Diocese of Huron

Diocese of Huron
Diocese of Huron
Location
Country	Canada
Ecclesiastical province	Ontario
Coordinates	42°37′05″N 81°54′50″W / 42.618°N 81.914°W
Statistics
Parishes	124
Members	21,000
Information
Denomination	Anglican Church of Canada
Rite	Anglican
Cathedral	St. Paul's Cathedral, London
Current leadership
Bishop	Todd Townshend
Website
	diohuron.org

The Diocese of Huron is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario of the Anglican Church of Canada. The diocese comprises just over 31,000 square kilometres in southwestern Ontario, sandwiched between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. Its See city is London, and its parish rolls of 50,000 are served by 177 congregations.

The territory covered by the diocese was under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Quebec until 1839, and was included in the Diocese of Toronto from 1839 until 1857. Its first bishop, Benjamin Cronyn, was the first to be elected by a diocesan synod in Canada. In 1866, there were two archdeaconries: C. Crosbie Brough was Archdeacon of Huron and Isaac Hellmuth of London.^[2] In addition to London, other major communities within the diocese are: Brantford, Cambridge, Chatham, Kitchener, Sarnia, Stratford, Waterloo, and Windsor. The diocese maintains chaplaincies at Canterbury College in Windsor, Renison University College in Waterloo and Huron University College in London, which has an affiliated seminary. A parish in Brantford, Ontario also supports chaplaincy ministry at the local campus of Wilfrid Laurier University.

The diocesan bishop from July 2009 to November 2017 was Robert Bennett, who retired November 1, 2016.^[3] He was supported by Terry Dance, who was elected as suffragan bishop on 28 March 2009 and consecrated in St. Paul's Cathedral, London, Ontario, on 6 June 2009. Bishop Terry Dance retired December 31, 2015.^[4] Linda Nicholls, former suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Toronto area of Trent-Durham was elected coadjutor bishop on February 13, 2016, and assumed the role of the diocesan bishop on November 1, 2016, with the retirement of the Rt Rev Robert Bennett.

In July 2019 Linda Nicholls was elected Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada at the 2019 General Synod.^[5] Before assuming her duties as the head of the Anglican Church of Canada, she had to leave her post in Huron on September 30, 2019. Until the installment of the new bishop, the diocese was administered by The Most Reverend Colin Johnson, retired metropolitan of Ontario and archbishop of Toronto and Moosonee.

On October 26, 2019, Todd Townshend was elected the next bishop of Huron.^[6] He assumed his role as the 14th bishop of Huron when consecrated 25 January 2020.

The dean of St. Paul's Cathedral is Kevin George. He was appointed by Bishop Todd Townshend as dean of St. Paul's Cathedral on January 1, 2024.

Bishops of Huron

No.	Name	Dates	Notes
1	Benjamin Cronyn	1857–1871
2	Isaac Hellmuth	1871–1883
3	Maurice Baldwin	1883–1904
4	David Williams	1905–1931	Metropolitan of Ontario, 1926–1931
5	Charles Seager	1932–1948	Metropolitan of Ontario, 1944–1948
6	George Luxton	1948–1970
7	Carmen Queen	1970–1974
8	David Ragg	1974–1984
9	Derwyn Jones	1984–1990
10	Percy O'Driscoll	1991–2000	Suffragan Bishop, 1987–1989 Bishop coadjutor, 1989–1991 Metropolitan of Ontario, 1993–2000
11	Bruce Howe	2000–2008
12	Bob Bennett	2008–2016
13	Linda Nicholls	2016–2019	Primate of Canada, 2019-
14	Todd Townshend	2020–present

References

^ ^a ^b Elliot, Neil (15 March 2024). "Dioceses of the ACC – by numbers". Numbers Matters. (Neil Elliot is the statistics officer for the Anglican Church of Canada.). Retrieved 17 March 2024.
^ The Clergy List for 1866 (London: George Cox, 1866) p. 446
^ "Bishop of Huron to retire November 1". www.anglicanjournal.com. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
^ "Huron's Bishop Dance announces retirement". www.anglicanjournal.com. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
^ "Bishop Linda Nicholls of the Diocese of Huron the first woman to become the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada". www.diohuron.org. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
^ "WE HAVE A BISHOP!". www.diohuron.org. Retrieved 2019-10-31.