Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi

Diocese of Mississippi Diœcesis Mississippiensis Diócesis de Misisipi
Location
Country	United States
Territory	Mississippi
Ecclesiastical province	Province IV
Statistics
Congregations	85
Members	17,954 (2019)
Information
Denomination	Episcopal Church
Established	May 17, 1826
Cathedral	St Andrew's Cathedral
Language	English, Spanish
Current leadership
Bishop	Brian R. Seage
Map
Location of the Diocese of Mississippi
Website
www.dioms.org

The Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, created in 1826,^[1] is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with jurisdiction over the entire state of Mississippi. It is located in Province 4 and its cathedral, St. Andrew's Cathedral, is located in Jackson, as are the diocesan offices.^[2]

The first two Bishops of Mississippi were members of what may be termed the "Southern High Church" school, but this type of churchmanship should not be confused with Anglo-Catholicism (though many High Churchmen on both sides of the Atlantic over time came to identify with it). Bishop Green was very close to Bishops Otey and Quintard of Tennessee, both of whom were "High Church" and neither "Low Church" nor "Evangelical." The Southern High Church group was in a definite way descended from the example of Bishop John Henry Hobart of New York (died 1830), whose watchwords were "Evangelical Truth and Apostolic Order." Though Bishop Hobart was one of the greatest preachers of antebellum America, the term "Evangelical" connoted not the "New Means" of revivalist camp meetings but, simply, the assumption that the Gospel, rightly and forthrightly proclaimed, has the power to convert sinners, and thus the world, to Jesus Christ. Like the Bishop of New York, the Hobartian High Churchmen in the Southern phase were dedicated to the doctrine that grace really is given to believers in the sacraments, and they taught the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. These teachings alone distinguished them from the Low Church (sometimes called Evangelical) party, representing views inculcated at the time in seminarians attending the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria.

Hugh Miller Thompson, the Second Bishop of Mississippi, was a graduate of Nashotah House in Wisconsin, a seminary identified with the American sector of the Anglo-Catholic movement. Thompson was considered a most progressive Christian and a very prolific writer. He was an essayist and the editor of two leading Episcopalian journals. That the Diocese of Mississippi has adhered to at least mild High Church theology since its founding is illustrated in the fact that John Maury Allin, one of its most celebrated leaders in the 20th century, was basically a High Churchman who felt right at home in New York when he served as the Presiding Bishop between 1974 and 1986. What has obtained since Allin's tenure as Bishop of Mississippi ended, however, probably is of a more "Broad Church" character (consciously avoiding the two doctrinal poles) than Evangelical or Low Church, meaning there was no overrreaction to Allin's doctrinal commitments or leadership temperament.

The nomenclature related to church parties and differences within Anglican Christianity is quite difficult for the novice to comprehend at first. The great variety of commitments—"High Church," "Low Church," "Broad Church," "Evangelical," "Liberal," "Revisionist," "Traditionalist," "Anglo-Catholic," "Emergent," "Charismatic"—shows how diverse the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion of Churches have been since their inception. Students of the history are advised to be cautious. For example, "Low Church" and "Latitudinarian" were considered synonymous in the late-17th century and much of the 18th, and no "Evangelical" would likely have wanted any part of that sort of religion, as it departed from strict Calvinist or Puritan dogma. The Wesley brothers, John and Charles, in fact self-identified as Tory High Churchmen and are considered founders of Anglican Evangelicalism. On the other hand, George Whitefield, claimed by both Methodism and Anglicanism and a founder of the Evangelical movement, was decidedly "Low Church" as that term was usually defined in 19th-century and early-20th-century assumptions; he was a staunch Calvinist, unlike the Wesleys, who espoused what came to be known as Arminianism. Perhaps it all began when Queen Elizabeth I (died 1603) insisted that the English religion would be simultaneously "Catholic and Reformed." In Anglican history since Elizabeth's day, authentic tolerance by one group in power for those on the outside in the churches has waxed and waned; and, while tolerance is often espoused in the Episcopal Church, it is occasionally forgotten, an issue that has appeared again in the 21st century with disputes over human sexuality and biblical interpretation that have produced the conservative continuing Anglican and Anglican realignment alternatives to ECUSA.

Episcopalians in Mississippi have, since the mid-20th century, been by and large progressive in their views about race, culture, and other social issues affecting the state and nation; their views on economics and politics, though, are more mixed, as is usually the case elsewhere. The Episcopal Church in Mississippi has usually tolerated freedom of belief and differing types of ritual practice (e.g., Anglo-Catholicism in Biloxi and a liberal orientation in communities like Oxford and Starkville where colleges have significant presences). As such, the fallout from the ideological and theological conflicts that beset the Episcopal Church between the 1970s and 2000s (such as the Gene Robinson controversy) has not been large in comparison to other Southern dioceses (e.g., Tennessee, Fort Worth, South Carolina).

As of 2013 the Diocese of Mississippi had 18,741 members, down from 20,925 in 2003, a decline of approximately 10 percent.^[3]

Current bishop[]

Brian R. Seage was elected on May 3, 2014, at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Jackson, and received the required consents from a majority of bishops and standing committees of the Episcopal Church. He succeeded Duncan M. Gray III as the bishop of Mississippi, becoming the 10th, when Gray retired in February 2015.

List of bishops[]

The bishops of Mississippi have been:^[4]

1. William Mercer Green (1850–1887)
   Hugh Miller Thompson, bishop coadjutor 1883
2. Hugh Miller Thompson (1887–1902)
3. Theodore D. Bratton (1903–1938)
   William Mercer Green (grandson) bishop coadjutor 1919
4. William Mercer Green (grandson) (1938–1942)
5. Duncan Montgomery Gray, Sr. (1943–1966)
   John M. Allin, bishop coadjutor 1961
6. John M. Allin (1966–1974)
   Duncan Montgomery Gray, Jr., bishop coadjutor 1974
7. Duncan Montgomery Gray, Jr. (1974–1993)
   Alfred C. Marble Jr., bishop coadjutor 1991
8. Alfred C. Marble Jr. (1993–2003)
9. Duncan Montgomery Gray III (2003–2015)
10. Brian R. Seage (2015–present)

See also[]

• List of Succession of Bishops for the Episcopal Church, USA
• Chapel of the Cross
• St. Alban's Episcopal Church (Bovina, Mississippi)

References[]

External links[]

• Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi website
• St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral website
• Official Web site of the Episcopal Church
• Journal of the Annual Convention, Diocese of Mississippi

Coordinates: 32°17′57″N 90°11′02″W / 32.299268°N 90.183906°W / 32.299268; -90.183906