Diocese of Dunedin | |
|---|---|
| Bishopric | |
 Arms of the Diocese of Dunedin | |
| Incumbent: Anne van Gend | |
| Style | The Right Reverend |
| Location | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Territory | South Island |
| Ecclesiastical province | Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia |
| Headquarters | Dunedin |
| Statistics | |
| Parishes | 30 (date unknown) |
| Information | |
| First holder | Henry Jenner (disputed) |
| Formation | 1866 |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Cathedral | St Paul's Cathedral |
| Current leadership | |
| Parent church | Anglican Communion |
| Major Archbishop |
|
| Diocesan bishop | Anne van Gend |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheDiocese of Dunedin is one of the thirteendioceses andhui amorangi (Māoribishoprics) of theAnglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia.[1]
The diocese covers the same area as the provinces ofOtago andSouthland in theSouth Island ofNew Zealand; or approximately 65,990 square kilometres (25,480 sq mi), with a population 272,541 (in 2001). Anglicans are traditionally the third largest religious group in Otago and Southland after Presbyterians and Roman Catholics.
The Bishop of Dunedin's cathedra is atSt. Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin.
The Diocesan Seal (based on an 1871 seal of Bishop Nevill) was authorised by Synod in 1921 and commissioned on 15 October 1931. An official certificate was issued in 1949 to Bishop Fitchett confirming the crest i.e., a Gules, a Saltire between four Mullets Argent surrounded by an open Bible”. Gules describes a darker shade of red, mullet means a straight sided star with “argent” being the white border to the star. The stars most likely refer to the Southern Cross. Saltire refers to the Saint Andrew’s Cross or the crux decussata, a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French sautoir, Medieval Latin saltatorial.
In 1814, the Gospel first preached in Aotearoa at Oihi, Northland by Anglican missionarySamuel Marsden, in 1841George Selwyn consecrated and appointed Bishop of New Zealand (including Polynesia and Melanesia). In 1843 the first Anglican missionaries to come to Southland and Otago wereTamihana Te Rauparaha and Matene Te Whiwhi. In 1852 Rev. John Fenton arrives in Dunedin; he was the first Anglican priest to settle south ofLyttelton. In 1856 when the Diocese of New Zealand was subdivided, Southland and Otago were included in theDiocese of Christchurch. In 1866Henry Lascelles Jenner selected and ordained by theArchbishop of Canterbury “into the office of a Bishop of the United Church of England and Ireland in the colony of New Zealand”, with the intention that he be Bishop of Dunedin. In 1869 the Diocese of Dunedin formed from the Diocese of Christchurch. The first meeting of Dunedin's synod rejected Jenner's claim to the See1871Samuel Nevill enthroned as 1st bishop of Dunedin.
The Diocese has declined in numbers in the 21st Century, leading to the closing and selling of many Churches, including the historic church in Clyde,[2] and the largest church in Invercargill,[3] which among others, were sold against the wishes of the local communities. It is currently exploring new ways of connecting with remote and rural communities through a rural chaplaincy initiative.[4]
The diocese has a total of 30 parishes, deaneries, Cathedral District and local churches. The adaption of "Local Shared Ministry" has been a strategy by which local people are ordained to serve in a parish which cannot afford to support full-time professional clergy.
The diocese includesAnglo-Catholic, broad andEvangelical parishes.
In 1990, the diocese made history by electingPenny Jamieson as their seventh bishop. Jamieson was the first woman to become a diocesan bishop in the Anglican Communion and only the second woman consecrated bishop, the first being BishopBarbara Harris. The eighth bishop was the Right RevdGeorge Connor, who became Bishop of Dunedin in 2005. The diocese gained some publicity in 2006 when (with the support of the Diocesan Standing Committee), Connorordained an openlygay man to the diaconate. A moratorium on ordinations in the diocese was declared until the New Zealand church achieved a common mind on the full inclusion of homosexual persons at every level of ministry in the church. Connor retired in November 2009. The ninth Bishop of Dunedin,Kelvin Wright, was installed in February 2010 and retired in April 2017. He was succeeded bySteven Benford previously Vicar of The Church of St. Joseph the Worker in North London, who was consecrated and installed in September 2017. He relinquished his charge in May 2024.
The following individuals have served as the Bishop of Dunedin, or any precursor title:
| Bishops of Dunedin | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinal | Officeholder | Term start | Term end | Notes | |
| 1 | Henry Jenner | 1866 | 1871 | Disputed; seeDunedin Controversy | |
| 2 | Samuel Nevill | 1871 | 1919 | Primate of New Zealand from 1904; resigned both in ill-health, 1 July 1919 | |
| 3 | Isaac Richards | 1920 | 1934 | ||
| 4 | William Fitchett | 1934 | 1952 | ||
| 5 | Allen Johnston | 1953 | 1969 | Translated toWaikato; laterArchbishop of New Zealand | |
| 6 | Walter Robinson | 1969 | 1975 | ||
| 7 | Peter Mann | 1976 | 1989 | ||
| 8 | Penny Jamieson | 1989 | 2004 | ||
| 9 | George Connor | 2005 | 2009 |
| |
| 10 | Kelvin Wright | 2010 | 2017 | ||
| 11 | Steven Benford | 2017 | 2024 | ||
| 12 | Anne van Gend | 2025 | present | ||
In 1886, there were three archdeaconries:Edward Edwards wasArchdeacon of Dunedin,George Beaumontof Invercargill and Queenstown andJohn Fentonof Oamaru; within a year,Harry Stocker had also become an archdeacon.[5]
In the past the diocese operated St Mary's Orphanage, Dunedin.