The Episcopal Diocese of Western New York is 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 ...

of the

Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is ...

with jurisdiction over the counties of Cattaraugus,

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) is an adult education and social movement in the United States that peaked in popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Cha ...

, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Orleans and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

in western

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. It is in Province 2 and its

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 ...

, St. Paul's Cathedral, is in Buffalo. The diocesan offices are in

Tonawanda, New York Tonawanda is a city in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 15,129 at the 2020 census. It is at the northern edge of Erie County, south across the Erie Canal ( Tonawanda Creek) from North Tonawanda, east of Grand Island, a ...

Current bishop

Sean W. Rowe served as bishop provisional of Western New York until he became Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. The diocesan convention elected him to this role on October 26, 2018, when it and the convention of the

Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania The Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania, originally the Episcopal Diocese of Erie is one of the 100 Dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The diocese is made up of 32 congregations located in the 13 contig ...

voted to share a bishop and a staff for five years while they explore a partnership. R. William "Bill" Franklin was the eleventh bishop of Western New York. The Diocese elected him its eleventh Bishop at its 2010 convention. He was consecrated on April 30, 2011, at the university at Buffalo and retired on April 3, 2019. Franklin was born in Mississippi and had previously served in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Previously, J. Michael Garrison was the tenth bishop of Western New York. He has a bachelor's and a master's of religious education from Pontifical College Josephinum in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

and an honorary doctorate from

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He was received from the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

on April 1, 1975, and ordained a deacon on April 12, 1975. He was ordained a priest on August 25, 1975, and consecrated a bishop on April 24, 1999.

List of bishops

The bishops of Western New York have been:Episcopal Church Annual, 2006, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Morehouse Publishing, p. 414 # William H. Delancey, (1839–1865)
* Arthur C. Coxe,

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

(1865) # Arthur C. Coxe, (1865–1895) # William D. Walker, (1897–1917) # Charles H. Brent, (1919–1929)
* David L. Ferris,

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led b ...

(1920
*David L. Ferris,

(1924) # David L. Ferris, (1929–1931)
*Cameron Josiah Davis,

(1930) # Cameron Josiah Davis, (1931–1948) # Lauriston L. Scaife, (1948–1970)
*Harold B. Robinson,

(1968) # Harold B. Robinson, (1970–1987)
* David C. Bowman,

(1986) # David C. Bowman, (1987–1998) # J. Michael Garrison, (1999–2011) # R. William Franklin, (2011–2019) :* '' Sean W. Rowe, as Provisional Bishop'' (2019–2024)

References

External links

Episcopal Diocese of Western New York website

Episcopal Diocese of Western New York Records
A guide to digitized church records at FamilySearch.org, courtesy of the Buffalo History Museum.
Rust Belt Episcopal website

St. Paul's Cathedral websiteOfficial Web site of the Episcopal Church
*
Journal of the Annual Convention, Diocese of Western New York
' {{coord missing, Western NY 1839 establishments in New York (state) Anglican dioceses established in the 19th century

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all so ...

Episcopal Church in New York (state) Province 2 of the Episcopal Church (United States) Religious organizations established in 1839

Current bishop

List of bishops

See also

References

External links