Bishop of Kentucky
| Diocese of Kentucky | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | |
| Ecclesiastical province | Province IV |
| Statistics | |
| Congregations | 35 |
| Members | 8,143 (2016) |
| Information | |
| Rite | Episcopal |
| Cathedral | Christ Church Cathedral |
| Current leadership | |
| Bishop | Terry A. White |
| Map | |
 Location of the Diocese of Kentucky |
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| Website | |
| www.episcopalky.org | |
The Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing the western half of the state of Kentucky.
The first verifiable religious services in Kentucky were held on May 28, 1775 under an elm tree at Boonesboro by Rev. John Lythe. After the American Revolutionary War, in 1795, an Episcopal chaplain offered prayers at the beginning of the new state's first legislative session, and while one diocesan historian (the diocese originally comprised all of Kentucky) estimated that half of all early emigrants were Episcopalian, the church did not follow them for decades. Between 1803 and 1806, Rev. Williams Kavanagh, formerly a Methodist deacon but ordained by Bishop John Claggett of Maryland, held services in a log building at Louisville used by various Protestant faiths, before he moved to Henderson. Instead, revival meetings dominated, but in 1822 some organized themselves into Christ Church, Louisville. Between 1824 and 1829, the state only had one clergyman, Dr. Chapman in Lexington.
The diocese of Kentucky was organized in 1829, 37 years after Kentucky became a state. The following year, Benjamin Bosworth Smith arrived to become rector at Lexington's Christ Church, although he had previously declined the position. In 1832, he became the new diocese's first bishop. However, at the time, the entire state only had three parishes: Louisville, Lexington and Danville. Nonetheless, Rt. Rev. Smith served until 1884, and as a result of his longevity became the ninth presiding bishop in 1868, after which time he was permanently resident in New York (though he had been partly resident there since 1866), episcopal duties in the Diocese of Kentucky being allocated to an assistant bishop. However, the diocese was the subject of a schism related to a new prayerbook, with adherents of the older Protestant practices withdrawing under assistant bishop George David Cummins.
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Wikipedia