# Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina

The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina is a diocese of the Episcopal Church within Province IV that encompasses central North Carolina. Founded in 1817, the modern boundaries of the diocese roughly correspond to the portion of North Carolina between I-77 in the west and I-95 in the east, including the most populous area of the state. Raleigh, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Durham are the largest cities in the diocese. The diocese originally covered the entirety of the state, until the Diocese of East Carolina which stretches to the Atlantic was formed in 1883, and the Diocese of Western North Carolina which lies to the west extending into the Appalachian Mountains was formed in 1922.

## About the Diocese

The diocese has no cathedral, but its offices are located in the state capital of Raleigh. Representatives of the dioceses' 109 parishes meet annually at a diocesan convention in November. Between conventions, the diocese is administered by a Diocesan Council in conjunction with the diocesan staff who work under the bishop.
The current diocesan bishop is Samuel Sewall Rodman III. He was consecrated bishop on July 15, 2017, as the twelfth bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina, after the election of his predecessor, Michael Bruce Curry, as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. The assistant bishop of the diocese is Jennifer Brooke-Davidson. The bishop suffragan of the diocese, Anne Hodges-Copple, retired in December 2022.
Other bishops who have served the diocese since 1980 are the late Robert W. Estill (ninth bishop of the diocese), the late Robert C. Johnson (tenth bishop of the diocese), the late Frank Vest (suffragan bishop of the diocese who subsequently became bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia), the late Huntington Williams, Jr. (retired suffragan bishop), J. Gary Gloster (retired suffragan bishop), William Gregg (retired assistant bishop and previously the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon), the late Alfred C. Marble, Jr. (retired assisting bishop and previously the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi), and the late Peter James Lee (formerly provisional bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina and bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia).
Congregations in the diocese vary from conservative to liberal and from low church to high church, but the diocese itself is generally considered moderate and is highly supportive of the Episcopal Church. Consisting of approximately 48,000 communicants, the diocese is the tenth-largest in the nation and has shown a 3% compound annual growth rate over the last ten years. The density of Episcopalians varies across the diocese but is highest in Wake County, the county of the state capital, Raleigh.

### Programs and institutions

Principal programs of the diocese include campus ministries and social ministries:
* Campus ministry (at North Carolina State University, St. Augustine's University, Duke University, Elon University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Wake Forest University, and Davidson College). In 2019, the diocesan programming extended to digital ministry with the launch of a smartphone app for young adults titled YEAH: Young Episcopal Adult Hub.
* Social ministry, notably the Episcopal Farmworkers Ministry in Newton Grove, a joint venture with the Diocese of East Carolina. In a state with a growing Latino population, the diocese supports a Chartered Committee on Hispanic Ministry. The committee provides liturgical and pastoral resources, supports congregations' service and outreach among Latinas and Latinos, and advocates for immigration reform and other laws to protect the rights of migrant workers.
The diocese no longer operates a camp and conference center, having sold its facility near Browns Summit, North Carolina to the State of North Carolina for use as Haw River State Park. However, the diocese maintains an active youth program. The territory of the diocese includes independent schools with current or former diocesan affiliations including Trinity Episcopal School and Palisades Episcopal School in Charlotte, Canterbury School in Greensboro, and St. Mary's School, St. Timothy's School, St. David's School, and Ravenscroft School in Raleigh.
Other major institutions affiliated with the diocese are Penick Village in Southern Pines, a retirement community; and Thompson Child and Family Focus in Charlotte, a youth services ministry.
The diocese used to operate St. Peter's Hospital and Good Samaritan Hospital in Charlotte, both founded by Jane Renwick Smedburg Wilkes, who served as President of the Diocese' Women's Aid Society.

## Bishops

Bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina :
| From | Until | Name | Title | Notes |
| 1823 | 1830 | John Stark Ravenscroft | 1st bishop of North Carolina | |
| 1831 | 1852 | Levi Silliman Ives | 2nd bishop of North Carolina | |
| 1853 | 1881 | Thomas Atkinson | 3rd bishop of North Carolina | |
| 1873 | 1881 | Theodore B. Lyman | Coadjutor bishop of North Carolina | |
| 1881 | 1893 | Theodore B. Lyman | 4th bishop of North Carolina | |
| 1893 | 1893 | Joseph Blount Cheshire | Coadjutor bishop of North Carolina | |
| 1893 | 1932 | Joseph Blount Cheshire | 5th bishop of North Carolina | |
| 1918 | 1928 | Henry Beard Delany | 1st bishop suffragan of North Carolina | |
| 1922 | 1932 | Edwin Anderson Penick | Bishop coadjutor of North Carolina | |
| 1932 | 1959 | Edwin Anderson Penick | 6th bishop of North Carolina | |
| 1951 | 1959 | Richard Henry Baker | Bishop coadjutor of North Carolina | |
| 1959 | 1965 | Richard Henry Baker | 7th bishop of North Carolina | |
| 1960 | 1965 | Thomas Fraser | Bishop coadjutor of North Carolina | |
| 1965 | 1983 | Thomas Fraser | 8th bishop of North Carolina | |
| 1967 | 1975 | Moultrie Moore | 2nd bishop suffragan of North Carolina | Bishop of Easton, (1975–1983) |
| 1980 | 1982 | Robert Whitridge Estill | Bishop coadjutor of North Carolina | |
| 1983 | 1994 | Robert Whitridge Estill | 9th bishop of North Carolina | |
| 1985 | 1989 | Frank Vest | 3rd bishop suffragan of North Carolina | Bishop of Southern Virginia (1991–1998) |
| 1990 | 1996 | Huntington Williams, Jr. | 4th bishop suffragan of North Carolina | |
| 1994 | 2000 | Robert C. Johnson Jr. | 10th bishop of North Carolina | |
| 1996 | 2007 | J. Gary Gloster | 5th bishop suffragan of North Carolina | |
| 2000 | 2015 | Michael Bruce Curry | 11th bishop of North Carolina | 27th Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church (2015 – 2024) |
| 2005 | 2013 | Alfred C. "Chip" Marble, Jr. | Assisting bishop of North Carolina | Bishop of Mississippi (1993–2003) |
| 2007 | 2013 | William O. Gregg | Assistant bishop of North Carolina | Bishop of Eastern Oregon (2000–2007) |
| 2013 | 2022 | Anne Hodges-Copple | 6th bishop suffragan of North Carolina | The first female bishop in the Diocese of North Carolina. |
| 2015 | 2017 | Anne Hodges-Copple | Bishop pro tempore of North Carolina | The first female bishop in the Diocese of North Carolina. |
| 2015 | 2017 | Peter Lee | Assisting bishop of North Carolina | Bishop of Virginia (1985–2009); bishop provisional of East Carolina (2013–2015) Lee was brought in as a temporary bishop of North Carolina after Bishop Michael Curry was called to serve as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Lee served until Samuel S. Rodman, III was consecrated in April 2017. |
| 2017 | Present | Samuel S. Rodman, III | 12th bishop of North Carolina | |
| 2022 | Present | Jennifer Brooke-Davidson | Assistant bishop of North Carolina | 6th bishop suffragan of West Texas (2017–2019); assistant bishop of Virginia (2019–2022) |