Anglican Diocese Of Mthatha Official

Anglican Diocese Of Mthatha Official Bishop Henry Callaway was consecrated in Edinburgh in 1873 as the first bishop of the diocese. The oldest being St Mark's. It could seat a congregation of 250.

History

When the Diocese of Grahamstown in the south under Bishop John Armstrong, and Diocese of Natal in the north-east under Bishop John William Colenso were founded, they each included part of an area which in 1872 became the diocese of St John's. In Bishop Callaway's new diocese, apart from the mission station he started at Clydesdale, there were five or six other centres of missionary work.

The first part of Callaway's work was spent trying to find the best way to organise the diocese. The chief problem was to link Clydesdale with the St Mark's group in the south. He first attempted to establish the See at Clydesdale, which was too far north, and then at St Andrew's, not far from Lusikisiki, which turned out to be inaccessible except by sea. He finally settled on a place on the Mthatha River. A town sprang up around the bishop's mission station and Pro-cathedral. The first Pro-Cathedral of the diocese was built of wood and iron and was also the first church in Mthatha. It was dedicated at the Diocese of St John's second synod on 24 June 1876. By the turn of the twentieth century a stone-built cathedral had been erected on the top of a hill leading to the administrative and commercial centre of Mthatha. George Fellowes Prynne was the architect and originally designed an impressive looking cathedral. His plan shows a cruciform church, with a nave 147 feet in length, by 36 feet in width, divided into 7 bays. The chancel is 67 feet long by 30 feet wide. The north and south transepts from chapels accommodating 189 and 146 people respectively. East of the chapels are the vestries and organ chamber, the latter being over the clergy vestry, and speaking into the south chapel and chancel. Only the nave was completed, which is the present cathedral of St John the Evangelist. In 2010 the southern part of the diocese, around Ngcobo and Butterworth, was separated and constituted as the new Diocese of Mbhashe. List of bishops
Bishops of St John's
From Until Incumbent Notes
1873 1886 Henry Callaway (1817-1890)
1887 1901 Bransby Lewis Key (1838-1901)
1901 1922 Joseph Watkin Williams (1857-1934)
1923 1943 Edward Harold Etheridge (1872-1954)
1943 1951 Theodore Sumner Gibson (1885-1953)
1951 1956 Henry St John Tomlinson Evans (1905-1956)
1956 1980 James Leo Schuster (1912-2006)
1980 1984 Godfrey William Ernest Candler Ashby (b 1930)
1985 2000 Jacob Zambuhle Bhekuyise Dlamini




Bishops of Mthatha
2000 2017 Sitembele Tobela Mzamane
2017 2021 Nkosinathi Ndwandwe translated from Natal
2021
Thembinkosi Jemuel Ngombane




taken from
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Anglican_Diocese_of_Mthatha

03/09/2026
03/09/2026

Join us in celebrating one of our own! 🙏🏽✨

We are delighted to celebrate our young and gifted member, Siso Mditshane, as she prepares to bless us with her brand-new single, “Ndiza Kuwe Nkos (448).” 🎶

May this beautiful offering of praise and worship touch hearts, inspire souls, and bring glory to God. Let us continue to support and celebrate the gifts and talents within our diocesan family.

Congratulations, Siso! We are proud of you and look forward to receiving this blessing. ❤️🙏🏽

02/09/2026

TUTU LECTURES 2026

Join us on Monday 28 September for the second COTT Tutu Lecture of 2026. Our speaker will be our alumnus, the Rev'd Dr Brent Frieslaar, who will be addressing the topic The Image That Cannot Be Sold: Ubuntu, the Imago Dei, and the Church’s Response to Human Trafficking. Rev'd Dr Frieslaar will argue that human trafficking is not only a social, legal, or policy crisis, but a theological crisis because it treats God’s children as though they were not fully human. Drawing on doctoral research into the testimony of five South African survivors of s*x trafficking, gathered in the field by a co-researcher, it will be argued that exploitation cannot damage or erase the image of God in a survivor. Her dignity is not damaged property waiting for repair, but a divine truth that trafficking was never able to reach. This claim will be brought into conversation with Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s theology of ubuntu, African feminist theology, and Appreciative Inquiry as a resurrection-shaped pastoral practice. It will be contended that incarnation and resurrection are not doctrines the Church merely recites, but truths it must practise through preaching, safety, accompaniment, advocacy, and sustained communal presence. What then, are we called to do as the Church?





Bernard Mizeki Men's Guild - Diocese of Mthatha presents Gospel Festival
02/09/2026

Bernard Mizeki Men's Guild - Diocese of Mthatha
presents Gospel Festival

31/08/2026

THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF MTHATHA
*Office of the Dean*

31 August 2026

*LETTER OF APPRECIATION: VISIT OF THE COLLEGE OF THE TRANSFIGURATION - 26 TO 31 AUGUST 2026*

To: All Archdeaconries, The Diocesan Task Team, The Diocesan General Manager, Diocesan secretary and Diocese Securities, The Vicar General, and Canon Gcobisa Yekani
Cc: The former Bishop of Mthatha, The Rector - College of the Transfiguration

Dear People of God,

Grace and peace be with you.

On behalf of the Diocesan task team of Diocese, I wish to express our deepest and most sincere gratitude to each one of you who made the visit of the College of the Transfiguration students to our Diocese from 26th to 31st August 2026 a resounding success.

My heartfelt thanks go to:

*Our Archdeaconries:* Thank you for opening your hearts, your churches, and your kitchens. For hosting and for the excellent catering you provided to the students. Your hospitality was true Christian hospitality - warm, generous, and befitting of our Diocese.

*The Diocesan Task Team:* Thank you for your tireless planning, coordination, and ex*****on. What we witnessed this week was the fruit of your hard work behind the scenes. You made the impossible possible.

*The Diocesan General Manager and Diocesan Secretary 😗 Thank you for ensuring that the Rector and his students were provided with the best breakfast throughout their stay and that their accommodation was safe, comfortable, and dignified. Your service did not go unnoticed.

*Canon Gcobisa Yekani:* Our sincere appreciation to you, who has been our vital link between the Diocese and the College. You did an outstanding job. Your communication, dedication, and pastoral care ensured everything ran seamlessly.

* *Our Vicar General* : Thank you, Mfundis' omkhulu, for availing yourself whenever the need arose. Your presence and leadership gave strength and guidance to the entire programme.

Finally, to all of us as the Diocese of Mthatha - clergy and laity alike - we have truly painted the best image of our Diocese before the entire Anglican Church of Southern Africa and the College community.

If I may quote the words of Dr Percy in his reply yesterday evening:

_"Diocese of Mthatha, I know that you don't have a student at the College, but what you did to us during this visit is way much more than the fees of one student."_

Those words sum up the spirit of ubuntu and generosity that defines us. May God, who sees what is done in love, richly bless you all.

Yours in Christ's service,

*The Very Revd Mzubanzi Mdunyelwa*
Dean of Mthatha
On behalf of the Diocesan task team

With College of Transfiguration NPC – I just got recognised as one of their top fans! 🎉
31/08/2026

With College of Transfiguration NPC – I just got recognised as one of their top fans! 🎉

Please join us on Youtube anglican diocese of mthatha official 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
31/08/2026

Please join us on Youtube anglican diocese of mthatha official 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

Address

01 Calaway Street Mthatha
Umtata
5099

Opening Hours

Monday 07:00 - 16:15
Tuesday 07:00 - 16:15
Wednesday 07:00 - 16:15
Thursday 07:15 - 16:15
Friday 07:15 - 16:15

Telephone

+27475314796

Website

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