Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts The Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America in the five western counties of Massachusetts. Formed from a division of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, it was officially recognized at the organizing convention of November 10, 1901. At a special meeting on January 22, 1902, Alexander Hamilton Vinton, Rector of All Saints Church in Worcester, Massachusetts. was elected first diocesan bishop. The first two Anglican parishes in what would become the diocese were started in Great Barrington in 1762 and Lanesborough in 1767 on
Reformed Episcopal Seminary in their desired ministerial and scholastic goals and to be grounded in Anglican polity and worship. The seminary trains clergy candidates for the Reformed Episcopal Church, the Anglican Church in North America, and churches of many other traditions. Clergy are educated in a belief in the primacy and final authority of the Bible and educated about the sacraments, creeds, councils, and the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion. The seminary was granted initial accreditation by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, effective August 8, 2013. The Theological Commission of the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church