The Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota 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 with jurisdiction over the state of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

History

The diocese was created in 1871 at the Missionary District of Niobrara. It adopted the name Missionary District of South Dakota in 1884.

William Hobart Hare William Hobart Hare (May 17, 1838 – October 23, 1909) was an American bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Protestant Episcopal Church. Early life Son of Rev. George Emlen Hare, William Hobart Hare was born at Prince ...

was consecrated as Missionary Bishop in 1873, and full

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 c ...

and the district concentrated its efforts on Native Americans.Diocesan Bishops
The original boundaries of the district "covered a territory north of the

Niobrara River The Niobrara River (; oma, Ní Ubthátha khe, , literally "water spread-out horizontal-the" or "The Wide-Spreading Water") is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. Many early settlers, such as Mari Sando ...

and west of the

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

, all the way to the Rockies." The Missionary District became the Diocese of South Dakota in 1971, at which time there were 18 parishes, 24 mission congregations, 90 churches & chapels in the Niobrara Deanery, and 4 Episcopal schools.

Structure and membership

The diocese is composed of 76 member congregations in South Dakota, two in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

and one in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, organized geographically into seven deaneries. The diocese is made up of seven geographical

deaneries A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black ...

(10 churches), Pine Ridge (7),

Rosebud Rosebud may refer to: * Rose bud, the bud of a rose flower Arts * The name of Jerry Garcia's guitar from 1990 until his death in 1995. * In the 1941 film ''Citizen Kane'', the last words of Charles Foster Kane and an overall plot device. * "Ros ...

(15), Central (7), Northwest (17), Northeast (10) and Eastern (12). There is one church located in

, St. John’s in Browns Valley, part of the Northeast Deanery, and two in Nebraska, Blessed Redeemer, in Howe Creek and Our Most Merciful Savior, in Santee. Its

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 ...

, Calvary Cathedral, is located in

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...

. The Diocese of South Dakota has a multicultural membership and history. It has a special relationship with its Native American population. Approximately half of the 12,000 baptized Episcopalians in South Dakota are either Dakota or Lakota Sioux. The diocese also includes two congregations composed of Sudanese immigrants in Sioux Falls.

List of bishops

The bishops of South Dakota have been: #

, Missionary Bishop from (1873–1883), full Bishop (1883–1909)
* Frederick Foote Johnson, assisting bishop (1905–1909) # Frederick Foote Johnson, (1910–1911) # George Biller, Jr. (1912–1915) # Hugh L. Burleson (1916–1931)
* William P. Remington, suffragan (1918–1922)
* W. Blair Roberts, suffragan (1922–1931) # W. Blair Roberts, (1931–1954)
* Conrad H. Gesner, coadjutor (1945–1954) # Conrad H. Gesner, (1954–1970)
* Lyman C. Ogilby, coadjutor (1964–1970) # Walter H. Jones (1970–1983)
* Harold S. Jones, suffragan (1972–1976)
''(Note: Harold S. Jones was the first Native American bishop in the Episcopal Church)'' # Craig B. Anderson, (1984–1992) # Creighton Leland Robertson, (1994–2009), # John T. Tarrant, (2009–2019)''South Dakota diocese elects Tarrant as bishop coadjutor,'
Episcopal Life Online, May 9, 2009
# Jonathan H. Folts, (2019-present)

Historic churches

Diocesan churches listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

include: * Church of Our Most Merciful Saviour, Santee, Nebraska *

Emmanuel Episcopal Church (Rapid City, South Dakota) The Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rapid City, South Dakota is an historic Gothic Revival sandstone Episcopal church located at 717 Quincy Street. In 1975, Emmanuel Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was built du ...

* Holy Fellowship Episcopal Church (Greenwood, South Dakota) * St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (Scotland, South Dakota)

References

External links

Episcopal Diocese of South DakotaCalvary Cathedral
*
Journal of the Annual Convocation, Missionary District of South Dakota
' {{DEFAULTSORT:South Dakota

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 ...