Anglican Diocese of Grafton


The Anglican Diocese of Grafton is one of the 23 dioceses of the Anglican Church of Australia. The diocese is located in north-east New South Wales and covers the area from the Queensland border to Port Macquarie in the south and west to the Great Dividing Range.
Created in 1914 as a result of a division of the previous Diocese of Grafton and Armidale it has 28 parishes, an active environment commission and an Anglicare organisation seeking to support community and social needs within the diocese. The diocesan cathedral church is the Cathedral Church of Christ the King in Grafton.
The Church of St Thomas at Port Macquarie was built by an early Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane. It is the fifth oldest church building in Australia.
The current Bishop of Grafton, Murray Harvey, is the 12th bishop of the diocese. He was installed in Christ Church Cathedral, Grafton, on 29 September 2018.
Sarah Macneil become the first woman to lead an Australian diocese as bishop. Macneil announced her resignation on 17 November 2017, to be effective from 3 March 2018.
The bishop is based in Grafton.

Bishops

Cathedral

The cathedral church is Christ Church Cathedral in Grafton which was designed by John Horbury Hunt and commenced in 1884 during the episcopacy of Bishop Turner and completed to its present stage in 1937. The building is of brick construction in a Gothic Revival style with towering arches and ornate stained glass windows. An organ was installed in 1884 by George Fincham of Melbourne which was replaced in 1992 by a 1903 instrument brought from London by Peter D.G. Jewkes Pty Ltd of Sydney.
The cathedral is a National Trust listed building.

Deans of Grafton

The following individuals have served as Deans of Grafton:
OrdinalNameTerm startTerm endNotes
1Arthur Edward Warr19491965
2Roderick William Bowie19661968
3Henry St John Edwards19691978
4Bruce Allan Schultz19791983Afterwards Bishop of Grafton, 1985
5Richard Warwick Hurford19831997Later Bishop of Bathurst, 2001
6Peter Charles Catt19972007Afterwards Dean of Brisbane, 2008
7Donald Kingsley Kirk20072017Later Bishop of Riverina, 2019
8Gregory Charles Jenks2017current

Church schools

The diocese also has a number of church-based schools providing education across a range of age groups.
FoundedSchoolEnrollmentYearsLocation
1981Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School1100P-12Tweed Heads
1993Bishop Druitt College1192K-12Coffs Harbour
1998Emmanuel Anglican College388P-12Ballina
1998Clarence Valley Anglican School297P-12Grafton
2002St Columba Anglican School680P-12Port Macquarie