| Diocese of Texas | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Territory | Anderson, Angelina, Austin, Bastrop, Bell, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Burnet, Chambers, Cherokee, Colorado, Coryell, Falls, Fayette, Fort Bend, Freestone, Galveston, Gregg, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Houston, Jasper, Jefferson, Lampasas, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Matagorda, McLennan, Milam, Montgomery, Nacogdoches, Newton, Orange, Panola, Polk, Robertson, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Smith, Travis, Trinity, Tyler, Walker, Waller, Washington, Wharton, Williamson Counties, Texas |
| Ecclesiastical province | VII |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Episcopal Church |
| Established | 1849 |
| Cathedral | Christ Church Cathedral, Houston |
| Current leadership | |
| Bishop | C. Andrew Doyle |
| Suffragans | Rayford High Dena A. Harrison |
| Map | |
| ECUSA Texas.png | |
| Website | |
| epicenter.org | |
The Episcopal Diocese of Texas is one of the largest dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The diocese consists of all ECUSA congregations in the southeastern quartile of Texas, including the cities of Austin, Beaumont, Galveston, Houston (the see city) and Waco.
The 153 congregations in the Diocese of Texas have more than 1000 outreach ministries, locally and abroad. They include: homeless and feeding ministries, clinics, after school programs for at risk youth, ministry to seniors, ESL and citizenship classes and much more. Two new churches, St. Julian of Norwich (Austin) and St. Mary Magdalene (Manor) were planted in 2010.
Institutions of the diocese include St. Luke's Episcopal Health System in Houston; St. Vincent's House, a social service agency, in Galveston; El Buen Samaritano, an agency to help working poor in Austin; COTS/LOTS, Community of the Streets, outreach to homeless men and women in midtown Houston; Episcopal High School, Houston; St. Stephen's Episcopal School, Austin; and the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin.
The diocese traces its foundation to Christ Church in Matagorda in 1838, when it became the first foreign missionary field of the Episcopal Church (as part of the Republic of Texas). Together with Christ Church, Houston (1839) and Trinity Church, Galveston (1841) it formed the Episcopal Church of Texas, the Episcopal presence in the Republic of Texas. It formally became a diocese of the Episcopal Church in 1849.
Christ Church became the cathedral of the diocese in 1949.
The current bishop is the Right Reverend C. Andrew Doyle (born 1966). He succeeded the Rt. Rev. Don Wimberly as diocesan on June 7, 2009 upon Wimberly's retirement.
Missionary Bishops of Texas include: Leonidas Polk and George Washington Freeman (until Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845). The diocese organized in 1849 and elected Alexander Gregg its first bishop in 1859. He served until 1893 when his coadjutor (elected to succeed), the Rt. Rev. George Herbert Kinsolving, became Bishop of Texas. Kinsolving's coadjutor, the Rt. Rev. Clinton Simon Quin, succeeded him 35 years later in 1928.
Bishop John Hines served as coadjutor under Bishop Quin for ten years and became diocesan in 1955. Nine years later, in 1964, Hines was elected Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church where he served for a decade. Bishop Milton Richardson was consecrated the fifth Bishop of Texas on February 10, 1965, and served as diocesan until his death in 1981. The sixth Bishop of Texas, the Rt. Rev. Maurice M. Benitez, was elected in 1980. In June 1993 Bishop Claude E. Payne was elected the fourth bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of Texas and became the seventh Bishop of Texas February 10, 1995. Bishop Don Wimberly became the eighth bishop of Texas in June, 2003, retiring at the mandatory age of 72 on June 6, 2009. Bishop Doyle, elected in May, 2008, was consecrated at St. Martins, Houston, on November 22, 2008 and invested and seated on June 7, 2009.
Additionally, Texas has had nine bishops suffragan and six assistant bishops since becoming a diocese: F. Percy Goddard, James P. Clements, and Roger H. Cilley; Scott Field Bailey; Gordon T. Charlton; William E. Sterling, Sr., and Leopoldo J. Alard served as bishops suffragan. Bishops Rayford B. High, Jr. and Dena A. Harrison are currently serving in that position. Bishops Anselmo Carral, William J. Cox, Don Wimberly, James B. Brown, Ted Daniels and John Buchanan served as assistants.
Rayford B. High Jr. and Dena Harrison serve as bishops suffragan. Harrison is the thirteenth woman consecrated to the episcopate in the Episcopal Church and the first in a diocese in the South.
Bishops of Texas
| No. | Name | Years |
|---|---|---|
| I | Alexander Gregg | 1859-1893 |
| II | George Herbert Kinsolving | 1893-1928 |
| III | Clinton Simon Quin | 1928-1955 |
| IV | John Elbridge Hines | 1955-1964 |
| V | J. Milton Richardson | 1965-1980 |
| VI | Maurice "Ben" Benitez | 1980-1995 |
| VII | Claude E. Payne | 1995-2003 |
| VIII | Don A. Wimberly | 2003-2009 |
| IX | C. Andrew Doyle | 2009-Present |