Anglican Diocese of Melbourne

The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Victoria in the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese was founded from the Diocese of Australia by letters patent of 25 June 1847[1] and includes the cities of Melbourne and Geelong and also some more rural areas. The cathedral church is St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne. The ordinary of the diocese is the Archbishop of Melbourne, Philip Freier, who was translated from the Anglican Diocese of The Northern Territory, and who was the Anglican Primate of Australia from 2014 to 2020.

Diocese of Melbourne
Coat of arms
Location
Ecclesiastical province	Victoria
Archdeaconries	Box Hill, Dandenong, Frankston, Geelong, Kew, La Trobe, Maroondah, Melbourne, Port Philip & Bayside & Kingston North, Stonnington & Glen Eira, and The Yarra
Coordinates	37°49′1″S 144°58′3″E
Information
Rite	Anglican
Cathedral	St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne
Current leadership
Archbishop	Philip Freier
Suffragans	Paul Barker, Jumbunna Episcopate Kate Prowd, Oodthenong Episcopate Genieve Blackwell, Marmingatha Episcopate Brad Billings, Theological Education & Wellbeing (Monomeeth Episcopate)
Website
melbourne.anglican.com.au

St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne.

Episcopates

The Diocese of Melbourne is divided into areas of episcopal care in which assistant bishops exercise a pastoral role on behalf of the Archbishop.[2] These areas are divided into archdeaconries, with further subdivision into area deaneries.

Following consultation with the Wurundjeri people of Melbourne, local Indigenous names have been used for the areas of episcopal care. The areas are:

• Marmingatha, covering the inner city, especially along major transport corridors;
• Oodthenong, covering the northern and western growth areas in Greater Melbourne and Geelong;
• Jumbunna, covering parishes south of the Yarra and to the east, including the South-East Growth Corridor; and
• Monomeeth, of which the Bishop has responsibilities across the whole of the diocese with a particular focus on people, culture and wellbeing.

Marmingatha means “being with the divine or supreme being”; Oodthenong means “gathering”; and Jumbunna means “speaking out” or “proclamation”. Monomeeth means "rightness, wellness and goodness". Together, they comprise the Woi Wurrung equivalent of the diocesan vision of Making the Word of God fully known through “gathering in the divine presence to speak out and proclaim”.

Theological traditions

Churchmanship within the Melbourne diocese is diverse and the three principal Anglican traditions, Evangelical, Liberal and Anglo-Catholic, are all significantly represented.

The existence of such differing traditions within the diocese is sometimes a cause of tensions. The difficulty with which an archbishop was elected in 2006 provided a recent example.[3]

Theological colleges

The diocese has two theological colleges, both in the suburb of Parkville, which prepare men and women for ordination and other forms of ministry. Trinity College Theological School, founded in 1878, is part of Trinity College, a residential college within the University of Melbourne and is more Liberal and Anglo-Catholic in tradition. Ridley Melbourne was founded in 1910 in the Evangelical tradition. A founding member of the Melbourne College of Divinity (now the University of Divinity) in 1910, Trinity was also a partner in the ecumenical United Faculty of Theology until its disbanding at the end of 2014. From 1 January 2015 it has been a college of the University of Divinity.[4] Ridley is affiliated with the Australian College of Theology.

Issues

The Diocese of Melbourne has been affected by issues that have been debated in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The theological diversity of the diocese means that there is sometimes disagreement over more contentious matters. In addition, it is frequently perceived that there is a significant tension between the theologically broad Melbourne diocese and the far more conservative Sydney diocese.[5]

Ordination of women

The diocese has ordained women to the diaconate since 1986 and to the priesthood since 1992.[6] The September 2007 decision of the Appellate Tribunal opening the way for the consecration of women to the episcopate was welcomed by the present archbishop, Philip Freier.[7] General Synod approved a motion in October 2007 which welcomed the "clarity" of the decision.[8] Melbourne's first woman to become a bishop, Barbara Darling, was consecrated at St Paul's Cathedral on 31 May 2008.[9][10] The ordination of women to be bishops is opposed by some within the diocese, particularly conservative Evangelicals and some Anglo-Catholics, necessitating the provision of alternative episcopal oversight.[11][12]

Homosexuality

The diocese officially subscribes to the traditional Anglican stance on homosexuality. Most conservatives and Evangelicals remain opposed to the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy.

However, the diocese also contains a number of liberal parishes and prominent laypeople, such as Muriel Porter, who have been very vocal in their support for changes in the church's teaching on human sexuality.[5][13]

Abortion

In November 2007, an all-female committee from the Diocese of Melbourne made a submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission outlining its position in relation to abortion. The submission stated that "the Anglican Church is for life" and acknowledged "diversity of ... views" within the diocese. However it also declared that the diocese "supports the provision of safe and affordable abortions with appropriate safeguards for women who, for whatever reasons, request them". The underlying ethical view concerning embryonic life is that "while the embryo/foetus is fully human from the time of conception, it accrues moral significance and value as it develops ... we believe the moral significance increases with the age and development of the foetus. The significance increases gradually over time, in parallel with its physical development. As a pregnancy advances, more powerful moral reasons are required to allow the destruction of the embryo/foetus."[14] The submission was announced in The Melbourne Anglican, in an article entitled "Decriminalise abortion, say Anglican women".[15] This is seen to be the first official approval of abortion by Australian Anglicans.[16]

List of Bishops and Archbishops of Melbourne

Bishops of Melbourne
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1847	1876	Charles Perry	Declined to return after a visit to the United Kingdom.
1876	1886	James Moorhouse	Translated to Manchester.
1887	1901	Field Flowers Goe
1902	1905	Lowther Clarke	Became Archbishop of Melbourne in 1905.
Archbishops of Melbourne
1905	1920	Lowther Clarke	Bishop of Melbourne until 1905.
1921	1929	Harrington Lees	Died in office.
1929	1941	Frederick Head	Died in office.
1942	1957	Joseph Booth	Previously coadjutor bishop in Melbourne (Bishop of Geelong) since 1934.
1957	1977	Sir Frank Woods	Translated from Middleton; also Primate of Australia from 1971; knighted in 1972.
1977	1983	Bob Dann	Previously coadjutor bishop in Melbourne since 1969.
1984	1989	David Penman	Previously coadjutor bishop in Melbourne since 1982; died in office.
1990	1999	Keith Rayner	Previously Bishop of Wangaratta, then Archbishop of Adelaide; also Primate of Australia from 1989.
2000	2005	Peter Watson	Previously Bishop in Parramatta and then of the Southern Region (both in Sydney diocese).
2006	present	Philip Freier	Translated from the Northern Territory; also Primate of Australia from 2014 to 2020.

List of assistant bishops

Bishops coadjutor
From	Until	Incumbent	Notes
1934	1942	Joseph Booth	Bishop of Geelong, translated to the diocesan see of Melbourne.
1946	1960	John McKie	Bishop of Geelong and Archdeacon of Melbourne;[17] became Assistant Bishop of Coventry
1960	1963	Donald Redding	Previously Bishop of Bunbury.
1962	1969	Geoffrey Sambell	Translated to Perth
1963	1970	Felix Arnott	translated to Brisbane
1969	1977	Bob Dann	Translated to the diocesan see of Melbourne.
1970	1985	James Grant	[18]
1971	1982	Ged Muston	Translated to North West Australia.
1982	1984	David Penman	Translated to the diocesan see of Melbourne.
Assistant bishops
1978	1988	David Shand	Previously Bishop of St Arnaud; translated between regions. Bishop of the Southern Region (1978 - 1985) then Bishop in Geelong (1985 - 1988)
1985	1989	Peter Hollingworth	Bishop in the Inner City, then translated to Brisbane
1985	1993	Robert Butterss	Robert Leopold Butterss, consecrated 24 February 1985[19]
1985	2007	John Wilson	Bishop of the Southern Region[20]
1989	1995	John Bayton	Bishop of the Western Region[21]
1994	2001	John Stewart	Bishop of the Eastern Region
1994	2002	Andrew Curnow	Bishop of the Northern Region, then translated to Bendigo.
1995	2001	Andrew St. John	cons. 22 July 1995;[22] Bishop of the Western Region,[23] then Rector at the Church of the Transfiguration, New York [24]
2001	2009	Stephen Hale	Bishop of the Eastern Region[25]
2002	2017[26]	Paul White	Bishop of the Western Region (2002 - 2007), Southern Region (2007 - 2015), Jumbunna Episcopate (2015 - 2016), Growth Areas Ministry (2016 - 2017) [27]
2003	2018	Philip Huggins	Previously Bishop of Grafton (1998 – 2003) Bishop of the Northern Region (2003 - 2007), North West Region (2003 - 2015), Oodthenong Episcopate (2015 - 2018)
2008	2015	Barbara Darling	Bishop for Diocesan Ministries (2008 - 2009), Eastern Region (2009 - 2015)
2015	present	Genieve Blackwell	Previously Assistant Bishop, Canberra and Goulburn (2012 – 2015); translated between regions Bishop of the Marmingatha Episcopate
2015	2020[28]	John Harrower	Previously Bishop of Tasmania (2000 – 2015) Assistant to the Archbishop of Melbourne in the exercise of his leadership responsibilities as Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia[29]
2016	present	Bradly Billings	Bishop for Theological Education and Wellbeing (Bishop of the Monomeeth Episcopate)[27][30]
2016	present	Paul Barker	Bishop of the Jumbunna Episcopate[27]
2016	present	Lindsay Urwin	Previously Bishop of Horsham (1993 – 2009) Bishop for Schools[31][32]
2018	present	Kate Prowd	Bishop of the Oodthenong Episcopate

Archdeaconries

In 1866, there were four archdeaconries: Hussey Burgh Macartney was Archdeacon of Melbourne and Dean of the Cathedral; Theodore Carlos Benoni Stretch of Sale; Thomas Henry Braim was Archdeacon of Portland; and Archibald Crawford of Castlemaine.[33]

Lloyd Crossley was Vicar of All Saint's, St Kilda and Archdeacon of Geelong from 18 September 1905 until 1911.[34]

See also

• St Peter's Eastern Hill - Parish church of the City of Melbourne
• List of Anglican churches in Melbourne

References

1. Supplement to the New South Wales government gazette, 31 December 1847 (Accessed 21 December 2015)
2. "Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, website". Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2007.
3. Zwartz, Barney (18 February 2006). "One of three, or none, to be archbishop". The Age. Zwartz, Barney (22 August 2006). "City's Anglican bishop named". The Age.
4. University of Divinity Gazette, 29 August 2014.
5. Barney Zwartz (18 March 2006). "The New Puritans: The Rise of Fundamentalism in the Anglican Church: Review of book by Muriel Porter". The Age.
6. Jane Still (14 November 2006). "A watershed for women priests, 20 years on".
7. "Archbishop of Melbourne welcomes decision re women bishops". News release, The Anglican Church in Melbourne. 28 September 2007.
8. Roland Ashby (25 October 2007). "Women bishops' 'highway' open". Archived from the original on 30 July 2008.
9. Jane Still (25 April 2008). "First woman bishop appointed in Victoria". Archived from the original on 22 July 2008.
10. Roland Ashby (2 June 2008). "Joyful end to a long journey for the Diocese". Archived from the original on 26 July 2008.
11. "Readers' letters: 'Traditionalists' need care". The Melbourne Anglican. June 2008. Archived from the original on 26 July 2008.
12. "Australian Anglican Bishops' Protocol: Women In The Episcopate" (PDF). 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2008.
13. Barney Zwartz (27 October 2007). "On the brink of schism". The Age newspaper.
14. Submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission Inquiry on the Law of Abortion from the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, 9 November 2007
15. Jane Still, "Decriminalise abortion, say Anglican women", TMA, December 2007
16. "Anglicans call for new stance on abortion" The Age
17. "Obituary: The Right Rev John McKie". The Independent. 14 April 1994.
18. "About Trinity College - The History of Trinity College". www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au.
19. "Anglican Archives". Archived from the original on 25 May 2010.
20. "Diocese of Melbourne – Bishop John Wilson retires".
21. "John Bayton – Biography". Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
22. "SPSES257 - Special Services - The Anglican Records and Archives Centre Guide to Records". 10 April 2013. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013.
23. "Data" (PDF). www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
24. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
25. "Stephen Hale to move to St Hilary's Kew". 19 April 2009.
26. Cauchi, Stephen (2 July 2017). "Bishop Paul White retires after 30 years of service". The Melbourne Anglican. Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
27. "Media release: Two new bishops for Melbourne". tma.melbourneanglican.org.au. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
28. Brolly, Mark (7 May 2020). "Bishop retires again but his helping hand knows no rest". The Melbourne Anglican (May 2020). Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
29. "Bishop John Harrower". Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
30. Cauchi, Stephen (20 October 2017). "Church to target growth areas, Synod told". The Melbourne Anglican. Anglican Diocese of Melbourne. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
31. "Prayers for Bishop Lindsay Urwin as he takes on new challenge in Oz". See of Beverley. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
32. "Ministry team - The Right Reverend Lindsay Urwin OGS, Vicar". Christ Church Brunswick. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
33. The Clergy List for 1866 (London: George Cox, 1866) p. 462
34. Blain, Michael. Blain Biographical Directory of Anglican clergy in the South Pacific — ordained before 1932 (2019) pp. 362–4. (Accessed at Project Canterbury, 26 June 2019)

Bibliography

• Porter, Brian, ed. Melbourne Anglicans: the Diocese of Melbourne, 1847-1997. Melbourne: Mitre Books, 1997.

External links

• Diocese of Melbourne website
• "Critical Mass" - Young Anglicans in the Melbourne diocese
• Archbishop Philip Freier's Easter message on YouTube
• Melbourne Anglican Study Group