Episcopal Diocese of the Virgin Islands

The Episcopal Diocese of the Virgin Islands is a diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) which includes both the United States Virgin Islands

United States Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...

and the British Virgin Islands

British Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...

. The diocese is a part of Province II

Province 2 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America

Province 2 is one of nine ecclesiastical provinces making up the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It comprises the six dioceses of the State of New York, the two dioceses of the State of New Jersey, the diocese in the Republic of Haiti and the diocese in the Virgin Islands , as...

of the Episcopal Church. The current Diocesan Bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

of the Virgin Islands is the Right Reverend E. Ambrose Gumbs. The cathedral church of the diocese is the Cathedral Church of All Saints, Charlotte Amalie

Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands

-Education:St. Thomas-St. John School District serves the community. and Charlotte Amalie High School serve the area.-Gallery:-See also:* Anna's Retreat* Cruz Bay* Saint Thomas* Water Island-External links:* *...

. The diocese currently comprises 14 churches. There is a functioning parish school on St. Thomas All Saints Cathedral School

All Saints Cathedral School

The All Saints Cathedral School, founded in 1928, is a private Episcopal college preparatory day school located on the island of St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands on Commandant Gade, or Garden Street...

there was an academic campus on St. Croix, St. Dunstan's Episcopal High School. St. Dunstan's closed in the 1990's.

History

In 1917 when the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

bought the Danish West Indies

Danish West Indies

The Danish West Indies or "Danish Antilles", were a colony of Denmark-Norway and later Denmark in the Caribbean. They were sold to the United States in 1916 in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies and became the United States Virgin Islands in 1917...

from Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, the three Anglican parishes and one mission on the islands were under the Anglican Bishop of Antigua

Bishop of Antigua

The Anglican diocese of Antigua and the Leeward Islands was formed in 1842, as the diocese of Barbados, then one of two covering the Caribbean, was sub-divided.There is also a Catholic diocese.-List of Anglican bishops of Antigua:...

who was part of the Diocese of Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

. The Presiding Bishop appointed the Bishop of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

as bishop-in-charge of the new mission district. In 1962 the Right Rev. Cedric Mills was appointed Bishop of the Virgin Islands by the House of Bishops

House of Bishops

The House of Bishops is the third House in a General Synod of some Anglican churches and the second house in the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.-Composition of Houses of Bishops:...

and he arrived in 1963 and assumed jurisdiction over all Anglican and Episcopal churches in the Virgin Islands. In 1972, the diocese became able to elect its own bishop.

Bishops of the Diocese

The Bishops of the Diocese are:

1. The Right Rev. Cedric Mills (1962–1972);
2. The Rt. Rev. Edward M. Turner (1972–1985);
- Interim Bishop: The Rt. Rev. Richard M. Martin (1985–1986);
3 The Rt. Rev. E Don Taylor, elected by the Bishops of Province II, (1986–1996)
- Interim Bishop: The Rt. Rev. Telésforo A. Isaac (1996–1997);
4. The Rt. Rev. Theodore Daniels (1997–2003);
- Interim Bishop: The Rt. Rev. Telésforo A. Isaac (2004–2005); and
5. The Rt. Rev. E. Ambrose Gumbs (2005–present).

Deaneries

In accordance with the usage in the ECUSA, the diocese is divided into three deaneries each headed by a dean and named as follows:

1. St. Thomas-St. John Deanery;
2. St. Croix Deanery; and
3. British Virgin Islands Deanery.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.