The Diocese of Christchurch is one of the thirteen dioceses 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 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 ...

covers the area between the Conway River and the

Waitaki River The Waitaki River is a large braided river in the South Island of New Zealand. It drains the Mackenzie Basin and runs south-east to enter the Pacific Ocean between Timaru and Oamaru on the east coast. It starts at the confluence of the Ōhau Ri ...

in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand.

History

The Diocese of Christchurch was established in 1856 by the subdivision of the Diocese of New Zealand. Henry Harper, who arrived in Lyttelton on the ''Egmont'' on 23 December 1856, was the first bishop. 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 Christchurch was at

ChristChurch Cathedral Christ Church Cathedral, also called ChristChurch Cathedral and (rarely) Cathedral Church of Christ, is a deconsecration, deconsecrated Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was built between 1864 ...

until its demolition following the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

. The current seat is in the

Cardboard Cathedral The Cardboard Cathedral, formally called the Transitional Cathedral, in Christchurch, New Zealand, is the transitional pro-cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch, replacing ChristChurch Cathedral, which was significantly damaged in t ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. Before the Christchurch Diocese was founded, it was intended that Thomas Jackson would be installed as a bishop for the South Island, with would his See located at Lyttelton.

List of bishops

Archdeacons

The Archdeaconry of Christchurch dates to 1866 when

Henry Jacobs Henry Sandy Jacobs (October 9, 1924 – September 25, 2015) was an American sound artist and humorist. Early life and education Jacobs was born in Chicago, Illinois. After a tour in the United States Army Air Corps, Air Corps —during which time ...

became the first (apparently sole)

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

of the diocese Jacobs resigned in May 1889 and was succeeded by Croasdaile Bowen, a brother of Charles Bowen. Bowen did not serve for long, as he had a stroke in November 1889 and died in January 1890. :Archdeacons of Christchurch *1902–1909 (res.):

Alfred Averill Alfred Walter Averill (7 October 18656 July 1957) was the second Anglican Archbishop of New Zealand, from 1925 to 1940. He was also the fifth Anglican Anglican Diocese of Auckland, Bishop of Auckland whose episcopate spanned a 25-year period durin ...

, Vicar of St Michael and All Angels, Christchurch and Canon The Archdeaconry of Akaroa dates back to at latest 1855, when

Octavius Mathias Octavius Mathias (27 February 1805 – 18 June 1864) was a pioneering Anglican priest in New Zealand in the mid-nineteenth century. Mathias was born at Mundham in 1805. He was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and ordained in 1829. ...

was collated. :Archdeacons of Akaroa *1909–1910 (res.): Alfred Averill, Vicar of St Michael and All Angels, Christchurch and Canon (became

Bishop of Waiapu The Diocese of Waiapu is one of the 13 dioceses and ''hui amorangi'' (Māori bishoprics) of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Diocese covers the area around the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand, includin ...

) The Archdeaconry of Rangiora existed in the second half nineteenth century, when the whole country had one

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 ...

"The Clergy List" 1864 p268 which was then split in 1856 by the subdivision of the Diocese of New Zealand. In 1887, there were four archdeaconries: Jacob (by then also

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 ...

) was still Archdeacon of Christchurch; Henry Harper was Archdeacon of Timaru and Westland; Benjamin Dudley of Rangiora and Edward Lingard of AkaroaProject Canterbury
/ref> :Archdeacons of Timaru *1945–1953 (res.): Walter Averill, Vicar of St Mary's, Timaru

References

External links

* {{authority control Religious organizations established in 1856

Anglican dioceses established in the 19th century Christianity in Christchurch 1856 establishments in New Zealand