Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan

The Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan is the Episcopal diocese in the western half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The diocese was founded in 1874.

Diocese of Western Michigan
Location
Ecclesiastical province	Province V
Subdivisions	3 regions.
Statistics
Congregations	57 (2014)
Members	9,663 (2014)
Information
Rite	Episcopal
Established	1874
Current leadership
Bishop	Whayne M. Hougland Jr.
Map
Location of the Diocese of Western Michigan
Website
www.edwm.org

The Diocese is headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan and covers a 33-county area that stretches from the Straits of Mackinac southward to the Indiana border and from Lake Michigan to approximately the middle of the state. As of 2012 the website of the diocese describes it as having 15,000 communicants organized in 58 communities of faith, of which 54 are parishes and 4 are seasonal chapels. It is organized into three regions, centered in Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Traverse City.

The Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan is somewhat unusual in that it has no cathedral, but is headquartered in a diocesan center in a high-rise office building in downtown Kalamazoo. From 1969 to 2007, the Bishop and the diocesan offices were located at the Cathedral Church of Christ the King, a prominent edifice near Interstate 94. However, this building was sold in 2007, and the congregation of the Parish Church of Christ the King moved to Texas Corners where it remained until January 2012, when the congregation disbanded.[1]

The first bishop of the diocese was George D. Gillespie. Robert R. Gepert, was elected on October 19, 2001, and was consecrated as the 8th Diocesan Bishop on April 27, 2002. His episcopacy, which spanned 11 years, concluded with his retirement in 2013. Whayne M. Hougland, Jr., was elected as the 9th Diocesan Bishop in September 2013.[2]