The Diocese of Huron is a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

of the

Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario The Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario is one of four ecclesiastical provinces in the Anglican Church of Canada. It was established in 1912 out of six dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada located in the civil Provinces and territories ...

of the

Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2016, the Anglican Church of ...

. The diocese comprises just over 31,000 square kilometres in southwestern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, sandwiched between

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is shared on the north and east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south and west by the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the lake is derived from early French ex ...

and

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

. Its

See city See or SEE may refer to: * Visual perception Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Televisio ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and its parish rolls of 50,000 are served by 177 congregations. The territory covered by the diocese was under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Quebec until 1839, and was included in the Diocese of Toronto from 1839 until 1857. Its first bishop,

Benjamin Cronyn The Rt. Rev. Benjamin Cronyn (11 July 1802 – 21 September 1871) was the first bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Huron. Cronyn was born in Kilkenny, Ireland and educated at Trinity College, Dublin."Alumni Dublinenses : a register of the ...

, was the first to be elected by a diocesan

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

in Canada. In 1866, there were two archdeaconries: C. Crosbie Brough was Archdeacon of Huron and

Isaac Hellmuth Isaac Hellmuth (December 14, 1819 – 28 May 1901), second Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Huron, was the founder of Huron University College and the University of Western Ontario, one of Canada's leading universities. He was also founder of H ...

of London. In addition to London, other major communities within the diocese are:

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Chatham, Kitchener,

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes, ...

, Stratford,

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

, and

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

. The diocese maintains chaplaincies at Canterbury College in Windsor,

Renison University College Renison University College is an affiliated university college#Canada, university college of the University of Waterloo and located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Renison's campus is situated on the western border of University of Waterloo, Wate ...

in Waterloo and

Huron University College Huron University College is a university college affiliated with the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. It was Incorporated on the 5 May 1863. Huron is the founding institution of the University of Western Ontario. It ...

in London, which has an affiliated

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

. A parish in Brantford, Ontario also supports chaplaincy ministry at the local campus of

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a Public university, public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Brantford, Ontario, Brantford and Milton, Ontario, Milton. The ...

. The diocesan bishop from July 2009 to November 2017 was Robert Bennett, who retired November 1, 2016. He was supported by Terry Dance, who was elected as suffragan bishop on 28 March 2009 and consecrated in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, Ontario, on 6 June 2009. Bishop Terry Dance retired December 31, 2015.

Linda Nicholls Linda Carol Nicholls (born October 25, 1954) is a Canadian Anglican bishop who served as Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada from 2019 until her retirement in 2024. She was previously Bishop of Huron from 2016 to 2019 and a suffragan bishop ...

, former suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Toronto area of Trent-Durham was elected coadjutor bishop on February 13, 2016, and assumed the role of the diocesan bishop on November 1, 2016, with the retirement of the Rt Rev Robert Bennett. In July 2019 Linda Nicholls was elected

Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

of the Anglican Church of Canada at the 2019 General Synod. Before assuming her duties as the head of the Anglican Church of Canada, she had to leave her post in Huron on September 30, 2019. Until the installment of the new bishop, the diocese was administered by The Most Reverend Colin Johnson, retired metropolitan of Ontario and archbishop of Toronto and Moosonee. On October 26, 2019, Todd Townshend was elected the next bishop of Huron. He assumed his role as the 14th bishop of Huron when consecrated 25 January 2020. The

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

St. Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

is Kevin George. He was appointed by Bishop Todd Townshend as dean of St. Paul's Cathedral on January 1, 2024.

Bishops of Huron

References

External links

Diocesan website

List of parish website links

Deaneries of the Diocese of Huron

Huron University College website

Renison University College website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huron Religious organizations established in 1857 Huron, Anglican Diocese of Anglican Church in Ontario Anglican dioceses established in the 19th century 1857 establishments in Canada West Anglican Province of Ontario