The Episcopal Diocese of Ohio 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 associa ...

of the

Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...

comprising the northern 48 counties of the state of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Established in 1818, it was the first diocese of the Episcopal Church to be established outside the original 13 colonies and presently consists of 95 parishes, with a membership of almost 19,000 individuals. The diocese was contiguous with the state of Ohio, but was divided into two dioceses in 1875, due to the geographical size of the diocese and the poor health of Bishops MacIlvaine and Bedell. The Episcopal Diocese of Ohio, which retained the original name, and the Diocese of Southern Ohio headquartered in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. It is one of 15 dioceses that make up the Province of the Midwest (Province 5). Originally the diocesan see, or headquarters city, was located in Gambier in south-central Ohio, but moved to

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

shortly after the diocesan split. Offices are located on Euclid Avenue near Trinity Cathedral, the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

of the diocese.

History

As settlers and missionaries moved westward after the Revolutionary War, they brought their faith traditions with them, including those of the newly formed Episcopal Church. In the Ohio Territory, three clergyman served as early missionaries. Efforts in the Ohio Valley were led by Deacon

James Kilbourne James Kilbourne (October 19, 1770April 9, 1850) was an American surveyor, politician from Ohio, and Episcopalian clergyman. He served two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1813 to 1817. Early life and career Kilbourne was ...

and Joseph Doddridge, while Roger Searle led efforts in the

Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms o ...

. Shortly after Ohio was admitted to the Union, the first Episcopal church was established in the state at Worthington, near present-day Columbus in 1804. After years of fruitless petitions and through the hard work of missionaries and others, the

General Convention The General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority ...

of the Episcopal Church finally granted Ohio a separate diocese in 1818. Philander Chase was appointed the first Bishop of Ohio in 1819. Chase returned from a fund raising trip to England in 1823 and established the diocesan headquarters and a new Episcopal college, Kenyon College, in Gambier. Kenyon College and Gambier were named for

Lord Kenyon Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon (5 October 1732 – 4 April 1802), was a British politician and barrister, who served as Attorney General, Master of the Rolls and Lord Chief Justice. Born to a country gentleman, he was initially educated in Ha ...

and

Lord Gambier Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, (13 October 1756 – 19 April 1833) was a Royal Navy officer. After seeing action at the capture of Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston during the Ameri ...

, the largest benefactors of the college and new diocese. Bishop Chase retired after a leadership dispute in 1832, and soon moved to

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

. Charles Pettit McIlvaine succeeded him as Ohio's bishop and Kenyon College's president. Rt.Rev. McIlvaine was a leading advocate of Evangelicalism, which called upon the Episcopal Church to turn from the more

Anglo-catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglica ...

reforms of the Oxford Movement and return to a purer

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

expression in the Church. Upon Bishop McIlvaine's death in 1873, Gregory Thurston Bedell became the Third Bishop of Ohio, having been consecrated as assistant bishop in 1859. Bishop Bedell had staunchly supported the Union in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, and, like McIlvaine, has been credited with keeping the Episcopal Church unified during this time, unlike many other denominations. Two years later, the

split the Diocese of Ohio into two separate dioceses. The Diocese of Ohio favored more evangelical expression of worship and theology, and Bishop Bedell moved its headquarters to

at its northeast corner, in the growing urban areas along

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

. Thomas Augustus Jaggar was then consecrated the first bishop of the new

Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio The Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with jurisdiction over 40 counties in southern Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern regio ...

, which had some parishes favoring more Anglo-catholic styles and established its headquarters in

in the state's southwestern corner. William Andrew Leonard was consecrated as the Fourth Bishop of Ohio in 1889 and was responsible, with financial backing from William G. Mather, for constructing Trinity Cathedral, completed in 1907. Charles F. Schweinfurth designed the structure in English Perpendicular Gothic form from

Indiana limestone Indiana limestone — also known as Bedford limestone in the building trade — has long been an economically important building material, particularly for monumental public structures. Indiana limestone is a more common term for Salem Limestone, ...

. Diocesan offices were located in the adjoining Church House, where they remain.

Bishops

Current

The Right Reverend Mark Hollingsworth, Jr. was consecrated as the 11th Bishop of Ohio on April 17, 2004 and is assisted by two assisting bishops: the Right Reverend William Persell, retired bishop of the Diocese of Chicago; and the Right Reverend Arthur Williams, retired bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Ohio.

Former

Bishops who have served the diocese include: # Philander Chase (1819-1832) # Charles Pettit McIlvaine (1832-1873) # Gregory T. Bedell (1873-1889) # William Andrew Leonard (1889-1930) # Warren Lincoln Rogers (1930-1938) # Beverley D. Tucker (1938-1952) # Nelson M. Burroughs (1952-1967) # John Harris Burt (1967-1983) # James R. Moodey (1983-1994) # J. Clark Grew II (1994-2004)

Notes

External links

Official web site of the Diocese of OhioSt. Timothy Episcopal Church
*
Journal of the Annual Convention, Diocese of Ohio
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohio

Religious organizations established in 1819 Diocese of Ohio Anglican dioceses established in the 19th century Christianity in Cleveland 1819 establishments in Ohio Province 5 of the Episcopal Church (United States)