HISTORY

The Episcopal Diocese of California ministers to and celebrates the Gospel with a  wide  fellowship  throughout the  San Francisco Bay Area by and through  75 separate congregations that are organized into six geographic deaneries.  A deanery is a collection of parishes.. Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, and Southern Alameda are separate deaneries  that minister to their named counties. The Peninsula Deanery includes San Mateo County and part  of Santa Clara County.

Our congregations celebrate the  Gospel through many cultures and thus through  many languages.  Spanish language services are offered by St. James, (Oakland), and La Santísima Trinidad, (Richmond) , El Buen Pastor (Redwood City) and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (San Francisco) .  Chinese language services and ministries are offered by Our Saviour, (Oakland), True Sunshine and Incarnation in San Francisco ;  Japanese services and ministries are offered by  Christ Church-Sei Ko Kai,( San Francisco).  Filipino ministries are provided by  Holy Child and St. Martin’s,( Daly City), ; and St. Peter's, (Redwood City), serves the Fijian community.

Our congregations offer a wide and diverse basis for worship.  The Church of the Advent, San Francisco, offers mass in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.  St. Gregory of Nyssa, San Francisco allows congregants to dance in celebration. St. Clément’s, Berkeley, worships with the 1928 Prayer Book, and St. Augustine’s, Oakland, rejoices in the traditions of African-American music..

Our diocese  also includes an extensive program of Campus ministries that serve University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University, and San Francisco State University . Canterbury House at UC Berkeley is a residential program focused on social issues . Stanford’s Canterbury group is a combined Episcopal and Lutheran chaplaincy offers a wide ecumenical approach to  worship. Students at San Francisco State gather at EcHouse, an international ecumenical community.

The Diocese of the San Francisco Bay Area prides itself upon a creative , diverse and inclusive approach to the celebration of the Gospel and the ministries that make manifest its timeless truth.