- Anglican Diocese of Dunedin
The Diocese of Dunedin is one of seven dioceses of the
Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia . TheDiocese covers the same area as the provinces of Otago and Southland in theSouth Island ofNew Zealand . Area 65,990 km², population 272,541 (2001). Anglicans are traditionally the third largest religious group in Otago and Southland after Presbyterians and Roman Catholics.Description of Arms: Gules between a cross saltire argent, four starts argent on the fess point a Bible.
The diocese was established in
1869 . The seat of the Bishop of Dunedin is St Paul's Cathedral, Dunedin.History
The first person named as Bishop of Dunedin was Henry Lascelles Jenner. At the request of Bishop
George Augustus Selwyn Primate of New Zealand in1866 ArchbishopCharles Thomas Longley of Canterbury selected Jenner for Dunedin. Jenner wasconsecrated in 1866 by royal licence as 'Bishop of the United Church of England and Ireland in our colony of New Zealand'. Jenner was consecrated together with Suter (candidate as 2nd Bishop of Nelson) by Archbishop Longley, theBishop of London Bishop Tait (laterArchbishop Tait , of Canterbury) and the bishops of Bristol and Gloucester. In1867 Jenner embarked on a fundraising tour in England for his new diocese. Jenner was an ethusiasticAnglo-Catholic . When news of Jenner's 'ritualist ' activities reached Dunedin anti-ritualist andanti-catholic sentiment was whipped up in the city and diocese. New Zealand's 4th GeneralSynod (1868) asked Jenner to give up his claim to the see of Dunedin. In1869 the first session of the Dunedin diocesan synod rejected Jenner's claim to the see. Jenner resigned the see of Dunedin in1871 , the same year S. T. Nevill was consecrated and enthroned as the first Bishop of Dunedin.In 1990 the diocese made world history by electing Dr.
Penny Jamieson as bishop. Bishop Penny was the first woman diocesan bishop in the Anglican Communion and only the second woman bishop, the first being BishopBarbara Clementine Harris .The incumbent Bishop of Dunedin is George Connor. Before becoming bishop of Dunedin he was Bishop in the
Bay of Plenty , he wastranslated in 2004. The Diocese gained some publicity in 2006 when Bishop George (with the support of the Diocesan Standing Committee) ordained an openly gay man to the diaconate. A moratorium on ordinations in the diocese has been declared until the church provincially (Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia) is of a common mind on the full inclusion of homosexual persons at every level of ministry in the church.Bishops of Dunedin
Consecrated but not enthroned Henry Lascelles Jenner (1866)
* 1st
Samuel Tarratt Nevill (1871-1919)
* 2nd Isaac Richards (1920-1934)
* 3rd William Alfred Robertson Fitchett (1934-1952)
* 4th Dr. Allen Howard Johnston (1953- 1969, later Bishop ofWaikato , Primate and Archbishop of New Zealand 1972-1980)
* 5th Walter Wade Robinson (1969-1975)
* 6th Peter Mann (1976-1989)
* 7th Dr. Penelope Anne Bansall Jamieson (1989-2004)
* 8th George Howard Douglas Connor (2004-present)ocial service organisations
* The South Centre, Invercargill.
* Anglican Family Care Centre, Dunedin.chool
* St. Hilda's Collegiate School, Dunedin.
University hall of residence
* Selwyn College founded in 1893 is the oldest College for students at the
University of Otago .Homes for the aged
* St. Barnabus Home, Dunedin
* Parata Home, Gore
* Takitimu Home, Invercargill
* North Otago Anglican Homes for the Aged, OamaruOrphanage
In the past the diocese operated St. Mary's Orphanage, Dunedin.
Religious orders
* The Community of
Sisters of the Church was active in the diocese from the end of the 19th century until the 1930s. They were invited by Bishop Nevill to found a school for girls. They founded St. Hilda's Collegiate School.
* Brother Keith a solitary religious with vows to the bishop was active in the diocese in the 1990s.Companion Dioceses
* Edinburgh
* Eastern ZambiaJenner controversy
The episode of Bishop Jenner's appointment to the See of Dunedin is part of the history of the
Anglican Communion . It concerns the relationship of the Archbishop of Canterbury to that Communion and the development of synodical government within it. The Queen's Mandate for his consecration referred simply to a Bishop from the colony of New Zealand (it also authorised the consecration of Bishop Suter for Nelson) the request of Bishop Selwyn was for a Bishop to be Bishop of Dunedin. Both the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop Selwyn personally addressed Bishop Jenner as Bishop of Dunedin.While the Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand is proud of its history and heritage there is a lingering sense of embarrassment and shame over what came to be known as "The Jenner Controversy" even though the affair took place over a century ago. In the interval, Church historians have mulled over the events which led Bishop Jenner finally and very reluctantly to forego his claims to the See of Dunedin and their conclusions are generally that something less than justice was accorded to the Bishop by the Diocese and the General Synod. Jenner participated in the first
Lambeth Conference in 1867 as the Bishop of Dunedin.External links
* [http://www.dn.anglican.org.nz/ Diocese of Dunedin]
* [http://www.anglican.org.nz/ Anglican Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia]
* [http://www.anglicancommunion.org/ Anglican Communion]
* [http://www.stpauls.net.nz/ St Paul's Cathedral]
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