Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee
| Diocese of West Tennessee | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Location | |
| Ecclesiastical province | IV (Southeast) |
| Statistics | |
| Congregations | 31 (2014) |
| Members | 8,258 (2014) |
| Information | |
| Rite | Episcopal |
| Cathedral | St. Mary's Cathedral |
| Current leadership | |
| Bishop | Don E. Johnson |
| Map | |
 Location of the Diocese of West Tennessee |
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| Website | |
| episwtn.org | |
The Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee is the diocese of the Episcopal Church that geographically coincides with the political region known as the Grand Division of West Tennessee. The geographic range of the Diocese of West Tennessee was originally part of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee, which was partitioned into three separate dioceses during 1982–1985. Don E. Johnson is the current Bishop of West Tennessee; his two predecessors were Alex D. Dickson and James M. Coleman. It is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee on the close of St. Mary's Cathedral.
Despite being located in the extreme southwestern corner of Tennessee, Memphis served as the see city for most of the history of the old statewide diocese prior to the first territorial separation in 1983. The oldest Episcopal congregation in the present West Tennessee diocese is Immanuel Church in La Grange which, like many 19th century churches in this part of the state, primarily served plantations, both owners and slaves. After the American Civil War, missionary emphasis in West Tennessee shifted to the city of Memphis, although the church gradually began appearing in larger towns outside the Mississippi River region as well.
After World War II, three large parishes, Calvary Church, St. Mary's Cathedral (founded in 1858 and a cathedral since 1871), and Grace-St. Luke's Church, began planting missions throughout the Memphis area. The success of these congregations, along with growth elsewhere in the state, prompted then-diocesan bishop John Vander Horst to establish additional offices in Nashville and Knoxville to more effectively serve the other two grand divisions of the state. Vander Horst took up residence in Nashville (while maintaining his cathedra in Memphis), while his bishop coadjutor, William E. Sanders, had his office in Knoxville. A suffragan bishop, W. Fred Gates, Jr., worked out of Memphis from 1966 to 1982.
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