta (the cathedral parish), is designated as Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral. * 1965–1972:

Robert Beal Robert George Beal (17 August 1929 – 24 June 2009) was an Australian Anglican bishop. Beal was educated at Sydney Grammar School and the University of Newcastle, Australia. He was ordained in 1953 and was a curate at St Francis’ Nundah ...

(later Bishop of Wangaratta, 1985) * 1972 - 1989: David Laurie Thawley * 1989 - 1995: Donald McMonigle * 1995- 2003: Ray McInnes * 2003 - 2013: Michael O'Brien * 2014–present: Ken Goodger

Bishops of Wangaratta

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Anglican bishops of Wangaratta

Wangaratta 1902 establishments in Australia

Gothic Revival church buildings in Australia