Th
Diocese of Wellington
is one of the thirteen

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 ...

s and ''hui amorangi'' (

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

bishoprics In 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 provinces were administratively associated ...

) of the

Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, formerly the Church of the Province of New Zealand, is a Anglican province, province of the Anglican Communion serving New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands. Since 1992 ...

. The diocese covers the area between the bottom of the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

of New Zealand up to the area of

Mount Ruapehu Mount Ruapehu (; English ) is an active stratovolcano at the southern end of the Taupō Volcanic Zone and North Island North Island Volcanic Plateau, volcanic plateau in New Zealand. It is northeast of Ohakune and southwest of the southern s ...

. The

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of the Bishop of Wellington is at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul. The current Bishop of Wellington, since 2012, has been

Justin Duckworth Justin Charles Hopkins Duckworth (born 1968) is a New Zealand Anglican bishop. Since 2012, he has been the Anglican Bishop of Wellington, and since 2024 he has been the senior bishop of Tikanga Pākehā in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New ...

, joined by newly elected Assistant Bishop Anashuya Fletcher (2024). There are approximately 60 parishes and mission districts within the diocese of Wellington.

History

The diocese's first bishop, Charles Abraham, was consecrated in 1858. An attempt was made in the 21st General Synod (1919) to make the Bishop of Wellington ''ex officio'' Primate and Metropolitan; this failed in the 22nd Synod (1922). The Archbishop

David Moxon Sir David John Moxon (born 6 September 1951) is a New Zealand Anglican bishop. He was until June 2017, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Representative to the Holy See and Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome. He was previously the Bishop of ...

announced on 29 April 2012 that Justin Duckworth was elected as the 11th Bishop of Wellington. Duckworth was installed on 30 June 2012. The diocese celebrated its sesquicentenary in 2008; the celebrations included pilgrimages throughout the diocese.

Cathedral

Old St Paul's, the second Church of St Paul in Wellington, was the pro-cathedral church for the Anglican Diocese of Wellington from 1866 to 1964 and remains consecrated, despite now owned by Heritage New Zealand (formerly the New Zealand Historic Places Trust). The first parish church for the early settlers, dedicated to St Paul, was behind where the

Beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus '' Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe the nest of ...

stands today: a replica stands at the Bolton Street entrance to an early cemetery for Wellington, alongside the original sextons cottage. The current Wellington Cathedral church for the Diocese was dedicated, partially completed, in the name of St Paul in 1964. Completion was in stages and in 2001 it was consecrated.

List of bishops

The following individuals have served as the Bishop of Wellington, or any precursor title:

Assistant Bishops of Wellington

* E. J. Rich * 1991–1998 Tom Brown *23 February 19911999: Brian Carrell, Bishop in Palmerston NorthACANZP Lectionary, 2019
(p. 145) *1997–?: Hāpai Winiata * 2 June 20172022: Eleanor Sanderson * 2024–present:

Anashuya Fletcher Anashuya "Ana" Fletcher, , (born 1984) is a Sri Lanka-born New Zealand Anglican bishop. She has been assistant bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Wellington since 2024. Biography Fletcher was born in Sri Lanka to Tamil Christian parents and immig ...

Archdeaconries

The Wellington Diocese today is divided into seven archdeaconries:

Wanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest nav ...

, Manawatu, Kapiti,

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service t ...

, Belmont, Ohariu, and

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. In 1866, there was one archdeaconry: O. Hadfield was Archdeacon of Kapiti.''The Clergy List for 1866'' (London: George Cox, 1866
p. 469
/ref> In 1887, Arthur Stock had been Archdeacon of Kapiti since 1870. Jacobs, Henry. "Diocese of Wellington" (Part IV, Chapter VI) in ''Colonial Church Histories: New Zealand'' (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1887) (Accessed a
Project Canterbury
25 June 2019) In 1909, Charles Coleridge Harper (a grandson of bishop Henry Harper) was Archdeacon of Wanganui.

References

External links

Anglican Diocese of Wellington

Te Ara: Encyclopedia of New Zealand 1966 - Octavius Hadfield

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography - Octavius Hadfield

Diocese of Wellington
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1858 establishments in New Zealand

Religious organizations established in 1858