The Diocese of Birmingham is a diocese founded in 1905 in the Church of England's Province of Canterbury, covering the north-west of the traditional county of Warwickshire, the south-east of the traditional county of Staffordshire and the north-east of the traditional county of Worcestershire (now the central section of the West Midlands and small parts of south Staffordshire, north Warwickshire and north Worcestershire) in England.
Cathedral
The see is in the centre of the City of Birmingham, where the seat of the diocese is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Philip.
The 18th-century parish church of Saint Philip in Birmingham was elevated to cathedral status in 1905 when the see was founded, on 13 January 1905. Previously the area had been part of the Diocese of Worcester.
Bishops
Besides the diocesan Bishop of Birmingham (Michael Volland) and the Bishop suffragan of Aston (Esther Prior; which see was created in 1954), there are two retired bishops resident in (or near) the diocese who are licensed to serve as honorary assistant bishops:
- 2002–present: Maurice Sinclair is a retired Presiding Bishop of the Southern Cone living in Selly Park.
- 2005–present: Iraj Mottahedeh is a retired diocesan Bishop of Iran who lives in Church Aston, Shropshire, in the neighbouring Lichfield diocese.
From 2023, alternative episcopal oversight (for parishes in the diocese who reject the ministry of women priests) was provided by the provincial episcopal visitor, the Bishop suffragan of Oswestry (since 2023 Paul Thomas), who is licensed as an honorary assistant bishop of the diocese in order to facilitate his work there.
Archdeaconries and deaneries
The former deaneries of Yardley and Bordesley were merged in 2000. Central Birmingham was known as Birmingham City until 1996 and then Birmingham City Centre until 2004.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Diocese
!Archdeaconries
!Rural Deaneries
!Churches
!Population
!People/church
|-
| rowspan="13" |Diocese of Birmingham
| rowspan="6" |Archdeaconry of Aston
|Deanery of Aston
|10
|94,960
|9,496
|-
|Deanery of Coleshill
|18
|137,541
|7,641
|-
|Deanery of Polesworth
|18
|39,549
|2,197
|-
|Deanery of Solihull
|13
|77,632
|5,972
|-
|Deanery of Sutton Coldfield
|14
|102,817
|7,344
|-
|Deanery of Yardley & Bordesley
|16
|206,603
|12,913
|-
| rowspan="7" |Archdeaconry of Birmingham
|Deanery of Central Birmingham
|9*
|51,631*
|5,737
|-
|Deanery of Edgbaston
|13
|129,568
|9,967
|-
|Deanery of Handsworth
|14
|164,792
|11,771
|-
|Deanery of King's Norton
|17
|125,538
|7,385
|-
|Deanery of Moseley
|16
|134,813
|8,426
|-
|Deanery of Shirley
|15
|112,341
|7,489
|-
|Deanery of Warley
|11
|121,861
|11,078
|-
| colspan="3" |Total/average
|184
|1,499,646
|8,150
|}
<nowiki>*</nowiki>including Cathedral
Churches
APC = ancient parish church.
Not in a deanery
{| class="wikitable"
!Benefice
!Churches
!Founded (building)
!Population served
|-
|Cathedra
|Cathedral of St Philip, Birmingham
|1715
|5,310
|}
Deanery of Aston
{| class="wikitable"
!Benefice
!Churches
!Founded (building)
!Population served
Companion dioceses
The dioceses of Lake Malawi, Northern Malawi, Southern Malawi and Upper Shire in the Church of the Province of Central Africa<br/>
See also
- Religion in Birmingham