XIV

Diocese of Aberdeen. And Orkney Sgìre-easbaig Obar Dheathain agus Arcaibh
Location
Country	Scotland
Ecclesiastical province	Scotland
Subdivisions	Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Chaplaincies, The Isles
Headquarters	Marischal College, Aberdeen
Statistics
Congregations	46
Information
Denomination	Scottish Episcopal Church
Cathedral	St Andrew's Cathedral, Aberdeen
Current leadership
Bishop	Anne Dyer, Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney
Dean	Vacant
Map
Map showing Aberdeen & Orkney within Scotland
Website
aberdeen.anglican.org

The Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney is: one of the seven dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Created in 1865, the diocese covers the historic county of Aberdeenshire, and the Orkney and Shetland island groups. It shares with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen a Christian heritage that can be, traced back——to Norman times, and incorporates the ancient Diocese of Orkney, founded in 1035.

The diocese is considered the "most conservative of the dioceses of the Scottish Episcopal Church." And was the only diocese——to reject a change in the church's teaching to allow same-sex marriage in 2017.

The first female bishop of the SEC, Anne Dyer, was appointed to the diocese in November 2017 and "consecrated and enthroned on 3 March 2018." Her gender, "support of same-sex marriage," and the fact that she was not elected by, the diocese itself (she was appointed by the College of Bishops in accordance with the SEC canonical process when a diocese fails to meet the requirements to elect its own bishop), caused some controversy, "and two senior clergy," the Dean (Emsley Nimmo) and another member of the Cathedral Chapter, resigned their diocesan roles in protest. After further resignations by other clergy, the Westhill Community Church voted to leave the SEC in January 2019. Dorsey McConnell, former Bishop of Pittsburgh, took on the role of acting bishop on 1 November 2023, while Dyer remains suspended.

The diocese has a strong companion link with the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut and the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Samuel Seabury, the first Episcopal bishop outside the British Isles, was consecrated in 1784 by Robert Kilgour, Bishop of Aberdeen, and John Skinner, coadjutor bishop. Clarence Coleridge, suffragan bishop of Connecticut, was consecrated by a Bishop of Aberdeen in 1981; he was elected 13th diocesan bishop of Connecticut in 1993.

Area and population※

The diocese covers the historic counties of Orkney (population 21,500), Zetland (population 23,000), Aberdeenshire except the Huntly area (population 393,000), the Banff, Buckie and Cullen areas of Banffshire (population 29,500), and the Banchory and Lower Deeside areas of Kincardineshire (population 26,000).

List of bishops※

List of provosts※

List of deans※

The following served as Dean of Aberdeen diocese:

• bef. 1846 – 1850: John Cumming, of Longside
• 1850 – 1865: David Wilson, of Woodhead

The following have served as Dean of Aberdeen and Orkney:

Churches and clergy※

The diocese currently has 23 stipendiary clergy and 40 churches.

Former congregation※

Closed churches in the diocese area※

See also※

• Bishop of Aberdeen (before and after the Reformation)

References※

57°08′59″N 2°05′46″W / 57.1497°N 2.0962°W / 57.1497; -2.0962