An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church

Northern California, Diocese of

The 1874 General Convention voted to divide the Diocese of California. The new missionary district included of the following counties: Amador, Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and Yuba. The primary convocation of the Missionary District of Northern California met at Grace Church, Sacramento, May 6-7, 1875. On Oct. 12, 1898, the House of Bishops voted that the bounds of this missionary district be changed to include the California counties plus that portion of Nevada west of the west lines of the counties of Elko, White, Pine, Eureka, Lincoln, Lander, and Nye, and that it be called the Missionary District of Sacramento. The primary convocation of the Missionary District of Sacramento met at St. Paul's Church, Sacramento, Oct. 17-18, 1899. On Oct. 10, 1907, the House of Bishops formed the Missionary District of Nevada. The Nevada counties were detached from the Missionary District of Sacramento, which then consisted of the original California counties. The first annual convention of the Diocese of Sacramento met at St. Paul's Church, Sacramento, Oct. 30-31, 1911. On Apr. 22, 1961, the name was changed to the Diocese of Northern California. Trinity Church, Sacramento, became Trinity Cathedral on May 21, 1913.

Glossary definitions provided courtesy of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY,(All Rights reserved) from “An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians,” Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors.