The Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, part of Province 4. The diocese was created in 1970 from portions of the adjoining dioceses of Alabama and Florida.
Its territory encompasses the southern third of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle region, west of the Appalachicola River. Most of its churches are located in the Mobile, Alabama area and in a population strip along the Gulf of Mexico extending from Pensacola to Panama City, Florida; most of the remaining churches are located in Alabama, typically in towns with greater than 10,000 population. Historically, the diocese's congregations have favored low, or evangelical, churchmanship, with a generally more conservative theological and cultural tone than the Episcopal Church nationally. However, in most places, and especially in smaller municipalities, they are often the most liberal and tolerant religious options available to residents.
Diocesan offices are located in Pensacola, while the cathedral is Christ Church Cathedral in Mobile, making it one of only a few dioceses in the Episcopal Church where the diocesan offices and cathedral are located in different cities and the only diocese in which they are located in different states.
A Brief History
The Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast was organized in 1970 by combining the southern part of the Diocese of Alabama and the western section of the Diocese of Florida. In both the Diocese of Alabama and that of Florida, the problems of adequately caring for parishes had become greater over time, especially as congregations in the Mobile and Pensacola areas, at the far edge of each diocese, had grown. Bishops George Murray (Alabama) and E. Hamilton West (Florida) agreed that joining the southern counties of Alabama with the western portion of the Diocese of Florida was the best solution to the problem. Meeting at Christ Church, Pensacola, on December 3–5, 1970, the Primary Convention of the new diocese adopted canons and elected officers with the Right Reverend George Murray becoming the first bishop of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast.
In 1971 the new diocese included 25 parishes and 32 missions along with Beckwith Camp & Conference Center, a camp and conference center located on Weeks Bay on the Alabama Gulf Coast and Wilmer Hall Children’s Home in Mobile. The new diocesan offices at Wilmer Hall opened in January 1971. For 10 years Bishop Murray traveled throughout the diocese shepherding his flock, providing steady leadership during a period of great change in the Episcopal Church, not the least being the adoption of a new prayer book and the ordination of women, things that some parishioners were strongly outspoken against. In 1979, shortly after celebrating the 25th anniversary of his consecration as Bishop, he announced to the Standing Committee his intention to retire.
Meeting at St. Paul’s Church in Mobile on November 14–15, 1980, a special convention of the Diocese elected the Rev. Charles Farmer Duvall, from South Carolina, to succeed Bishop Murray. The new bishop was ordained on April 11, 1981, in the Field House of the University of West Florida in Pensacola before 2,500 people who had gathered to witness and celebrate the consecration.