Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming explained

Jurisdiction:Diocese
Wyoming
Latin:Diœcesis Vymingensis
Province:Province VI
Bishop:Katharine Jefferts Schori
Cathedral:St Matthew's Cathedral
Congregations:44 (2022)
Members:5,776 (2022)
Established:January 30, 1968
Website:www.diowy.org
Map:ECUSA Wyoming.png
Bishop Title:Assistant Bishop

The Episcopal Church in Wyoming is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with jurisdiction over the state of Wyoming, except for one congregation in western Wyoming which is included in the Episcopal Diocese of Idaho. It was established in 1887 and is in Province VI. Its cathedral, St Matthew's Episcopal Cathedral[1] is in Laramie while the diocesan offices are in Casper.[2] [3]

Paul-Gordon Chandler was the 10th bishop of Wyoming. His consecration was held on February 13, 2021, in Laramie, Wyoming, and he served until voluntarily accepting a sentence of deposition from ordained ministry in March 2024.[4] He succeeded John Sheridan Smylie.[5] Leadership of the Diocese was entrusted to former Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori until further notice.

Missionary Bishops

The Missionary District of Idaho and Wyoming was created by the General Convention of October 1886. The first missionary bishop, whom the Diocese of Wyoming counts as its first diocesan bishop, was Ethelbert Talbot, a pioneering bishop who went on to become Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Pennsylvania (subsequently the Diocese of Bethlehem) and Presiding Bishop from 1924-1926.

From 1898-1909 the Episcopal Church in Wyoming was overseen by bishops with other responsibilities. Following Talbot's resignation in 1898, the General Convention, meeting in October that year, added Wyoming to the district overseen by Anson Rogers Graves, who had been elected First Missionary Bishop of Nebraska in 1889.[6] Graves oversaw the diocese concurrently with his work in Nebraska until October 1907. Thereafter James B. Funsten, first Bishop of the Missionary District of Boise in Idaho since 1899, and first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Idaho from 1907-1918[7] had oversight of the Diocese until the consecration and installation of Nathaniel Thomas in October 1909. Thomas is counted as the second diocesan.

Bishops of Wyoming

Honorific & NameDates
1stEthelbert P.E. Talbot1887–1898
2ndNathaniel S. Thomas1909–1927
3rdElmer N. Schmuck1929–1936
4thWinfred Hamlin Ziegler1936–1949
5thJames Wilson Hunter1949–1969
6thDavid Thornberry1969–1977
7thBob Gordon Jones1977–1996
8thBruce Edward Caldwell1997–2010
9thJohn Sheridan Smylie2010–2021
10thPaul-Gordon Chandler2021–2024
--Katharine Jefferts Schori (Assisting)2024-

See also

References

See also the various editions of the Episcopal Church Annual, Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, PA (current edition, 2009) and The Red Book interactive directory of dioceses, parishes and clergy within the Episcopal Church.

External links

41.3122°N -105.5928°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: St. Matthew's Episcopal Cathedral website . 2008-03-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080704183654/http://saintmatthews.qwestoffice.net/ . 2008-07-04 . dead .
  2. Web site: Episcopal Church in Wyoming Contact Page . 2009-03-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090612075402/http://wyomingdiocese.org/contact.html . 2009-06-12 . dead .
  3. Web site: Episcopal Church online directory . 2008-03-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080311210041/http://www.episcopalchurch.org/directory_18672_ENG_HTM.htm . 2008-03-11 . dead .
  4. News: Wyoming Bishop Paul-Gordon Chandler deposed as a result of Title IV investigation . 27 March 2024 . Episcopal News Service . March 27, 2024.
  5. News: From the Middle East to the Wild West . 16 February 2021 . Episcopal Church in Wyoming . 14 February 2021.
  6. See Graves' autobiography The Farmer Boy Who Became A Bishop, New Werner Company, Akron, Ohio, 1911
  7. http://www.palmspringsbum.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I49591&tree=Legends Chronology of James Bowen Funsten D.D.