|
|
Geography and History
|
| |
In the Anglican Church, as in the Roman Catholic Church, a diocese
is a collection of congregations under episcopal authority within a
certain geographical area. From denomination to denomination, or
from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, those boundaries may overlap.
The Diocese of San Joaquin is one of now 8 Anglican dioceses of the
Province of the Southern Cone (Provincia Anglicana del Cono Sur de
Am rica), along with the dioceses of Argentina, Northern Argentina,
Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
The diocesan office is located in Fresno, with churches in and
around Stockton to the north and as far south as Bakersfield. The
Diocese of San Joaquin also has congregations on the east side of
the Sierra Nevada mountain range.
As with all dioceses in the state of California, the diocese of San
Joaquin was carved out of the original Diocese of California. Bishop
Kip had taken a couple of trips through the San Joaquin Valley, with
stops for baptisms, marriages, and Holy Communion, in the 1870's.
The Rev. D.O.Kelly was very active and visible in the beginnings of
quite a few congregations south of Fresno. In 1911, the new diocese
was given it's official charter as a "Missionary Diocese", dependent
upon the General Convention budget for its fiscal well being. Bishop
Louis Sanford guided the missionary diocese of San Joaquin through
its early years, giving it a firm foundation. Bishop Sumner Walters
further expanded the number of congregations in the valley; Bp.
Victor Rivera, formerly rector of St. Paul's, Visalia, saw the
diocese drop its "missionary" status and become fiscally
independent. Bp. Rivera also helped keep the diocese biblically and
traditionally "orthodox" through years of great upheaval in the
Episcopal Church with the struggle of civil rights (including the
area's implosion concerning the rights of field workers), the
ordination of women to the priesthood, and a change in the official
Book of Common Prayer. The Rev. David Schofield, formerly rector of
St. Columba's, Inverness, Dio. of California, became the 4th bishop
of San Joaquin in 1989 as Bishop John-David Schofield, continuing
the diocese's scriptural, liturgical and theological heritage.
Spanish Army Lieutenant Gabriel Moraga was the first European to
explore what is now the interior valley of California. His journey
left an indelible mark on the state, giving Moraga the liberty of
naming most major rivers and landmarks. He and his explorers were
astonished upon first entering the valley. They noted the great
wealth of wildlife that they could view for as far as the eye could
see. Everywhere they looked there were ducks, geese, cranes, herons,
pelicans, curlew, antelope, deer, elk and grizzly bears all living
their lives undisturbed. Prior to their visit only the local Indians
had ventured into the area.
On June 21, 1805, Moraga brought his Spanish Calvary from the
Presidio of San Francisco and traversed over the Pacheco Pass. He
was under orders from the Spanish Governor of California to explore
the San Joaquin Valley. The pass would later become the principal
route between the coastal areas to the west and the great valley and
mountains to the east. During his journey, he gave the name
"Modesto" to the area that is now home to the city of the same name.
Moraga also discovered and named the Calaveras River after finding
human skulls at it banks. The skulls were remnants of an ancient
indian battle. "El Rio De Las Calaveras" means "The River Of
Skulls". In 1806, he lead his expedition to modern-day Kings Canyon,
California and named "The River of the Holy Kings." Later it was
shortened to "Kings River." During this part of his trip, he also
named "Sacramento", which means "Blessed Sacrament". After
discovering yet another major river in the central valley, Moraga
named it after "Our Lady Of Guadalupe". It was later renamed to
honor a native indian leader by the name of Estanislao . . the
Stanislaus River. He also named the Merced River during this
expedition, in honor of "Our Lady Of Mercy".
In 1808, Gabriel Moraga ventured in to the central valley from the
coastal mission at San Jose to find more potential sites for new
Spanish Missions and pursue indians that had fled from San Jose.
According to written history, Moraga was the first non-native
explorer to enter what is now the San Joaquin Valley. During his
trek, he named a small creek after Saint Joachim, who was the father
of Mary, the Virgin mother of Jesus Christ. "Saint Joachim"
translates, in Spanish, to "San Joaquin" (for a brief description of
St. Joachim, click here). It was later discovered that the creek fed
in to a larger river, which then took on the same name. Being the
major tributary through the valley, the name of the river soon
propagated to the entire central Valley, becoming known as the San
Joaquin Valley. In 1850, California named the county that bordered
the river as "San Joaquin County".
There are currently 47 congregations, serving a world-mix of races
and ethnicities, striving to be true to the Good News of Jesus
Christ, and to His mission, especially as defined in the catechism
of the Book of Common Prayer. St. John's, Stockton, the diocese's
oldest congregation, was founded in 1850, the third oldest
congregation in the west (the Diocese of California was officially
organized in 1858). During the episcopate of Bishop Sumner Walters
(1950s and '60s), the diocesan office was located in Stockton and
St. John's served as pro-Cathedral.
On December 8th, 2007 at its annual convention, the Diocese of San
Joaquin took an historic step and voted to disassociate from The
Episcopal Church. The convention also accepted an invitation from
Archbishop Gregory Venables and the bishops of the Province of the
Southern Cone of South America to be welcomed into their membership. |
|
|
Copyright ©
2008 The Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin. All rights reserved
4159 E. Dakota Ave., Fresno, CA 93726 (559) 244-4828 |
|