In 1835, at its Triennial General Convention, the Protestant Episcopal Church elected The Reverend Jackson Kemper the first Bishop of the church for the "northwest" which included present day Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. The Diocese of Missouri was established five years later and included the entire state for the next fifty years.
In 1890, the area west of a north/south line roughly down the middle of the state was separated as the Diocese of West Missouri. The new parish hall at Grace Church was completed just in time to host the founding convention of the diocese at which The Right Reverend Edward R. Atwell was elected the first Bishop. The seventh Bishop, The Right Reverend Barry R. Howe, was consecrated as Bishop Coadjutor in 1998, and has been Diocesan since January, 2000.
In 1935, Grace and Holy Trinity Church in Kansas City was designated as the Cathedral Church of the Diocese. Since 1980, the diocese has been headquartered in the Diocesan Center, located on the southwest corner of the Cathedral Campus.
Ministries in the diocese include:
· Fifty-two parish and mission congregations throughout four deaneries.
· St. Luke's Hospital, the flagship health care facility of St. Luke's Health System, the largest not-for-profit health care system and one of the largest employers in the metropolitan Kansas City area.
· Bishop Spencer Place, an independent living, assisted living and nursing care center, located in mid-town Kansas City.
· St. Paul's Episcopal Parish Day School, a pre-kindergarten through
eighth grade school which is operated by St. Paul's Church, Kansas City.
· Episcopal Social Services, a Jubilee ministry of service to the metropolitan area provided through the Diocese of West Missouri and the Diocese of Kansas.
· Cliff Springs Camp, a residential summer camp located in the Southern Deanery.
· Two regional ministries, both in the Northern Deanery: Sacred Hills Regional Ministry which partners three congregations and Northeast Regional Ministry which partners five congregations.