Diocese of Rochester

Diocese of Rochester Dioecesis Roffensis
Coat of arms
Flag
Location
Ecclesiastical province	Canterbury
Archdeaconries	Bromley & Bexley, Rochester, Tonbridge
Statistics
Parishes	218
Churches	268
Information
Cathedral	Rochester Cathedral St Saviour's Pro-Cathedral, Southwark (1897–1905)[1]
Language	English
Current leadership
Bishop	Jonathan Gibbs, Bishop of Rochester
Suffragan	Simon Burton-Jones, Bishop of Tonbridge
Archdeacons	Andy Wooding Jones, Archdeacon of Rochester Sharon Copestake, Archdeacon of Tonbridge Allie Kerr, Archdeacon of Bromley & Bexley
Website
rochester.anglican.org

The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal signature is: " (firstname) Roffen",^[2] Roffensis being the Latinised adjective referring to Rochester.

An ancient diocese, it was established with the authority of King Æthelberht of Kent by Augustine of Canterbury in 604 at the same time as the see of London.^[3] Only the adjacent Diocese of Canterbury is older in England. Its establishment was the first part of an unrealised plan conceived by Pope Gregory the Great for Augustine of Canterbury to consecrate 12 bishops in different places and another 12 for the prospective see (later province) of York.^[4]

The Rochester diocese includes 268 parish churches throughout:

• the western part of the county of Kent
• the London Borough of Bexley
• the London Borough of Bromley;

The diocese is subdivided into three archdeaconries:

• Archdeaconry of Bromley & Bexley (Archdeacon: Allie Kerr)
• Archdeaconry of Rochester (Archdeacon: Andy Wooding Jones)
• Archdeaconry of Tonbridge (Archdeacon: Sharon Copestake);

The current diocesan boundaries roughly match its pre-19th century extent. On 1 January 1846 parishes in Hertfordshire from the dioceses of Lincoln and of London and Essex (from London diocese) were added to Rochester, while all West Kent parishes except those in the Rochester Deanery were transferred to the Diocese of Canterbury.^[5] In May 1877, Essex and Hertfordshire became part of the newly created Diocese of St Albans. On 1 August 1877,^[6] the Diocese of Rochester gained some northern parts of Surrey from the Diocese of Winchester and the Diocese of London which were later transferred to the Diocese of Southwark at its creation in 1905.