Episcopal Diocese of Lexington

Coordinates: 37°50′N 83°30′W / 37.833°N 83.500°W / 37.833; -83.500
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Diocese of Lexington

Diocesis Lexingtonensis
Location
CountryUnited States
Ecclesiastical provinceProvince IV
Statistics
Congregations34 (2021)
Members6,184 (2021)
Information
DenominationEpiscopal Church
EstablishedDecember 4, 1895
CathedralChrist Church Cathedral
LanguageEnglish
Current leadership
BishopMark Van Koevering
Map
Location of the Diocese of Lexington
Location of the Diocese of Lexington
Website
diolex.org

The Episcopal Diocese of Lexington is the diocese of The Episcopal Church with jurisdiction over eastern Kentucky. It was created in 1895 from the Diocese of Kentucky which continues to have jurisdiction of the western portion of the state. The cathedral for the Diocese of Kentucky is located in Louisville. The Diocese of Lexington is in Province 4 and its cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, is in Lexington, as are the diocesan offices.[1] The diocesan office is called Mission House.

The diocese's greatest membership strength is in the Bluegrass region in and around Lexington, with a smaller pocket of strength in the Northern Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati. The diocese has only a few congregations in the Appalachian portion of the southeastern corner of the state.

Bishops of Lexington[edit]

Name Date Notes
I Lewis W. Burton 1896-1928
II Henry Pryor Almon Abbott 1929-1945
III William R. Moody 1945-1971 Addison Hosea, bishop coadjutor 1970 - 1971
IV Addison Hosea 1971–1985 Don A. Wimberly, bishop coadjutor 1984–1985
V Don A. Wimberly 1985–1999 Wimberly was translated to the Diocese of Texas.
Rogers S. Harris 1999–2000 assisting
VI Stacy F. Sauls 2000–2011
Chilton R. Knudsen 2011-2012 interim
VII Douglas Hahn 2012–2016
Bruce Edward Caldwell 2016-2018 Provisional
VIII Mark Van Koevering 2019-current Provisional from 2018-2019, elected diocesan bishop, 1 Nov. 2019

Current Bishop[edit]

The Rt. Rev. Mark Van Koevering was consecrated as Bishop of Niassa, Mozambique, part of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, in 2003, where he served until November 2015. In November 2015, he moved back to the United States, to become the assistant bishop at the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia. He served there until April 2018 when he became the provisional bishop of the Diocese of Lexington. He became eligible to be the diocesan bishop after a period of shared ministry, prayer, and review. On 1 November 2019 at a special convention of the diocese, Bishop Van Koevering was elected diocesan bishop. Pending the required consents, he will be seated at Christ Church Cathedral, Lexington in the coming months.

Departure of Bishop Hahn and call of Bishop Caldwell[edit]

Bruce Edward Caldwell was called to serve as Bishop Provisional on June 1, 2016.[2] He was named to the temporary post after his predecessor, the Rt. Rev. Douglas Hahn, was suspended and later resigned after it was learned he had lied during the bishop search process about past adultery with a parishioner.[3]

List of parishes and locations[edit]

Location Church
Anderson County St. Joseph's (unorganized)
Ashland Calvary
Barnes Mountain St. Timothy's
Beattyville St. Thomas
Clark County St. Hubert's
Corbin St. John's
Covington Trinity
Cynthiana Advent
Danville Trinity
Flemingsburg St. Francis'
Florence Grace
Fort Thomas St. Andrew's
Frankfort Ascension
Georgetown Holy Trinity
Harlan Christ Church
Harrodsburg St. Philip's
Hazard St. Mark's
Jessamine County Resurrection
Lexington Christ Church Cathedral
Lexington Good Shepherd
Lexington St. Andrew's
Lexington Grace United/St. Martha's
Lexington St. Michael's
Lexington St. Raphael's
Lexington St. Augustine's Chapel
Lexington Walnut Hill
Madison County Our Saviour
Maysville Nativity
Middlesboro St. Mary's
Morehead St. Alban's
Mount Sterling Ascension
Newport St. Paul's
Paris St. Peter's
Prestonsburg St. James
Somerset St. Patrick's
Versailles St. John's
Winchester Emmanuel

In addition to these parishes and missions, there are other ministries of the Dioceses that have attached chapels. The college ministry at the University of Kentucky is located at St. Augustine's Chapel in Lexington. St. Agnes' House in Lexington was "a nonprofit, ecumenical mission providing economical lodging for patients and their caregivers who have traveled to Lexington, Kentucky seeking treatment for serious illnesses at area hospitals and other medical care facilities."[4] St. Agnes' House closed in 2017.

The Diocese of Lexington also has a co-cathedral located at the diocesan camp and conference center, The Cathedral Domain,[5] in Lee County. It is called the Cathedral of St. George the Martyr.

The diocese also supports a literacy ministry called Reading Camp. Reading Camp is a Free week-long camp for kids going into third, fourth or fifth grade who could use extra help with reading. Reading Camp builds both reading skills and self-confidence!

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Episcopal Church Annual, 2006, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Morehouse Publishing, p. 224
  2. ^ "Bishop Called to Kentucky". The Living Church. 2016-05-19. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  3. ^ "Bishop Hahn Will Resign". The Living Church. 2016-12-16. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  4. ^ "St. Agnes' House". Episcopal Diocese of Lexington. Archived from the original on 2010-10-18. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  5. ^ "The Cathedral Domain".

External links[edit]

37°50′N 83°30′W / 37.833°N 83.500°W / 37.833; -83.500