Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth

Diocese of Fort Worth
Seal of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth
Location
Ecclesiastical provinceAnglican Church in North America
Statistics
Parishes56 (2023)[1]
Members8,649 (2023)[1]
Information
RiteAnglican
CathedralSt. Vincent's Cathedral, Bedford
Current leadership
BishopRyan S. Reed
Website
fwepiscopal.org

The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth is a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. The diocese comprises 56 congregations and its headquarters are in Fort Worth, Texas.

The diocese is divided in six deaneries, each headed by a dean, which are:

  • Fort Worth East (churches in eastern Fort Worth)
  • Fort Worth West (churches in western Fort Worth)
  • Eastern Deanery (churches in suburbs in eastern Tarrant County, as well as ex-TEC churches in Dallas County and the states of Arkansas and Louisiana)
  • Western Deanery (churches on the western side of Tarrant County, as well as in counties west of Tarrant County)
  • Southern Deanery (churches in counties south and southwest of Tarrant County, as well as ex-TEC churches in Houston)
  • Northern Deanery (churches in counties north and northwest of Tarrant County)

The current bishop is Ryan S. Reed, SSC, consecrated Bishop Coadjutor on September 21, 2019. He became Diocesan after the December 31, 2019, retirement of Jack Iker.

In November 2008 the 26th annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth voted to dissociate from The Episcopal Church (TEC) and accepted emergency oversight from the Anglican Church of the Southern Cone.[2] In early 2009 The Episcopal Church claimed the right to set up a diocese having the same name and including about a dozen churches that did not wish to leave that jurisdiction. In April 2009 The Episcopal Church and local parties sued The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth for all its property. The litigation stretched on for 12 years, with the majority group eventually prevailing in its claims to its name and property in courts at every level. The Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth is a founding member of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and hosted that province's inaugural assembly in June 2009.

At the time of the vote in 2008 to separate from the Episcopal Church, the diocese had geographically fixed boundaries covering 24 counties in Texas and claimed 19,000 members.[2] Afterward, in accordance with the non-geographical concept of dioceses in the Anglican Church of North America, it began to accept congregations outside its previous territory. In November 2012, the diocese reported 62 congregations, of which 60 are in Texas, one in Louisiana and one in Arkansas.[3] The cathedral of the diocese is St. Vincent's Cathedral in Bedford.

  1. ^ a b "Congregational Reporting: 2023 in Review" (PDF). Anglican Church in North America. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b Terry Lee Goodrich (November 15, 2008). "Fort Worth Episcopal Diocese votes to leave mother church". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
  3. ^ "Congregations". Retrieved 15 November 2023.