The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts is one of the nine original Dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

Massachusetts was founded by Puritans who did not accept such aspects of the Church of England as bishops and the Book of Common Prayer. The first Anglican parish in the Massachusetts Bay Colony was King's Chapel in Boston, founded in 1688, 58 years after the city. After the American Revolution, King's Chapel became the first Unitarian congregation in North America. The oldest remaining parish in the diocese is St. Paul's in Newburyport, founded in 1711.

The diocese was organised in 1784, five years before the Episcopal Church itself. The first bishop was not consecrated until 1795.

Today, it is one of the largest dioceses in the ECUSA in terms of membership. It encompasses the eastern part of Massachusetts, specifically, east of Worcester County.

The diocese was the first in the Anglican Communion to consecrate a woman bishop. Barbara Harris became bishop suffragan of the diocese in 1989.

The current diocesan bishop is the Right Reverend M. Thomas Shaw . He was consecrated bishop coadjutor in 1994 and succeeded David Johnson upon the latter's death in January 1995.

Historically, the diocese has been considered Low Church; however, there are a number of Anglo-Catholic parishes, the most famous of which is Church of the Advent in Boston. Its best-known Low Church parish is Trinity Church in Boston's Copley Square.

Episcopal Divinity School is located in this diocese. Many of the diocese's clergy are alumni of EDS.

Its see city is Boston. Diocesan offices are located at 138 Tremont Street, adjacent to the Cathedral Church of St. Paul.

External sites

Official Web site of the Diocese of Massachusetts