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| Foothills in Fresno County |
Porous limestone formations, Mono Lake
A diocese is a geographical area whose churches are governed by a bishop, whose "cathedra" or "chair" is from a cathedral. Our own diocese is called the San Joaquin Diocese, which is the central and eastern portion of the state of California, in the United States of America and our Bishop is The Right Reverend John-David Schofield.
This Diocese is a part of the Anglican Communion, and is temporarily a member diocese of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, (geographically covering the southern part of South America) an orthodox Province that is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion and stands firm on the authority of Holy Scriptures and the faith of the Early Church. We believe Jesus Christ is the "same today, yesterday and forever..." and that His Word will never "fade away" but abides forever.
We are a sacramental community and are nourished by the "mysteries" of the Church, of which "we are stewards" and participants. We live to share the life-giving presence of Jesus Christ in Word and Sacrament!
The Diocese of San Joaquin is actively involved in numerous ministries, supporting missionaries to Laos, Bolivia, Morocco, Pakistan, Mali, and soon, Yemen, just to name a few.
Internal missions include Hispanic outreach and churches, a Laotian/Southeast Asian outreach, as well as many ministries in partnership with other churches.
There are about forty-five congregations in our diocese, and all of them are blessed to be located amidst some of God's most beautiful creation.
Fresno County is the most abundant agricultural region in the world. God's abundance spills over into the other regions of our diocese, which encompass the fertile San Joaquin Valley, the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the deserts of Death Valley.
We are a diocese of farmers and laborers, ranchers and cowboys, bankers and teachers and cops. And we are blessed to find God's presence wherever we look.
