Saturday, September 12, 2009

Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming moves to Casper


From Casper Journal-

The Episcopal Diocese of Wyoming’s new home should be ready just in time to welcome the 400-500 Wyoming church members who will meet in Casper for their annual convention in mid-October. The major renovation of one of downtown Casper’s vintage buildings is turning the 1959-60 era, concrete construction building into a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) “green” showcase.

The first formal location of the Episcopal diocese that now numbers approximately 8,000 members was in Fort Laramie in 1849, when the fort’s soldiers and its families were assigned an Episcopal chaplain. Episcopalians built the state’s first church edifice, St. Mark’s in Cheyenne and in 1886, Wyoming as part of the Missionary District of Idaho and Wyoming had its first bishop.

According to a church legend related by executive director of the Episcopal Foundation John Masters, the diocese was headquartered in Laramie because the bishop at the time agreed to settle in the community that would build a cathedral. The denomination now has 47 churches throughout the state, including St. Stephens on the Wind River Reservation, and provides financial support for the Cathedral Home in Cheyenne and Casper’s Youth Crisis Center.

The 40,000 miles of annual travel retiring Bishop Bruce Caldwell put in to serve his far-flung flock prompted a search for a more central location for the diocese, Masters said. The Episcopal Foundation found the former Beech Street Law Office building on South Durbin Street with the help of CAEDA, and reconstruction began in March 2009.


More here-

http://www.casperjournal.com/articles/2009/09/11/news/news090909.43.txt

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