The Right Reverend Roger Morris
“It’s a real joy to serve the parishes, worshipping communities and people in the Colchester Episcopal Area which is a wonderfully varied part of Essex. As we Travel Well Together as a Diocese, I am grateful to work alongside marvellous colleagues in the Colchester Area Team who support our churches in their mission and sharing God’s love with their local communities.”
245
Church Buildings
86
Clergy in
parish
203
Parishes
65
LLM & Readers
45
Church of England Schools
700K
Population
Geographically, the Colchester Episcopal Area covers over half of Chelmsford Diocese, and is home to just over 20% of its people. The Area consists of nine deaneries covering the northern part of the diocese. From coastal communities and port towns like Clacton, Frinton and Harwich in the east and largely rural communities to the west, with the historic market town of Saffron Walden and the major settlements of Halstead and Great Dunmow. It also includes major towns such as Braintree and Harlow.
The Area is served by The Bishop of Colchester, The Right Reverend Roger Morris and two Archdeacons – The Archdeacon of Colchester, The Venerable Ruth Patten and the Archdeacon of Stansted, the Venerable Kate Peacock.
Our Bishops and Archdeacons work with an Area Team made up of Area Deans, Advisors and Voluntary Officers, details of whom can be found below.
Major locations include London Stansted Airport, Harwich seaport, the University of Essex and Colchester itself which became a city in 2022.
1 Fitzwalter Road, Lexden,
Colchester C03 3SS
Jump to
07583 000662
07583 000662
07810 851002
07305 595871
07726 719288
7 April 2025
The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev’d Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, has announced that the next Area Dean of Harwich will be the Rev’d John Saxon.
26 March 2025
On 24 March 2025, commemorative services took place on WW2 airfields across the Diocese to remember the 80th anniversary of Operation Varsity.
17 February 2025
The Bishop of Chelmsford, the Rt Rev’d Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani has announced that the next Area Dean of St Osyth will be the Rev’d Canon Phil Ritchie.
3 February 2025
Children from local schools joined parishioners and community and faith leaders for a Holocaust Memorial Day Service at St Mary's Saffron Walden on 27 January.
17 December 2024
All Saints Church in Rayne, Essex hosted Picnic in the Park at their local park and offered free picnic lunches to children in their local community.
10 December 2024
Christ Church, Colchester has become the third church in Chelmsford Diocese to achieve Gold Eco Church status.
