Diocese of Canterbury

Diocese of Canterbury
Location
Ecclesiastical province	Canterbury
Archdeaconries	Canterbury, Ashford, Maidstone
Coordinates	51°16′47″N 1°5′0″E / 51.27972°N 1.083333°E / 51.27972; 1.083333Coordinates: 51°16′47″N 1°5′0″E / 51.27972°N 1.083333°E / 51.27972; 1.083333
Statistics
Parishes	261
Churches	335
Information
Cathedral	Canterbury Cathedral
Current leadership
Bishop	Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
Suffragans	Trevor Willmott, Bishop of Dover Jonathan Baker, Bishop of Ebbsfleet (PEV) Norman Banks, Bishop of Richborough (PEV)
Archdeacons	Sheila Watson, Archdeacon of Canterbury Philip Down, Archdeacon of Ashford Archdeacon of Maidstone (Archdeacon-designate: Stephen Taylor)
Website
canterbury.anglican.org

The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering eastern Kent, founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. It is centred on (and named after) Canterbury Cathedral, and is the oldest see of the Church of England.

The diocesan bishop is the Archbishop of Canterbury; but because of his roles as Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury, Primate of All England, and worldwide head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop (whose primary residence, moreover, is at Lambeth Palace in London) is often away. Hence one of his suffragan bishops, the Suffragan Bishop of Dover, is given the additional title of "Bishop in Canterbury" and in many ways empowered to act almost as if he were the diocesan bishop. There was, until 2009, another suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Maidstone, but it was decided in November 2010 that no further appointments would be made to that post.^[1] (Two further suffragans with titular settlements located in the diocese — Ebbsfleet and Richborough — are really provincial episcopal visitors with a focus more wide-ranging than the local diocese.)

For organisational purposes, the diocese is divided into three archdeaconries,^[2] containing a total of sixteen deaneries:

• in the Archdeaconry of Canterbury — Canterbury, East Bridge, Reculver, Thanet and West Bridge;
• in the Archdeaconry of Ashford — Ashford, Dover, Elham and Sandwich;
• in the Archdeaconry of Maidstone — Cranbrook, Maidstone, North Downs, Romney, Ospringe, Sittingbourne and Tenterden.

See also

• John Wallis Academy — school in Ashford sponsored by the diocese

Notes

1. ^ Canterbury Diocese — Synod News
2. ^ Diocese of Canterbury — Order creating the Archdeaconry of Ashford

References

• Church of England Statistics 2002

External links

• Official site
• Map of the Diocese