Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast
Encyclopedia
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, part of Province 4
Province 4 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America
Province 4 , also known as the Province of Sewanee, is one of nine ecclesiastical provinces making up the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The largest of the provinces of the Episcopal Church, it is composed of twenty dioceses in nine Southeastern states...
. The diocese was created in 1970 from portions of the adjoining dioceses of Alabama
Episcopal Diocese of Alabama
The Episcopal Diocese of Alabama is located in Province IV of The Episcopal Church and serves the State of Alabama with the exception of the extreme southern region, including Mobile, which forms part of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast....
and Florida
Episcopal Diocese of Florida
The Episcopal Diocese of Florida is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America . It originally comprised the whole state of Florida, but is now bounded on the west by the Apalachicola River, on the north by the Georgia state line, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the...
.
Its territory encompasses the southern third of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and the Florida Panhandle
Florida Panhandle
The Florida Panhandle, an informal, unofficial term for the northwestern part of Florida, is a strip of land roughly 200 miles long and 50 to 100 miles wide , lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia also on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Its eastern boundary is...
region, west of the Appalachicola River. Most of its churches are located in the Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
area and in a population strip along the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
extending from Pensacola
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
to Panama City, Florida
Panama City, Florida
-Personal income:The median income for a household in the city was $31,572, and the median income for a family was $40,890. Males had a median income of $30,401 versus $21,431 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,830...
; most of the remaining churches are located in Alabama, typically in towns with greater than 10,000 population. Historically, the Diocese's congregations have favored low, or evangelical, churchmanship, with a generally more conservative theological and cultural tone than the Episcopal Church nationally.
Diocesan offices are located in Pensacola, while the cathedral
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
is Christ Church Cathedral
Christ Church Cathedral (Mobile, Alabama)
Christ Church Cathedral, also known simply as Christ Church, is a historic Episcopal cathedral located in Mobile, Alabama, USA.-History:...
in Mobile, making it one of only a few dioceses in the Episcopal Church where the diocesan offices and cathedral are located in different cities and the only diocese in which they are located in different states.
The Seal of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast
To represent the Gulf Coast itself, an anchor, representing “hope” which played a large part in theformation of the new diocese, was placed against a background of water which consists of seven wavy bars alternating gold and blue. To raise the Christian symbolism to a more confident degree than merely that of hope, the dove of peace transcends below a bishop’s miter between two St. Andrew’s crosses and directly above the anchor as the “unifying chief” which will continue its reign over the anchor. With the diocese extending into the lower portion of Alabama and the upper portion of Florida, two St. Andrew’s crosses were used to represent the heritage of Alabama and Florida, both of which have the St. Andrew’s cross as a predominant symbol on their state flags. Also, with the cross of St. Andrew being a Christian symbol, it makes a unique attribute of representing at once the Church and the two states. Since the diocese was formed from two older areas, the new union was symbolized by placing the two crosses of St. Andrew side by side in a single field, the “chief” of the shield. The shield was designed by Professor James Waring McCardy of the University of the South, Sewanee, who is recognized as a top authority on ecclesiastical heraldry in America.
Bishops
These are the bishops who have served the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast:- George M. Murray (1970 - 1981)
- Charles Farmer Duvall (1981 - 2001)
- Philip Menzie Duncan, II (2001 - Present)
See also
- Anglican CommunionAnglican CommunionThe Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
- Dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of AmericaDioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of AmericaThe Episcopal Church is governed by a General Convention and consists of 100 dioceses in the United States proper, plus ten dioceses in other countries or outlying U.S. territories and the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, which is similar to a diocese....
- List of Succession of Bishops for the Episcopal Church, USASuccession of Bishops of the Episcopal Church in the United StatesThis list consists of the bishops in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, an independent province of the Anglican Communion. This shows the historic succession of the episcopate within this denomination.-Key to chart:...