About us
Who we are
Our Diocese is not only the people, churches and schools that make it up, but an organisation that supports those communities and governs the Diocese.
The Diocese of Winchester, founded in 676AD, is a mix of rural and urban, new and old, innovative and traditional. We serve a population of 1.27 million, of whom over 20,000 regularly attend worship in one of the 375 church buildings across our 255 parishes, led by our 202 ordained clergy, 87 Licensed Lay Ministers and a growing number of lay people commissioned for ministry.
They are supported by the Diocesan Office handling things like training for ministry, finance, safeguarding and property issues. Holding all this together is a structure of senior clergy including our two Archdeacons and three Bishops.