About the ADGL
The Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes (ADGL) is a member of the Anglican Church in North America, and part of God’s one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. The Diocese came into being in 2010 as part of a bold realignment of Anglicanism in 21st Century North America. We embrace Biblical truth, and proclaim the uniqueness of Jesus the Messiah, the only Son of God who has come to redeem the whole world through the power of his transforming love.
Our mission is to extend the Kingdom of God by so presenting Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit that people everywhere will come to put their trust in God through him, know him as Savior and serve him as Lord in the fellowship of the Church. Recognizing that God’s mission for his Church is best accomplished within the the local congregation, this Diocese exists to equip each of its member congregations to reconcile the world to Christ; plant new congregations, and “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything (Jesus) commanded.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
We seek to preserve and propagate the historic Christian faith as handed down in Holy Scripture and the Anglican formularies (The Thirty Nine Articles and The Book of Common Prayer) throughout the centuries in order to spread the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ throughout the Great Lakes region, currently comprising parts of Ohio, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Indiana.
Our History
The Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes is a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America, and was established June 2010. It currently has 47 congregations in the states of Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, and Ohio, and one diocesan religious order in Virginia.
The history of the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes starts in April 2003, when five parishes from northern Ohio left the Episcopal Church, because of its departure from orthodox Anglicanism, to align themselves with the Diocese of Bolivia, in the Anglican Province of South America. New parishes joined and expanded the ADGL. Because of geographical distance, it became clear it was not practical to integrate into the South American Province. The Great Lakes parishes transferred into the Convocation of Anglicans in North America in 2007, a missionary outreach of the Anglican Church of Nigeria. In December 2007, Roger Ames, the rector of St. Luke's Anglican Church in Akron, Ohio, was consecrated as suffragan bishop of CANA. The churches, now numbering 13 congregations, become the Anglican District of the Great Lakes of CANA, in August 2008, with Roger Ames as their first bishop. The district was a founding member, as part of CANA, of the Anglican Church in North America, in June 2009.
In an extraordinary Constitutional Convention, held in April 2010, the district became the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes. On June 9 of the same year, the Provincial Assembly of the ACNA unanimously recognized the new diocese. Roger Ames was elected at the Constitutional Convention their first bishop, being formally installed at the diocesan annual convention in Akron, Ohio on April 30, 2011. The ADGL now numbers 47 congregations.
In July of 2012, the Anglican Mission in America, Heart of North America Network and the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes merged together as one united Diocese in the heart of North America. HONA’s Bishop David Loomis, in collaboration with Bishop Roger Ames invited all HONA parishes and clergy to become a part of the ADGL. This was an exciting time in the life of our diocese as we combined resources to reach people with the transforming love of the gospel of our Lord Savior Jesus Christ.
Upon Bp. Ames retirement, the ADGL held an extraordinary Synod, on October 3, 2015, which nominated three candidates to be considered for election as the new bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes. The College of the Bishops of the ACNA, meeting in Vero Beach, Florida, on January 6, 2016, elected The Rev. Dr. Ronald Jackson, as the second bishop of the ADGL. He was consecrated Bishop at St. Bernard Catholic Church in Akron, Ohio, on 28 April 2016.
Bishop Jackson resigned as Diocesan Bishop of the ADGL in January 2020. The Rt. Rev. John Miller and The Rt. Rev. Grant LeMarquand served as the temporary bishops for the diocese. Both Bishop Miller and Bishop LeMarquand were appointed by ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach to serve the diocese in episcopal ministry, to advise the Standing Committee of the ADGL, and to serve as liaisons with the Province.
On November 14, 2020, the ADGL held an extraordinary Synod, meeting via Zoom, which selected The Very Rev. Mark A. Engel as the new bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes. The College of Bishops of the ACNA, meeting via Zoom, on January 5-7, 2021, elected The Very Rev. Mark A. Engel as the third bishop of the ADGL. He was consecrated Bishop at the Old Stone Chapel in Canton, Ohio, on February 13, 2021.
