About Us

We are 49,000 people gathered into 111 congregations and 10 campus ministries throughout 38 counties in the central part of North Carolina, from Iredell County to Edgecombe County, and from Caswell County to Scotland County. On an average Sunday, more than 13,500 gather to worship across our diocese.

Our vision as a diocese is to be a community of disciples committed to following Jesus Christ into the dream of God for us and for all creation, in Becoming Beloved Community.

Our mission is simple: Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the Diocese of North Carolina seeks to live God's dream by making disciples and making a difference. We do so by practicing The Way of Love and building joyful congregations and other communities of faith into Becoming Beloved Community, centered on the Gospel, in the communion of The Episcopal Church. We go forth, as apostles, to offer God's reconciling love to all persons, with special concerns for the unchurched, young people and those on the margins of society.

Currently, we are exploring 21st century Galilee, the pluralistic, ever-changing modern world in which we live. In this modern mission field, both our diocese and our local congregations seek out new ways to go out into their communities, doing church in new ways, meeting people where they are and sharing the love of Christ. We do this by intentionally sharing our faith, seeking out new communities in which to minister and finding new ways to work with our local neighbors. Sometimes we also engage in special initiatives, like engaging our young people in the work of reconciliation and supporting our neighbors who work in the agricultural fields.

Our five priorities represent the multi-year mission strategy of the diocese, which ultimately led to the Galilee vision we embrace today.

Our diocese functions under a bishop, the Right Reverend Samuel Rodman. The Right Reverend Anne E. Hodges-Copple is the bishop suffragan. The Diocese is divided into seven convocations, each headed by a dean and a lay warden.

We are one of three dioceses in North Carolina, including the Diocese of East Carolina and the Diocese of Western North Carolina, and one of 110 dioceses that make up The Episcopal Church, a community of 2.4 million members in the United States and abroad. The Episcopal Church is headed by a presiding bishop, currently the Most Rev. Michael Curry.

We are also part of the Anglican Communion, a global community of 74 million persons in 38 member provinces throughout the world, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently the Most Reverend and Right Honorable Justin Welby.

All are welcome. We invite you to worship with us and share our joy.

The Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina acknowledges and pays respect to past and present tribal members of the Indigenous nations who were forcibly expelled from the lands the Diocese of North Carolina now occupies or who experienced exploitation at the hands of white people: the Catawba, Cheraw, Chowanoc, Coharie, Eno, Haliwa-Saponi, Keyauwee, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, Sappony, Shakori, Sissipahaw, Sugeree, Tuscaroram Waxhaw, Weapemeoc and Woccon. Standing in solidarity with all who are oppressed, we deplore the hatred and violence shown historically and in the present to Indigenous, Black, LatinX and Asian people, Pacific Islanders, and all other oppressed persons. We will continually seek to dismantle the racism that threatens us all as human beings.