Anglican Diocese of Brisbane
Encyclopedia
The Anglican Diocese of Brisbane is based in Brisbane
, Australia
. The diocesan bishop's seat is St John's Cathedral, Brisbane
. The current Archbishop of Brisbane is the Most Reverend Phillip Aspinall
, who is also the Primate
of the Anglican Church of Australia
.
The diocese stretches from the inner city out to semi-rural parishes such as Kilcoy-Woodford.
and the Oratory of the Good Shepherd
have their Australian base in the City of Brisbane
and the Society of the Sacred Advent
first emerged in the city. This latter group is responsible for running St Margaret's Anglican Girls' School.
Saint Francis' Theological College
, at which most of the diocese's priests are trained, has historically "combined a Catholic interpretation of the Book of Common Prayer
with an acceptance of ‘moderate’ biblical criticism. This... [is]... the liberal Catholicism of Bishop Gore and Lux Mundi".
Archbishop Phillip Aspinall is, himself, a liberal Anglo-Catholic and gave the keynote address at the Australian Church Union's 2006 Keble Mass
.
For the most part the diocese's parishes exhibit the "rather self-conscious Anglo-Catholic congregationalism of the capital cities, often tinged with radical Socialism". Parishes that reflect this outlook include Holy Trinity Fortitude Valley, with its emphasis on social justice, and Kilcoy-Woodford with its focus on Christian pacifism.
The Angligreen environmental group has also emerged as a significant voice in the diocese.
By contrast, All Saints' Brisbane is notable for having links to the conservative Forward in Faith
organisation which maintains a small presence in the city. Of All Saints' masses, journalist Keith Dunstan
noted "‘the whole sense of theatre’. Others, drawing on a religious vocabulary, compared the experience to ‘being in heaven’." However, All Saints is an exception to the more moderate approach as "‘extreme’ Anglo-Catholicism [never took hold in Brisbane and] has flourished only among clergy in the diocese of Ballarat."
Despite this dominant Anglo-Catholic ethos, there is a low church Bible belt
running through a few of the City of Brisbane's southern suburbs. However, the last time there was any major controversy about the diocese's Anglo-Catholic outlook was in 1956.
. Until then, the area had been under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Newcastle, NSW
, William Tyrrell.
Among the previous assistant bishops of the Diocese of Brisbane were Henry Le Fanu
(bishop coadjutor), who became Archbishop of Perth and Primate of Australia, and John Parkes
, who is now the Bishop of Wangaratta
. The current assistant bishops are Rob Nolan
(Western Region since 2003), Jonathan Holland (Northern Region since 2006) and Geoff Smith (Southern Region since 2007).
in 1905, the Diocese of Brisbane became the permanent metropolitan see
, and its bishop the metropolitan archbishop.
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The diocesan bishop's seat is St John's Cathedral, Brisbane
St John's Cathedral, Brisbane
St John's Cathedral is the Anglican cathedral of Brisbane and the metropolitan cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of Queensland, Australia...
. The current Archbishop of Brisbane is the Most Reverend Phillip Aspinall
Phillip Aspinall
Phillip Aspinall has been the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia since February 2002 and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia since July 2005. He succeeded Peter Hollingworth as Archbishop of Brisbane....
, who is also the Primate
Primate (religion)
Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....
of the Anglican Church of Australia
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
.
The diocese stretches from the inner city out to semi-rural parishes such as Kilcoy-Woodford.
Culture
The Diocese of Brisbane has a predominantly moderate Anglo-Catholic culture. Groups such as the Society of Saint FrancisSociety of Saint Francis
The Society of Saint Francis is a Franciscan religious order within the Anglican Communion.The Society of Saint Francis comprises: The Brothers of the First Order; The Sisters of the First Order; The Sisters of the Second Order; The Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order...
and the Oratory of the Good Shepherd
Oratory of the Good Shepherd
The Oratory of the Good Shepherd is a dispersed international community of Anglicans, ordained and lay, bound by a common rule of celibate chastity, responsible spending, and direction of life.The OGS Rule calls members of the Oratory to daily Communion, Private Prayer, and the Office...
have their Australian base in the City of Brisbane
City of Brisbane
The City of Brisbane is the Local Government Area that has jurisdiction over the inner portion of the metropolitan area of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia...
and the Society of the Sacred Advent
Society of the Sacred Advent
The Society of the Sacred Advent is an Anglican religious order founded at Brisbane, Australia, in 1892 by Caroline Grace Millicent Short , and still active in that city.-History:...
first emerged in the city. This latter group is responsible for running St Margaret's Anglican Girls' School.
Saint Francis' Theological College
Brisbane College of Theology
Brisbane College of Theology, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, was an ecumenical theological education consortium, comprising St Francis' Theological College , St Paul's Theological College and Trinity Theological College . It was based at Raymont Lodge in Auchenflower and offered both...
, at which most of the diocese's priests are trained, has historically "combined a Catholic interpretation of the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
with an acceptance of ‘moderate’ biblical criticism. This... [is]... the liberal Catholicism of Bishop Gore and Lux Mundi".
Archbishop Phillip Aspinall is, himself, a liberal Anglo-Catholic and gave the keynote address at the Australian Church Union's 2006 Keble Mass
John Keble
John Keble was an English churchman and poet, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, and gave his name to Keble College, Oxford.-Early life:...
.
For the most part the diocese's parishes exhibit the "rather self-conscious Anglo-Catholic congregationalism of the capital cities, often tinged with radical Socialism". Parishes that reflect this outlook include Holy Trinity Fortitude Valley, with its emphasis on social justice, and Kilcoy-Woodford with its focus on Christian pacifism.
The Angligreen environmental group has also emerged as a significant voice in the diocese.
By contrast, All Saints' Brisbane is notable for having links to the conservative Forward in Faith
Forward in Faith
Forward in Faith is a movement operating in a number of provinces of the Anglican Communion. It represents a traditionalist strand of Anglo-Catholicism and is characterised by its opposition to the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate and, more recently, to more liberal Anglican...
organisation which maintains a small presence in the city. Of All Saints' masses, journalist Keith Dunstan
Keith Dunstan
Keith Dunstan OAM is an Australian journalist and author born in Melbourne, Australia, the son of William Dunstan VC and Marjorie Dunstan. He attended Geelong Grammar School and was a Flight Lieutenant in 1943-46 with the Royal Australian Air Force, stationed at Labuan in the Pacific...
noted "‘the whole sense of theatre’. Others, drawing on a religious vocabulary, compared the experience to ‘being in heaven’." However, All Saints is an exception to the more moderate approach as "‘extreme’ Anglo-Catholicism [never took hold in Brisbane and] has flourished only among clergy in the diocese of Ballarat."
Despite this dominant Anglo-Catholic ethos, there is a low church Bible belt
Bible Belt
Bible Belt is an informal term for a region in the southeastern and south-central United States in which socially conservative evangelical Protestantism is a significant part of the culture and Christian church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's average.The...
running through a few of the City of Brisbane's southern suburbs. However, the last time there was any major controversy about the diocese's Anglo-Catholic outlook was in 1956.
Bishops of Brisbane
In 1858, Brisbane diocese was split from the Diocese of Newcastle, NSWAnglican Diocese of Newcastle, Australia
The Anglican Diocese of Newcastle, Australia is located in the state of New South Wales and extends along the coast of New South Wales from Woy Woy to Laurieton and inland to Merriwa and Murrurundi. The cathedral church of the diocese is Christ Church Cathedral in Newcastle. The current Bishop of...
. Until then, the area had been under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Newcastle, NSW
Bishop of Newcastle, Australia
The present bishop of Newcastle in the Anglican Church of Australia is the Right Reverend Brian Farran, who was enthroned on 24 June 2005 at Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle, New South Wales.-Former bishops:...
, William Tyrrell.
| Bishops of Brisbane | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
| 1859 | 1874 | Edward Tufnell | |
| 1875 | 1885 | Matthew Hale | Translated Translation (ecclesiastical) Translation is the technical term when a Bishop is transferred from one diocese to another.This can be* From Suffragan Bishop status to Diocesan Bishop*From Coadjutor bishop to Diocesan Bishop*From one country's Episcopate to another... from Perth. |
| 1885 | 1903 | William Webber | Died in office. |
| 1904 | 1905 | St Clair Donaldson St Clair Donaldson St Clair George Alfred Donaldson was the first Anglican archbishop of Brisbane, Australia.-Early life:Donaldson was the third son of Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson and his wife Amelia née Cowper and was born in London. He was educated at Eton, where he rowed in the eight, and at Trinity College,... |
Became Archbishop of Brisbane |
Among the previous assistant bishops of the Diocese of Brisbane were Henry Le Fanu
Henry Le Fanu
The Most Rev Henry Frewen Le Fanu was an eminent Australian Bishop. Born in Dublin, educated at Haileybury and Keble College, Oxford and ordained in 1894, he began his ecclesiastical career as a curate in Poplar. From 1899 to 1901 he was Chaplain to the Bishop of Rochester after which he held a...
(bishop coadjutor), who became Archbishop of Perth and Primate of Australia, and John Parkes
John Parkes
John Parkes is the tenth and current Bishop of Wangaratta in the Anglican Church of Australia. He began training for ordination in 1986 and was previously an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Brisbane...
, who is now the Bishop of Wangaratta
Anglican Diocese of Wangaratta
The Anglican Diocese of Wangaratta is mostly located in the north-east region of Victoria, Australia. The diocese includes the cities of Wangaratta, Albury-Wodonga and Shepparton.-Bishops of Wangaratta:*Thomas Henry Armstrong, 1902–1927...
. The current assistant bishops are Rob Nolan
Rob Nolan
-External links:...
(Western Region since 2003), Jonathan Holland (Northern Region since 2006) and Geoff Smith (Southern Region since 2007).
Archishops of Brisbane
With the creation of the Province of QueenslandProvince of Queensland
The Province of Queensland is an ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Church of Australia, the area of which covers that of the Northern Territory and the state of Queensland. The province consists of four dioceses: Brisbane, North Queensland, The Northern Territory and Rockhampton. The...
in 1905, the Diocese of Brisbane became the permanent metropolitan see
Metropolis (religious jurisdiction)
A metropolis is a see or city whose bishop is the metropolitan of a province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces....
, and its bishop the metropolitan archbishop.
| Archbishops of Brisbane | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
| 1905 | 1921 | St Clair Donaldson | Translated to Salisbury Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset... . |
| 1921 | 1933 | Gerald Sharp Gerald Sharp Gerald Sharp was an English-born Anglican clergyman, Archbishop of Brisbane 1921–1933.Sharp was born at Childer Thornton,... |
Died in office. |
| 1934 | 1943 | William Wand | Translated to Bath and Wells Bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.The present diocese covers the vast majority of the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in... and later to London Bishop of London The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey... . |
| 1943 | 1962 | Sir Reginald Halse Reginald Halse Sir Reginald Charles Halse CMG, KBE was the Bishop of Riverina from 1925 to 1943 and then Archbishop of Brisbane until his death in 1962.... |
Translated from Riverina; knighted in 1962; died in office. |
| 1963 | 1970 | Philip Strong | Translated from New Guinea Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea became a discrete province of the Anglican Communion when the Anglican Province of Papua New Guinea was separated from the Anglican ecclesiastical Province of Queensland, Australia, in 1976 following Papua New Guinea's independence from Australia in 1975. Its... ; Primate of Australia, 1966–1970. |
| 1970 | 1980 | Felix Arnott Felix Arnott Felix Raymond Arnott CMG was the sixth Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane.He was born on 8 March 1911 and educated at Ipswich School and Keble College, Oxford. Ordained after a period of study at Ripon College Cuddesdon in 1934, his first post was a curacy in Elland. After which he... |
Previously coadjutor bishop Coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop is a bishop in the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches who is designated to assist the diocesan bishop in the administration of the diocese, almost as co-bishop of the diocese... in Melbourne Anglican Diocese of Melbourne The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Victoria in the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese includes the urban cities of Melbourne and Geelong and also some more rural areas. The cathedral church is St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne... . |
| 1980 | 1989 | Sir John Grindrod John Grindrod Sir John Basil Rowland Grindrod KBE was an Anglican bishop and the Primate of Australia from 1982 to 1989.... |
Previously Bishop of Riverina and then of Rockhampton Anglican Diocese of Rockhampton The Anglican Diocese of Rockhampton is a diocese of in the Province of Queensland and one of the 23 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese covers an area of approximately 57 million hectares, roughly twice the size of New Zealand and four times the size of England and Wales. ... ; Primate of Australia, 1982–1989; knighted in 1983. |
| 1990 | 2001 | Peter Hollingworth Peter Hollingworth Peter John Hollingworth AC, OBE is an Australian Anglican bishop. He served as the Archbishop of Brisbane for 11 years before becoming the 23rd Governor-General of Australia from 2001 until 2003.... |
Translated from the Inner City, Melbourne Anglican Diocese of Melbourne The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Victoria in the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese includes the urban cities of Melbourne and Geelong and also some more rural areas. The cathedral church is St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne... ; Governor-General of Australia Governor-General of Australia The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth... , 2001–2003. |
| 2002 | present | Phillip Aspinall Phillip Aspinall Phillip Aspinall has been the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia since February 2002 and Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia since July 2005. He succeeded Peter Hollingworth as Archbishop of Brisbane.... |
Previously assistant bishop Assistant Bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop.-Church of England:In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually are retired bishops – in which case they are honorary assistant bishops... in Adelaide Anglican Diocese of Adelaide The Anglican Diocese of Adelaide is based in Adelaide, South Australia. The diocese is a part of the Province of South Australia of the Anglican Church of Australia and a part of the Anglican Communion. The current Archbishop of Adelaide is the Most Reverend Jeffrey Driver.-List of Bishops and... ; Primate of Australia since 2005. |