Diocese of Fond du Lac | |
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Location | |
Ecclesiastical province | Province V |
Deaneries | 3 active |
Statistics | |
Congregations | 35 plus 2 chapels |
Members | 5,009 (2016) |
Information | |
Cathedral |
Cathedral Church of St. Paul the Apostle, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin |
Current leadership | |
Bishop | Matthew Alan Gunter |
Map | |
Location of the Diocese of Fond du Lac |
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Website | |
diofdl.org |
The Diocese of Fond du Lac is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing the northeastern third of Wisconsin. The diocese contains about 5,700 baptized members worshipping in 37 locations. It is part of Province 5 (the upper Midwest). Diocesan offices are in Appleton, Wisconsin. The Diocesan Archives are maintained in Grafton Hall behind the Cathedral in Fond du Lac. Matthew Gunter is its bishop.
The roots of the Diocese of Fond du Lac begin in 1822 when the Oneida Indians, removing from New York state, settled ten miles from Green Bay around Duck Creek. The first non-Roman Catholic church building erected in the Northwest Territory and what would become Wisconsin was built by the Oneidas. The history of the Episcopal Church in this area for the next fifty years was filled with many missionary endeavors establishing parishes and missions.
When the First Annual Council of the Diocese of Wisconsin met in Milwaukee in 1847, there were only three parishes in the northeastern part of the Wisconsin territory: Hobart Church, Duck Creek (now Church of the Holy Apostles, Oneida), Christ Church, Green Bay, and Grace Church, Sheboygan. With population growth spurred by the abundance of excellent waterways and shipping facilities in the northeastern part of the state, the Diocese of Wisconsin realized a need to create a new Diocese.
After a process begun in 1866 and completed by action of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church held in the city of New York, October 7, 1874, the Diocese of Fond du Lac was erected from the Fond du Lac Deanery of the Diocese of Wisconsin. In 1870, Fond du Lac was the second largest city in Wisconsin. The remaining counties continued as the Diocese of Wisconsin until 1888, when it was renamed the Diocese of Milwaukee.