Anglican Diocese of Natal

The Anglican Diocese of Natal covers the western part of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, west and south of the Tugela and Buffalo rivers. The episcopal leader of the diocese is the Bishop of Natal.

Contents

History

The diocese was founded with the consecration of John William Colenso on St Andrew’s Day, 30 November 1853, at the Lambeth Parish Church in England. Colenso was the first Anglican bishop of Natal and coincided with the age of British imperial expansion. He was a militant champion of justice for the Zulu people and their traditional rulers, but was also a center of theological controversy because of his nonconformist views, a tradition carried on after his death by his equally outspoken children.[1]

The oldest consecrated Anglican church in the diocese is St Mary's in Richmond. The parish began with a small pole-and-daga church in March 1853 and St Mary’s was consecrated three years later by Bishop Colenso and used by other denominations until their own churches were built.[2]

Administration

The diocese shadows the geographical area of much of the KwaZulu Natal Province, excluding the area known as Zululand, which is its own diocese, Anglican Diocese of Zululand. As is the custom in Anglican dioceses, the diocese is divided into sub-regions, known as Archdeaconries, to facilitate better administrative and pastoral leadership processes. The archdeaconries and parishes that fall under them are as follows:

Archdeaconry of the Cathedral

Archdeaconry of Durban

Archdeaconry of Durban Ridge

St Cyprian's was the third Anglican parish to be established in Durban. It has the distinction of dating it's beginnings to that period when The Church of the Province of South Africa separated from the Church of England. The parish was born of the controversies that rent the church in Natal during the time of Bishop Colenso. At the time the majority of clergy and laity elected to belong to to Church of South Africa rendering obedience to the Metropolitan Bishop of Cape Town becoming an entity within the Anglican Community. The First registers of the Church were opened on October, 1867 with the church meeting in the Billiard Room of the Trafalgar Hotel in Pine Terrace (later to become Commercial Road) but the name St Cyprian's was not officially used in any entry until June, 1870.. According to the census of 1970 the population of Durban reached 5440 made up as follows 3170 whites and 2270 non-whites. The Rev. Frederick S Robinson M.A. was appointed first incumbent of St Cyprian's in Durban. By 1870 a school - cum - chapel name St Cyprian's was erected on a sit now known as 104 - 108 Commercial Road. During the period 1877 - 1885 Rev H.F. Whittington served as Vicar of St Cyprians . It was during his incumbency that the first St Augustine's was built on the Berea (see photo). This Church was pulled down in 1909 and re-erected at Sydenham to provide for the needs of the Indian Mission there. The land was sold in 1913 and the name St Augustine's was transferred to the new church in Congella and later to the Chapel at St Cyprians. Saint Faith Church then situated in Masonic Grove was built in the early 1880's and was under the control of the Vicar of St Cyprian's. It is interesting to note that St Faith produced the first Black (native) priest Rev. Daniel Mzamo. At this time St Cyprian's and the small St Augustine's church on the Berea were to only two Churches representing the Church of the Province of South Africa in Durban. St Cyprian's can be regarded as the Mother Church of the Anglican Faith under the Church of the Province of South Africa in Durban. It was from these beginnings that the Sisters of Saint John the Divine were persuaded to open an orphanage for girls in Clark Road, there followed the establishment of the Church. At Greyville a hall was built (St Mary's) St Stephens was built in the Point Smith Street - 1877 - 1939 In 1877 the foundation stone of the new church in of St Cyprian was laid in Smith Street (410 - 416 Smith Street, now Hub Departmental Store), by the Bishop of Cape Town, Bishop West-Jones. The Land was donated by a Mr. Dickenson of Pietermaritzburg. The congregation of St Cyprian's managed to raise the £2000 necessary for building the nave while a further £2000 was necessary to complete the church. Following troubles in Zululand which finally erupted into war, St Cyprians Church was finally concreted on 5th May 1881 by Bishop Macrorie. (view) In 1909 a parish hall was built behind the Church at a cost of £700 funded by the sale of the St Augustine's land in Musgrave Road on the Berea In September 1919, St Cyprian's celebrated it's jubilee with services of thanksgiving and a Jubilee Ball in the Durban City Hall. Special trams travelled to the Berea and to Bulwer Park to take revellers home after the Ball. Migration to Congella The new St Cyprian's church in Congella was completed during the first months of World War 2 and was consecrated on 2nd March 1940. The foundation stone of the new parish hall was laid in 18th December, 1954 by the former vicar Rev. F.N. Ramsden and the completed hall was dedicated by the Lord Bishop of Natal the Rt. Rev. T.G.V Inman in June 1955. The cost of the new hall on the site which adjoins to church was well over £7000 more than ten times the cost of the parish hall built in Smith Street. Although the kitchen and offices were considered extremely spacious at the time of building, within 10 years the congregation was wishing that the accommodation could be expanded. In 1960 portion of the church grounds was set aside as a Garden of Remembrance where the ashes of those who have been associated with the church could be interred.

Archdeaconry of Durban South

Archdeaconry of Ingagane

Archdeaconry of Lovu

Archdeaconry of Msunduzi

Archdeaconry of North Coast

Archdeaconry of North Durban

Archdeaconry of Pietermaritzburg

Archdeaconry of Pinetown

Archdeaconry of Umkhomazi

Archdeaconry of Umngeni

Archdeaconry of Umzimkhulu

Archdeaconry of Uthukela

List of Bishops

Tenure Incumbent Notes
1853–1883 John William Colenso William Kenneth Macrorie (1831-1905: rival Bishop of Pietermaritzburg: 1868 to 1892)
1883–1893 vacant William Kenneth Macrorie (1831-1905: rival Bishop of Pietermaritzburg: 1868 to 1892)
1893–1901 Arthur Hamilton Baynes (1854–1942)
1901–1928 Frederick Samuel Baines (1858–1939)
1928–1951 Leonard Noel Fisher (1881–1963)
1951–1974 Thomas George Vernon Inman (1904–1989)
1974–1982 Philip Welsford Richmond Russell (born 1919)
1982–1999 Michael Nuttall (born 1934)
1999 - date Rubin Phillip (born 1948)

References

  1. ^ http://www.dacb.org/stories/southafrica/colenso_john2.html
  2. ^ http://www.anglican.co.za/Archives/2003-04-28.pdf
  3. ^ http://www.stthomasberea.org.za/
  4. ^ http://www.stjamesdurban.co.za/
  5. ^ http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=158609304165253
  6. ^ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pietermaritzburg-South-Africa/St-Matthews-Hayfields/173648146823
  7. ^ http://allsoulsumhlali.wordpress.com/
  8. ^ http://www.stmartinschurch.co.za/
  9. ^ http://stmichaelsanglicanchurch.com/
  10. ^ http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=11970149513
  11. ^ http://www.holytrinity.co.za/index.php
  12. ^ http://sites.google.com/site/stagneschurch2010/home
  13. ^ http://www.stjohnbaptist.co.za/
  14. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Elizabeth's_Anglican_Church
  15. ^ http://www.ascension.org.za/

External links