The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is the metropolitan diocese of the

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

in the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. In 2016, responding to a peer-reviewed study ...

. The diocese was founded from the Diocese of Australia by

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

of 25 June 1847Supplement to the New South Wales government gazette, 31 December 1847
(Accessed 21 December 2015) and includes the cities of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

and also some more rural areas. The

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

church is

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Melbourne, Australia. It is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Melbourne and the seat of the Archbishop of Melbourne, who is also the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Victoria. ...

. The most recent Archbishop of Melbourne, from 2006 to 2025, was

Philip Freier Philip Leslie Freier (born 9 February 1955) is an Australian Anglican bishop. He was the 13th Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Archbishop of Melbourne from 2006 until his retirement in 2025. He was Anglican Primate of Australia, Primate of Aust ...

, who was translated from the Anglican Diocese of The Northern Territory, and who was the

Anglican Primate of Australia The Anglican Primate of Australia is the senior bishop and President of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, originally known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Chr ...

from 2014 to 2020.

History

The diocese was founded from the Diocese of Australia by

of 25 June 1847 and includes the cities of

and

and also some more rural areas. The

church is

. The

ordinary Ordinary or The Ordinary often refer to: Music * ''Ordinary'' (EP) (2015), by South Korean group Beast * ''Ordinary'' (album) (2011), by Every Little Thing * "Ordinary" (Alex Warren song) (2025) * "Ordinary" (Two Door Cinema Club song) (2016 ...

of the diocese is the Archbishop of Melbourne.

Areas of episcopal care

The Diocese of Melbourne is divided into areas of episcopal care in which assistant bishops exercise a pastoral role on behalf of the archbishop. These areas are divided into archdeaconries with further subdivision into area deaneries. Following consultation with the Wurundjeri people of Melbourne, local Indigenous names have been used for the areas of episcopal care. The areas are: *Marmingatha, covering the inner city, especially along major transport corridors; *Oodthenong, covering the northern and western growth areas in Greater Melbourne and Geelong; *Jumbunna, covering parishes south of the Yarra and to the east, including the South-East Growth Corridor; and *Monomeeth, of which the bishop has responsibilities across the whole of the diocese with a particular focus on people, culture and wellbeing. ''Marmingatha'' means “being with the divine or supreme being, ''Oodthenong'' means “gathering", ''Jumbunna'' means “speaking out” or “proclamation” and ''Monomeeth'' means "rightness, wellness and goodness". Together, they comprise the Woi Wurrung equivalent of the diocesan vision of Making the Word of God Fully Known through “gathering in the divine presence to speak out and proclaim”.

Theological colleges

There are two Anglican

theological colleges A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and Christian theology, theology, generally to prepare them for ordinatio ...

within the diocese, both in the suburb of Parkville.

Trinity College Theological School Trinity College Theological School (TCTS) is an educational division of Australia's Trinity College, the oldest residential college of the University of Melbourne. It is also one of the constituent colleges of the University of Divinity. The scho ...

, founded in 1878, is a college of the ecumenical

University of Divinity The University of Divinity is an Australian collegiate university with a specialised focus in divinity and associated disciplines. It is constituted by twelve theological colleges from seven denominations and three schools. The University of Di ...

and part of

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, a

residential college A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship ...

within the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

and is more Liberal and

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholicism, Catholic heritage (especially pre-English Reformation, Reformation roots) and identity of the Church of England and various churches within Anglicanism. Anglo-Ca ...

in tradition.

Ridley College Ridley College may refer to * Ridley College (Melbourne), Victoria, Australia * Ridley College (Ontario), Canada See also * Ridley Hall, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK * * Ridley (disambiguation) {{schooldis ...

was founded in 1910 as an independent college in the

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

tradition and is affiliated with the

Australian College of Theology The Australian University of Theology (AUT), formerly known as the Australian College of Theology (ACT), is an Collegiate university, collegiate Theology, theological university based in Sydney, New South Wales. The university delivers awards i ...

Issues

Churchmanship Churchmanship (also churchpersonship, or tradition in most official contexts) is a way of talking about and labelling different tendencies, parties, or schools of thought within the Church of England and the sister churches of the Anglican Com ...

within the Melbourne diocese is diverse and the three nineteenth-century Anglican traditions,

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

and

, are all significantly represented. The existence of such differing traditions within the diocese is sometimes a cause of theological tensions, evident in the existence of separate theological colleges. The difficulty with which an archbishop was elected in 2006 provided a recent example. The Diocese of Melbourne has been affected by issues that have been debated in the worldwide

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

. The theological diversity of the diocese means that there is sometimes disagreement over more contentious matters. In addition, it is frequently perceived that there is a significant tension between the theologically broad Melbourne diocese and the far more conservative Sydney diocese.

Ordination of women

The diocese was the first in Australia to ordain a woman, when Bishop Moorhouse ordained

Marion Macfarlane Marion Macfarlane (19 July 1840 – 29 April 1898) was the first woman to be ordained in the Anglican Church in Australia. She was ordained to the "Female Diaconate" in 1884 in the Diocese of Melbourne, then in 1886 converted to Catholicism, to ...

as a deaconess in 1884. It has ordained women to the

diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Catholi ...

since 1986 and to the priesthood since 1992. The September 2007 decision of the Appellate Tribunal opening the way for the consecration of women to the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

was welcomed by then-Archbishop Philip Freier. General Synod approved a motion in October 2007 which welcomed the "clarity" of the decision. Melbourne's first woman to become a bishop, Barbara Darling, was consecrated at St Paul's Cathedral on 31 May 2008. The ordination of women to be bishops is opposed by some within the diocese, particularly conservative Evangelicals and some Anglo-Catholics, necessitating the provision of

alternative episcopal oversight A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction "are unable to receive the ministry of w ...

Homosexuality

The diocese officially subscribes to the traditional Anglican stance on homosexuality. Most conservatives and Evangelicals remain opposed to the blessing of

same-sex unions A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with chil ...

and the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy. However, the diocese also contains a number of liberal parishes and prominent laypeople, such as

Muriel Porter Muriel Lylie Porter (née Carter, born 15 May 1948) is an Australian journalist based in Melbourne, Victoria. She is a frequent contributor to ''The Age'' newspaper and ''The Melbourne Anglican'' diocesan newspaper, for which she mostly writes ...

, who have been very vocal in their support for changes in the church's teaching on human sexuality.

Abortion

In November 2007, an all-female committee from the Diocese of Melbourne made a submission to the

Victorian Law Reform Commission The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly an ...

outlining its position in relation to

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. The submission stated that "the Anglican Church is for life" and acknowledged "diversity of ... views" within the diocese. However it also declared that the diocese "supports the provision of safe and affordable abortions with appropriate safeguards for women who, for whatever reasons, request them". The underlying ethical view concerning embryonic life is that "while the embryo/foetus is fully human from the time of conception, it accrues moral significance and value as it develops ... we believe the moral significance increases with the age and development of the foetus. The significance increases gradually over time, in parallel with its physical development. As a pregnancy advances, more powerful moral reasons are required to allow the destruction of the embryo/foetus." The submission was announced in ''The Melbourne Anglican'', in an article entitled "Decriminalise abortion, say Anglican women". This is seen to be the first official approval of abortion by Australian Anglicans.

List of Bishops and Archbishops of Melbourne

List of assistant bishops

Archdeaconries

Archdeacon of Melbourne

*The first archdeacon was Hussey Burgh Macartney: he was also Dean of the Cathedral.

Archdeacon of Sale

The first archdeacon was Theodore Carlos Benoni Stretch.

Archdeacon of Castlemaine

The first archdeacon was Archibald Crawford.

Archdeacon of Geelong

Lloyd Crossley Owen Thomas Lloyd Crossley (30 April 18603 March 1926) was the fourth Anglican Bishop of Auckland for a short period during the second decade of the 20th century. Educated at the Belfast Academy and Trinity College, Dublin he was made deacon 8 Ju ...

was Vicar of All Saint's, St Kilda from 18 September 1905 until 1911.Blain, Michael. ''Blain Biographical Directory of Anglican clergy in the South Pacific — ordained before 1932'' (2019) pp. 362–4. (Accessed a
Project Canterbury
26 June 2019)

References

Bibliography

*Porter, Brian, ed. ''Melbourne Anglicans: the Diocese of Melbourne, 1847-1997.'' Melbourne: Mitre Books, 1997.

External links

Diocese of Melbourne website"Critical Mass" - Young Anglicans in the Melbourne dioceseMelbourne Anglican Study Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anglican Diocese Of Melbourne

Culture of Melbourne 1847 establishments in Australia Anglican archbishops of Melbourne Deans of Melbourne Archdeacons of Melbourne Bishops of Geelong