Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf


The Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf is one of three dioceses in the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, a province of the Anglican Communion. The diocese covers Cyprus and the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and Yemen. The bishop in Cyprus and the Gulf is the ordinary of the diocese. In every part of the diocese, except in Cyprus and Iraq, the congregations are largely expatriate, with many Christians from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the African continent. The diocese is linked to the Diocese of Exeter in England and the Diocese of Thika in Kenya. It is divided into the Archdeaconry of Cyprus and the Archdeaconry of the Gulf: Christopher Futcher was collated as the archdeacon in Cyprus on 7 September 2019. The Rev'd Canon Michael Mbona, a Zimbabwean serving at St. Paul's in Kuwait, was appointed Archdeacon for the Gulf following the retirement of the long-serving Archdeacon Bill Schwartz, OBE.
WWW cypgulf.org

List of bishops in Cyprus and the Persian Gulf

TenureNameNotes
1976 to 1981Leonard AshtonInaugural bishop; died 2001
1981 to 1986Henry Wylie MooreGeneral secretary, Church Missionary Society, 1986–89, retired as bishop in 1991; died 2025
1986 to 1996John BrownBriefly rural dean of Grimsby ; died 2011
1997 to 2007Clive HandfordNow an assistant bishop, Diocese of Ripon and Leeds
2007 to 2023Michael LewisFormerly bishop of Middleton
2024 to presentSean Semple

Churches

Gulf Churches
United Arab Emirates
Kuwait
Qatar
Bahrain
  • St Christopher's and Awali Church, Bahrain
Yemen
Cyprus