Who We Are

Province 1, which is one of the nine geographical gatherings of dioceses within the Episcopal Church, exists to support the body of Christ. The Mission of Province 1 is to further the work of and deepen relationships in the Episcopal Church in New England. The Province accomplishes this by coordinating the interdependent ministries of its seven dioceses in a spirit of mutual responsibility.

What's Province 1?

Province I is one of the nine provinces of the Episcopal Church and is also known as Episcopal Province of New England. Geographically, the province includes the 7 dioceses of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, (Eastern) Massachusetts, Western Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Definition of a Province. A Province, one of the nine geographical gatherings of dioceses within the Episcopal Church, exists to support the body of Christ in that part of the Church by…

A. Fulfilling their responsibilities as outlined in the Episcopal Church canons, or as may be assigned to it by the General Convention and/or Executive Council by:

Electing Provincial Synod officers and responding to all matters brought to the Synod, including enactment of budget and governing ordinances.
Electing judges to a Provincial Court of Review.
Electing clerical and lay provincial Executive Council Representatives Electing or appointing other provincial representatives.
Participating in the development of program and budget proposals for consideration by the General Convention Receiving program from the General Convention budget and providing accountability to the General Convention for the use of those funds.

B. Discerning the mission and ministry distinctive to that region and time, and facilitating the empowering of those ministries within the province by:

Encouraging and facilitating cooperation and collaboration across diocesan lines, with the Executive Council, and with the Episcopal Church Center Staff
Initiating, implementing, overseeing and evaluating programming, when appropriate and desirable
Facilitating the sharing of resources and information within and among the provinces.

- From the Provincial Leadership Conference's Burlington/Chesapeake Document 2004

The Mission of Province 1. The Province’s Mission is to further the work of and deepen relationships in The Episcopal Church in New England. The Province accomplishes this by coordinating the interdependent ministries of the seven dioceses in a spirit of mutual responsibility. The Coordinator of the Province of New England works with diocesan staff and congregational leaders to coordinate efforts, communicate information, share resources, and make connections to work for God’s mission in the world, restoring people to unity with God and each other in Christ.

Province 1 consists of the seven New England dioceses of the Episcopal Church:

If you're an Episcopalian in one of those dioceses, Province 1 is YOU.

We represent a broad spectrum of rural, urban and suburban parishes with a great diversity in ethnic and racial cultures, church size, liturgical style and theological perspectives.

We believe that there are things we can do better together rather than separately. During the 2013 Spring Synod, the Bishops and delegates present identified three priorities for the Province:

1) serving as a resource (Coordinator's expertise, seed money, web conferencing, etc.) and connecting those identifying specific needs with those with desired resources,

2) providing a prophetic voice and inspiring social witness/action, and

3) supporting those who are developing/continuing communities of practice.

Our Province has a history of working closely and well together, creating new initiatives and offering them not only to our own dioceses but also to the Church at large.

We decide what we are going to focus upon together as a Conference (formerly called Synod). The Conference of the Province consists of the House of Delegates (lay and clergy delegates elected during their diocesan conventions) and the House of Bishops. In addition to bi-annual meetings of the provincial Bishops, there are bi-annual Conference gatherings of all the provincial bishops, delegates and executive committee. In the spring, we meet physically together to review efforts and identify new initiatives. In the fall, we meet by web conference to approve the Conference calendar-year budget.

We have canons to govern our common life together. Periodically, we review our ways of being together to refresh and realign with God's mission. The latest version of these canons is available here.

We share wisdom. The province uses web conferencing extensively to enable people across New England to identify what is happening in each of our contexts and discern whether or not and how we can collaborate. Provincial delegates from each diocese "see what is rising" and identify appropriate ways for the province to offer support, facilitate relationships, encourage collaborations and/or provide leadership. Deacons share stories of their ministry and offer support to those who hope to create similar initiatives in their contexts. The Multicultural Awareness and Cultural Competency Task Force invite us into conversations with resource people to offer strategies and support to those seeking to end racism. All these efforts are reviewed and supported by the Province's Executive Committee (President, Vice President, Treasurer, Coordinator, and three at-large members), which meets monthly.

We invite new possibilities. Our Province is called into a re-visioned place of empowering the ministry of all baptized, laity and clergy together. We are working together to take the spark of our renewed vision into our communities and our world with all the extraordinary opportunities God provides. We have a history of working closely together, creating new initiatives, and offering them not only to our own dioceses but also to the wider Church. We invite you to be part of that adventure by gathering with us in cyberspace and face to face!

We are catalyzed by a Provincial Coordinator. Will Harron joined Province I as Coordinator in December of 2021. Will is a networker and communicator whose "ministry superpower" is running meetings that people want to come back to. He is an Episcopal Service Corps alumnus (from Life Together, in the Diocese of Massachusetts), spent several years engaged in young adult and campus ministry in Boston, and currently is also the network organizer for the Young Adult Ministry Network in Western Massachusetts. These experiences on the forefront of emerging ministries in the Episcopal Church have given him hope for how the church can engage with the challenges and joys of being the Body of Christ in this place and in this time, and he is excited to be connecting people across New England with resources, community, and prayer.