The Diocese of Brechin is in the east of Scotland, and is the smallest of the seven

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 ...

s of the

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( gd, Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba; sco, Scots Episcopal(ian) Kirk) is the ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion in Scotland. A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by King James VI, and ...

. It covers the historic counties of Angus and

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and ...

. It stretches from

Muchalls Muchalls is a small coastal ex-fishing village in Kincardineshire, Scotland, south of Newtonhill and north of Stonehaven. Muchalls is situated slightly north of a smaller hamlet known as the Bridge of Muchalls. At the western edge of Muchalls is ...

in the north east down to

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

in the south, and across to

Glencarse Glencarse () is a village in the Scottish council area of Perth and Kinross. The village is situated east of Perth, lying alongside the A90 road. It was formerly served by Glencarse railway station on the Caledonian Railway. John Murray, a ...

in the south west. The cathedral and administrative centre is St Paul’s Cathedral in Dundee. The diocese continues to be named after its medieval centre of

Brechin Brechin (; gd, Breichin) is a city and former Royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which continues today ...

. The diocese is thought to have been founded in 1153 by Bishop Samson. The diocese had a continuous line of bishops leading through the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, when Donald Campbell (1557) and John Sinclair (1565) were elected Bishops of Brechin, but not consecrated; the line was continued later through Andrew Lamb. In 1566, Alexander Campbell was appointed as

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox a ...

. The line continued in proper form among Episcopalians with Andrew Lamb in 1610. From 1695 until 1709, the diocese was united with the

Diocese of Edinburgh The Diocese of Edinburgh is one of the seven dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church. It covers the City of Edinburgh, the Lothians, the Borders and Falkirk. The diocesan centre is St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh. The Bishop of Edinburgh i ...

, with the latter's bishop, Alexander Rose, being also Bishop of Brechin. The line of independent bishops of Brechin restarted with John Falconar in 1709, and has continued to the present day. Following the resignation and death of the

Right Reverend The Right Reverend (abbreviated The Rt Revd, The Rt Rev'd, The Rt Rev.) is a style applied to certain religious figures. Overview *In the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church in Great Britain, it applies to bishops, except that ''The ...

Dr John Mantle, in 2010, Dr Nigel Peyton was appointed Bishop of Brechin in May 2011. Dr Peyton was chosen ahead of four other candidates including Dr Alison Peden. The Diocese of Brechin is twinned with the

Episcopal Diocese of Iowa The Episcopal Diocese of Iowa is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America which covers all of Iowa. It is in Province VI. Its offices are in Des Moines, and it has two cathedrals: the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in De ...

(

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

, United States) and with the

Anglican Diocese of Swaziland The Diocese of Eswatini is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It was founded in 1968. It comprises the country of Eswatini. It is divided in three archdeaconries, Eastern, Southern and Western. History The diocese was created ...

(

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its n ...

). The manuscript records of the Diocese of Brechin are held by

University of Dundee , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , ...

Archive Services. The archive collections include the administrative records of the diocese, records of individual churches, and the correspondence of

Alexander Penrose Forbes Alexander Penrose Forbes (16 June 18178 October 1875) was a Scottish Episcopalian divine, born in Edinburgh. A leading cleric in the Scottish Episcopal Church, he was Bishop of Brechin from 1847 until his death in 1875. Biography He was the sec ...

and George Frederick Boyle.

Area and population

The diocese covers the historic counties of

(except the

Banchory Banchory (, sco, Banchry, gd, Beannchar) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is about west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee. Prehistory and archaeology In 2009, a farmer discovered a short cist bu ...

and

Lower Deeside Lower Deeside is a region along the River Dee in Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen in Scotland. The boundaries of this area are subject to interpretation, since the usage has altered through historic times; however, the area is generally associated wit ...

areas) (population 31,000), Angus (except the

Forfar Forfar ( sco, Farfar, gd, Baile Fharfair) is the county town of Angus, Scotland and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town has a pop ...

and

Kirriemuir Kirriemuir, sometimes called Kirrie or the ''Wee Red Toon'' ( gd, An Ceathramh Mòr; IPA: nˈkʰʲɛɾəvmoːɾ, is a burgh in Angus, Scotland. It reaches back to earliest recorded times, when it is thought to have been a major ecclesiastical ...

areas) (population 233,500), and the

area of

Perthshire Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nort ...

(population 9,000). This total population of approximately 273,500 gives the diocese a ratio of one priest to every 19,500 inhabitants and one church to every 10,900 inhabitants.

List of churches

The diocese has 12 stipendiary clergy and 25 active churches.

Closed churches in the diocese

References

Christianity in Dundee Christianity in Angus, Scotland 1709 establishments in Scotland {{anglican-diocese-stub