| The Episcopal Church | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Anglican[a] |
| Scripture | Holy Bible |
| Theology | Anglican doctrine[b] |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Governance | Unitary[c] |
| Presiding bishop | Sean W. Rowe |
| President of the House of Deputies | Julia Ayala Harris |
| Chief of Mission | Lester V. Mackenzie |
| Communion | Anglican Communion |
| Provinces | 9 |
| Dioceses | 106 |
| Parishes | 6,707 (2024)[2] |
| Associations | National Council of Churches World Council of Churches Christian Churches Together in the USA |
| Full communion |
|
| Region | United States[d] |
| Language | English[e] |
| Liturgy | 1979Book of Common Prayer |
| Headquarters | 815Second Avenue New York City, New York U.S. |
| Territory | USA, Taiwan, Cuba, Honduras, Ecuador, Venezuela, Europe(partially) |
| Origin | 1785; 240 years ago (1785) |
| Branched from | Church of England |
| Absorbed | Church of Hawaii |
| Separations | Continuing Anglican movement |
| Members | 1,547,779 active baptized members (2023) 1,394,769 active baptized members in the U.S. (2023)[4] |
| Aid organization | Episcopal Relief and Development |
| Official website | www |
| The Archives of the Episcopal Church | www.episcopalarchives.org |
| Slogan | "The Episcopal Church, Welcomes You" |
| Constitution and Canons | |
The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as theProtestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA),[5] is a member of the worldwideAnglican Communion, based in theUnited States. It is amainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nineprovinces. The currentpresiding bishop of the Episcopal Church isSean W. Rowe.[6]
In 2024,The Church of England Yearbook reported 2.4 million total members.[7] In 2023, the Episcopal Church had 1,547,779 active baptized members.[8] In 2011,[update] it was the 14th largest denomination in the United States.[9] In 2020, according to theAssociation of Religion Data Archives, The Episcopal Church was the 12th-largest denomination as measured by number of congregations.[10] In 2025,Pew Research estimated that 1 percent of the adult population in the United States, or 2.6 million people, self-identify as mainline Episcopalians.[11] The church has seen a sharp decline in membership and Sunday attendance since the 1960s, particularly in theNortheast andUpper Midwest.[12]
The church was organized after theAmerican Revolution, when it separated from theChurch of England, whose clergy are required to swear allegiance to theBritish monarch asSupreme Governor of the Church of England. The Episcopal Church describes itself as "Protestant, yetCatholic",[13] and asserts it hasapostolic succession, tracing the authority of its bishops back to theapostles viaholy orders. TheBook of Common Prayer, a collection ofrites, blessings,liturgies, and prayers used throughout the Anglican Communion, is central to Episcopal worship. Abroad spectrum of theological views is represented within the Episcopal Church, includingevangelical,Anglo-Catholic, andbroad church views.
Historically, members of the Episcopal Church have played leadership roles in many aspects of American life, including politics, business, science, the arts, and education.[14][15][16][17] About three-quarters of the signers of theDeclaration of Independence were affiliated with the Episcopal Church, and over a quarter of allpresidents of the United States have been Episcopalians.[18] Historically, Episcopalians were overrepresented among American scientific elite andNobel Prize winners.[19][20] Numbers of the mostwealthy and affluent American families, such asBoston Brahmin,Old Philadelphians,[21]Tidewater, andLowcountrygentry orold money, are Episcopalians.[15][22] In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Episcopalians were active in theSocial Gospel movement.[23]
Since the 1960s and 1970s, the church has pursued a moreliberal Christian course; there remains a wide spectrum of liberals and conservatives within the church. In 2015, the church's 78th triennialGeneral Convention passed resolutions allowing the blessing ofsame-sex marriages and approved two official liturgies to bless such unions.[24] It has opposed thedeath penalty and supported thecivil rights movement. The church calls for the full legal equality ofLGBT people.[25] In view of this trend, the conventions of four dioceses of the Episcopal Church voted in 2007 and 2008 to leave that church and to join theAnglican Church of the Southern Cone of America. Twelve other jurisdictions, serving an estimated 100,000 persons at that time, formed theAnglican Church in North America (ACNA) in 2008. The ACNA and the Episcopal Church are not in full communion with one another.
The "Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America" (PECUSA) and "The Episcopal Church" (TEC) are both official names specified in the church's constitution.[26] The latter is much more commonly used.[27][28][29] In other languages, an equivalent is used. For example, in Spanish, the church is calledIglesia Episcopal Protestante de los Estados Unidos de América orIglesia Episcopal,[30] and in FrenchÉglise protestante épiscopale des États-Unis d'Amérique orÉglise épiscopale.[31]
Until 1964, "The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America" was the only official name in use. In the 19th century,high church members advocated changing the name, which they felt did not acknowledge the church'scatholic heritage. They were opposed by the church's evangelical wing, which felt that the "Protestant Episcopal" label accurately reflected the Reformed character of Anglicanism. After 1877, alternative names were regularly proposed and rejected by the General Convention. One proposed alternative was "the American Catholic Church". Respondents to a 1961 poll inThe Living Church favored "The American Episcopal Church".[32] By the 1960s, opposition to dropping the word "Protestant" had largely subsided. In a 1964 General Convention compromise, priests andlay delegates suggested adding a preamble to the church's constitution, recognizing "The Episcopal Church" as a lawful alternate designation while still retaining the earlier name.[33]
The 66th General Convention voted in 1979 to use the name "The Episcopal Church" in the Oath of Conformity of the Declaration for Ordination.[34] The evolution of the name can be seen in the church's Book of Common Prayer. In the 1928 BCP, the title page read, "According to the use of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America", whereas on the title page of the 1979 BCP it states, "According to the use of The Episcopal Church".[35]
"The Episcopal Church in the United States of America" (ECUSA) has never been an official name of the church but is an alternative commonly seen in English. Since several other churches in the Anglican Communion also use the name "Episcopal", includingScotland and thePhilippines, some, for example the Anglicans Online directory, add the phrase "in the United States of America".[36]
The full legal name of the national church corporate body is the "Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America",[26] which was incorporated by the legislature of New York and established in 1821. The membership of the corporation "shall be considered as comprehending all persons who are members of the Church".[26][37] This should not be confused with the name of the church itself, as it is a distinct body relating to church governance.[26]
According to TEC's style guide, "Episcopal" is the adjective that should be used to describe something affiliated with the church, whereas "Episcopalian" is to be used "only as a noun referring to a member of The Episcopal Church."[38]
The Episcopal Church has its origins in theChurch of England in theAmerican colonies, and it stresses continuity with the early universalWestern Church and claims to maintainapostolic succession (while the Scandinavian Lutheran andMoravian churches accept this claim, the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches do not recognize this claim).[39][40][41]
The firstparish was founded inJamestown, Virginia, in 1607, under the charter of theVirginia Company of London. The tower ofJamestown Church (c. 1639–1643) is one of the oldest surviving Anglican church structures in the United States. The Jamestown church building itself is a modern reconstruction.[42]
Although no American Anglican bishops existed in the colonial era, the Church of England had an official status in several colonies, which meant that local governments paid tax money to local parishes, and the parishes handled some civic functions. The Church of England was designated theestablished church inVirginia in 1609, inNew York in 1693, inMaryland in 1702, inSouth Carolina in 1706, inNorth Carolina in 1730, and inGeorgia in 1758.[43]
From 1635 thevestries and the clergy came loosely under the diocesan authority of theBishop of London. After 1702, theSociety for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) began missionary activity throughout the colonies. On the eve ofRevolution about 400 independent congregations were reported[by whom?] throughout the colonies.
Under the leadership ofLutheran bishopJesper Swedberg, parishes in colonial America that belonged to the Evangelical LutheranChurch of Sweden establishedecumenical dialogue that resulted inaltar and pulpit fellowship with the Episcopal Church in the 1700s, which led to a merger of all of the Swedish Lutheran churches there into the Episcopal Church by 1846.[44]
More than any other denomination, theAmerican Revolutionary War internally divided both clergy and laity of the Church of England in America, and opinions covered a wide spectrum of political views:patriots, conciliators, andloyalists.[45] While many Patriots were suspicious of Loyalism in the church, about three-quarters of the signers of theDeclaration of Independence were nominally Anglican laymen, includingThomas Jefferson,William Paca, andGeorge Wythe.[46] It was often assumed that persons considered "High Church" were Loyalists, whereas persons considered "Low Church" were Patriots: assumptions with possibly dangerous implications for the time.
Of the approximately three hundred clergy in the Church of England in America between 1776 and 1783, over 80 percent in New England, New York, and New Jersey were loyalists. This is in contrast to the less than 23 percent loyalist clergy in the four southern colonies.[46] Many Church of England clergy remained loyalists as they took their two ordination oaths very seriously. Anglican clergy were obliged to swear allegiance to the king as well as to pray for the king, the royal family, and theBritish Parliament.[46] In general, loyalist clergy stayed by their oaths and prayed for the king or else suspended services.[46] By the end of 1776, some Anglican churches were closing.[46] Anglican priests held services in private homes or lay readers who were not bound by the oaths held morning and evening prayer.[46] During 1775 and 1776, the Continental Congress issued decrees ordering churches to fast and pray on behalf of the Patriots.[46] Starting July 4, 1776, Congress and several states passed laws making prayers for the king and British Parliament acts of treason.[46] The patriot clergy in the South were quick to find reasons to transfer their oaths to the American cause and prayed for the success of the Revolution.[46] One precedent was the transfer of oaths during theGlorious Revolution in England.[46] Most of the patriot clergy in the South were able to keep their churches open and services continued.[46]
In the wake of the Revolution, American Episcopalians faced the task of preserving a hierarchical church structure in a society infused withrepublican values.
When the clergy ofConnecticut electedSamuel Seabury as their bishop in 1783, he soughtconsecration in England. TheOath of Supremacy prevented Seabury's consecration in England, so he went to Scotland; thenon-juring bishops of theScottish Episcopal Church consecrated him inAberdeen on November 14, 1784, making him, in the words of scholar Arthur Carl Piepkorn, "the first Anglican bishop appointed to minister outside the British Isles".[47][48] On August 3, 1785, the first ordinations on American soil took place at Christ Church inMiddletown, Connecticut.
That same year, 1785, deputations of clergy and laity met in the first General Convention. They drafted a constitution, proposed a first draft of an American Book of Common Prayer, and began negotiating with English Bishops for the consecration of three bishops. The convention met again in 1786 to make several changes that made their liturgy acceptable to the English bishops and to recommend three clergy (who had been elected by state meetings in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York) for consecration as bishops. General Convention met again in 1789, beginning a regular process of meeting every three years. At the 1789 convention they adopted a constitution and canons, and reorganized as a House of Deputies and a House of Bishops. The structure of the Episcopal Church was then complete.
Later, through the efforts of BishopPhilander Chase (1775–1852) of Ohio, Americans successfully sought material assistance from England for the purpose of training Episcopal clergy. The development of the Protestant Episcopal Church provides an example of how Americans in the early republic maintained important cultural ties with England.[49]
In 1787, two priests –William White ofPennsylvania andSamuel Provoost ofNew York – were consecrated as bishops by thearchbishop of Canterbury, theAachbishop of York, and thebishop of Bath and Wells, the legal obstacles having been removed by the passage through Parliament of the Consecration of Bishops Abroad Act 1786. Thus there are two branches ofapostolic succession for the American bishops: through the non-juring bishops of Scotland who consecrated Samuel Seabury and through the English bishops who consecrated William White, Samuel Provoost, andJames Madison (not the future President). All bishops in the American church are ordained by at least three bishops. The succession of each bishop can be historically traced back to Seabury, White, Provoost, and Madison. (SeeSuccession of Bishops of the Episcopal Church.)
From July 28 to August 8, 1789, representative clergy fromnine dioceses met in Philadelphia to ratify the church's initial constitution; they also formally adopted the name Protestant Episcopal Church.[50] The fourth bishop of the Episcopal Church was James Madison, the first bishop of Virginia. Madison was consecrated in 1790 by the Archbishop of Canterbury and two other Church of England bishops. This third American bishop consecrated within the English line of succession occurred because of continuing unease within the Church of England over Seabury'snon-juring Scottish orders.[46] The Episcopal Church thus became the first Anglican province outside theBritish Isles.[51]
On 17 September 1792, at the triennial General Convention (synod) of the Episcopal Church atTrinity Church onWall Street, inNew York City,Thomas John Claggett who had been elected by the clergy and laity of Maryland, was consecrated by all four of the existing bishops. He was the first bishop of the Episcopal Church ordained and consecrated in America and thefifth bishop consecrated for the Episcopal Church in the United States.[52]
In 1856, the first society for African Americans in the Episcopal Church was founded byJames Theodore Holly. NamedThe Protestant Episcopal Society for Promoting The Extension of The Church Among Colored People, the society argued that blacks should be allowed to participate in seminaries and diocesan conventions. The group lost its focus when Holly emigrated to Haiti, but other groups followed after the Civil War. The currentUnion of Black Episcopalians traces its history to the society.[53] Holly went on to found theAnglican Church in Haiti, where he became the first African-American bishop on November 8, 1874. As Bishop of Haiti, Holly was the first African American to attend theLambeth Conference.[54] However, he was consecrated by the American Church Missionary Society, an Evangelical Episcopal branch of the Church.
Episcopal missions chartered by African Americans in this era were chartered as aColored Episcopal Mission. All other missions (white) were chartered as an Organized Episcopal Mission. Many historically Black parishes are still in existence to date.[55]
When theAmerican Civil War began in 1861, Episcopalians in the South formed theProtestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America. However, in the North, the separation was never officially recognized. In particular, the Episcopalian communities in Pennsylvania supported free black communities and the Underground Railroad.[56][57] By May 16, 1866, the southern dioceses had rejoined the national church.[58]
By the middle of the 19th century,evangelical Episcopalians disturbed byHigh ChurchTractarianism, while continuing to work in interdenominational agencies, formed their own voluntary societies, and eventually, in 1874, a faction objecting to the revival of ritual practices established theReformed Episcopal Church.[59]
Samuel David Ferguson was the first black bishop consecrated by the Episcopal Church, the first to practice in the U.S. and the first black person to sit in theHouse of Bishops. Bishop Ferguson was consecrated on June 24, 1885, with the then-Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church acting as a consecrator.
In the following year,Henry C. Potter, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, addressed his clergymen upon the question of Labor.Church Association for the Advancement of the Interests of Labor was formed in 1887.[60]
During theGilded Age, highly prominent laity such as bankersJ. P. Morgan, industrialistHenry Ford, and art collectorIsabella Stewart Gardner played a central role in shaping a distinctive upper class Episcopalian ethos, especially with regard to preserving the arts and history. These philanthropists propelled the Episcopal Church into a quasi-national position of importance while at the same time giving the church a central role in the cultural transformation of the country.[61] Another mark of influence is the fact that more than a quarter of allpresidents of the United States have been Episcopalians (seereligious affiliations of presidents of the United States). It was during this period that theBook of Common Prayer was revised, first in 1892 and later in 1928.
In 1955, the church's general convention was moved from Houston to Honolulu, due to continuing racial segregation in the former city.[62] At the 1958 general convention, a coalition ofliberal church members succeeded in passing a resolution recognizing "the natural dignity and value of every man, of whatever color or race, as created in the image of God". It called on Episcopalians "to work together, in charity and forbearance, towards the establishment ... of full opportunities in fields such as education, housing, employment and public accommodations". A 2,500-word pastoral letter was sent by the House of Bishops to be read at all 7,290 Episcopal churches, urging justice in racial matters, with reference to theSupreme Court decision on integration in public schools.[63] In response, the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity (ESCRU) was founded in December 1959 in order to eliminate racial, ethnic, and class barriers within the Episcopal Church. Opposition from southern church leaders prevented the Episcopal Church from taking a strong stand on civil rights prior to 1963. One prominent opponent of the movement wasCharles C.J. Carpenter, the bishop of Alabama.[64] By 1963, many church leaders felt more comfortable speaking out in support of racial equality. That year, Presiding BishopArthur Lichtenberger wrote a pastoral letter urging Christians to work "across lines of racial separation, in a common struggle for justice", and the House of Bishops endorsed civil rights legislation.[65] Tensions around the civil rights movement persisted, however. At the 1964 General Convention, when the House of Deputies rejected a resolution sanctioning civil disobedience under special circumstances,Thurgood Marshall, a deputy to the convention, led many African-American deputies in a "walk out" protest of the convention.[66]
In 1967, Lichtenberger's successor,John Hines, led the Episcopal Church to implement the General Convention Special Program (GCSP). The program was designed to redirect nine million dollars over a three-year period (a quarter of the church's operating budget at the time) to fund special grants for community organizations and grassroots efforts facilitating black empowerment in America's urban ghettos.[67] The effectiveness of the GCSP was limited due to the reluctance of conservative bishops in southern dioceses, who objected to the awarding of grants to groups perceived as radical. The GCSP drew opposition from the recently formed Foundation for Christian Theology, a conservative organization opposed to "involv[ing] the Church in the social, political, and economic activities of our times". The Special General Convention also witnessed protests of the Vietnam War. During this time period, African-American clergy organized theUnion of Black Episcopalians to achieve full inclusion of African Americans at all levels of the Episcopal Church.[68]
Women were first admitted as delegates to the church's general convention in 1970.[69]
In 1975, Vaughan Booker, who confessed to the murder of his wife and was sentenced to life in prison, was ordained to the diaconate inGraterford State Prison's chapel in Pennsylvania after having repented of his sins, becoming a symbol of redemption and atonement.[70][71]
In recent decades, the Episcopal Church, like othermainline churches, has experienced a decline in membership as well as internal controversy overwomen's ordination and theplace of homosexuals in the church. The 1976 General Convention also passed a resolution calling for an end toapartheid inSouth Africa and in 1985 called for "dioceses, institutions, and agencies" to createequal opportunity employment andaffirmative action policies to address any potential "racial inequities" in clergy placement. Because of these and other controversial issues including abortion, individual members and clergy can and do frequently disagree with the stated position of the church's leadership. In January 2016, the Anglican Primates Meeting at Canterbury decided that in response to the "distance" caused by what it called "unilateral action on matters of doctrine without catholic unity", "for a period of three years, The Episcopal Church [would neither] represent [the Communion] on ecumenical and interfaith bodies… [nor] take part in decision making on any issues pertaining to doctrine orpolity."[72]
In 1976, the General Convention adopted a new prayer book, which was a substantial revision and modernization of the previous 1928 edition. It incorporated many principles of theecumenical movement andliturgical movement, which had been discussed atVatican II as well.[73] This version was adopted as the official prayer book in 1979 after an initial three-year trial use. As such, the liturgies used by the Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian/ Reformed traditions and Methodist are "nearly identical".[74] Several conservative parishes, however, continued to use the 1928 version. In Advent of 2007, the use of the ecumenicalRevised Common Lectionary in the Episcopal Church became the standard.[75][73] In 2018, the General Convention authorized a Task Force for Liturgical and Prayer Book Revision to consider further revisions, particularly to use more inclusive language and to give more attention to thestewardship of God's creation.[76]
On July 29, 1974, a group of women known as thePhiladelphia Eleven were irregularly ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church by bishops Daniel Corrigan, Robert L. DeWitt, and Edward R. Welles, assisted byAntonio Ramos.[77] On September 7, 1975, four more women (the "Washington Four") were irregularly ordained by retired bishopGeorge W. Barrett.[78] In the wake of the controversy over the ordination of the Philadelphia Eleven, the General Convention permitted the ordination of women in 1976 and recognized the ordinations of the 15 forerunners. The first woman canonically ordained to the Episcopal priesthood wasJacqueline Means on January 1, 1977, followed shortly thereafter byTanya Vonnegut Beck. Both were ordained at All Saints Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. The first woman to become a bishop,Barbara Harris, was consecrated on February 11, 1989.[79]
At the same time, there was still tolerance for those dioceses which opposed women's ordination. In 1994, the General Convention affirmed that there was value in the theological position that women should not be ordained. In 1997, however, the General Convention then determined that "the canons regarding the ordination, licensing, and deployment of women are mandatory" and required noncompliant dioceses to issue status reports on their progress towards full compliance.[80]
In 2006, the General Convention electedKatharine Jefferts Schori asPresiding Bishop. She was the first woman to become aprimate in the Anglican Communion. Schori's election was controversial in the wider Anglican Communion because not all of the communion recognized the ordination of women.[81]
At the time of the formation of theAnglican Church in North America (ACNA), three U.S. dioceses did not ordain women as priests or bishops:San Joaquin,Quincy, andFort Worth. Following the departures of their conservative majorities, all three dioceses now ordain women. With the October 16, 2010, ordination of Margaret Lee, in the Peoria-based Diocese of Quincy, Illinois, women have been ordained as priests in all dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States.[82]
The Episcopal Church affirmed at the 1976General Convention thathomosexuals are "children of God" who deserve acceptance andpastoral care from the church andequal protection under the law.[83] The first openlygay person ordained as a priest wasEllen Barrett in 1977.[84] Despite such an affirmation ofgay rights, the General Convention affirmed in 1991 that "physical sexual expression" is only appropriate within themonogamous lifelong "union of husband and wife".[85]
The church elected its first openly gay bishop,Gene Robinson, in June 2003.[86] News of Robinson's election caused a crisis in both the American church and the widerAnglican Communion. In October 2003, Anglican primates (the heads of the Anglican Communion's 38 member churches) convened an emergency meeting. The meeting's final communiqué included the warning that if Robinson's consecration proceeded, it would "tear the fabric of the communion at its deepest level".[87] The news of his ordination caused such an outrage that during the ceremony Robinson wore abullet-proof vest beneath hisvestments, and he also received numerous death threats following his installation as bishop of theEpiscopal Diocese of New Hampshire.[88]
In 2009, the General Convention charged the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to develop theological and liturgical resources for same-sex blessings and report back to the General Convention in 2012. It also gave bishops an option to provide "generous pastoral support", especially where civil authorities have legalized same-gender marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships.[89]
On July 14, 2009, the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops voted that "any ordained ministry" is open to gay men andlesbians.The New York Times said the move was "likely to send shockwaves through the Anglican Communion". This vote ended a moratorium on ordaining gay bishops passed in 2006 and passed in spite of ArchbishopRowan Williams's personal call at the start of the convention that, "I hope and pray that there won't be decisions in the coming days that will push us further apart."[90]
On July 10, 2012, the Episcopal Church approved an official liturgy for the blessing of same-sex relationships. This liturgy was not a marriage rite, but the blessing included an exchange of vows and the couple's agreement to enter into a lifelong committed relationship.[91]
On June 29, 2015, at the 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, a resolution removing the definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman was passed by the House of Bishops with 129 in favor, 26 against, and 5 abstaining.[92] The then archbishop of Canterbury,Justin Welby, expressed "deep concern" over the ruling.[93] In 2016, Anglican leaders temporarily suspended the Episcopal Church from key positions in their global fellowship in response to the church changing its canons on marriage.[94][95][96]
Transgender people have also joined the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. The Rev.Cameron Partridge, who transitioned in 2001 and was ordained in 2005,[97] was the first openly transgender priest to preach at the Washington National Cathedral.[98] In 2022, the 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, affirmed its position in favor of access to gender affirming care, including all forms of medical transition for people of any age, as a part of the Baptismal call to "respect the dignity of every human being."[99]
Following the ordination of Bp. Gene Robinson in 2003, some members of a number of congregations left the Episcopal Church.[24] For example, in Cleveland, Ohio, four parishes "with about 1,300 active members, decided to leave the U.S. church and the local diocese because of 'divergent understandings of the authority of scripture and traditional Christian teaching.'"[100] Four dioceses also voted to leave the church; Pittsburgh, Quincy, Fort Worth, and San Joaquin. The stated reasons included those expressed by the Pittsburgh diocese, which complained that the church had been "hijacked" by liberal bishops.[101] A few years later, in 2012, theDiocese of South Carolina voted to withdraw.
The Episcopal Church did not acknowledge any of the purported diocesan withdrawals, stating that undercanon law an Episcopal diocese cannot withdraw itself from the larger Episcopal Church. In a "pastoral letter" to the South Carolina diocese, Presiding Bishop Schori wrote that "While some leaders have expressed a desire to leave the Episcopal Church, the Diocese has not left. It cannot, by its own action. The alteration, dissolution, or departure of a diocese of the Episcopal Church requires the consent of General Convention, which has not been consulted."[102] She further wrote that the South Carolina diocese "continues to be a constituent part of The Episcopal Church, even if a number of its leaders have departed. If it becomes fully evident that those former leaders have, indeed, fully severed their ties with the Episcopal Church, new leaders will be elected and installed by the action of a Diocesan Convention recognized by the wider Episcopal Church, in accordance with our Constitution and Canons."
Many departing members joined theContinuing Anglican movement or advocatedAnglican realignment, claiming alignment with overseas Anglican provinces including theAnglican Province of the Southern Cone of America and theChurch of Nigeria.[103] Some former members formed theAnglican Church in North America which, as of 2017, claimed over 1,000 congregations and 134,000 members.[104] Episcopal Church leaders, particularly former presiding bishopKatharine Jefferts Schori, responded by taking a firm stance against the separatists. Litigation between the church and departing dioceses and parishes cost all parties tens of millions of dollars; one estimate has the Episcopal Church spending over $42 million and separatists roughly $18 million, for a total of over $60 million in court costs.[105] Litigation has largely centered on church properties. Episcopal leadership asserts that, as a hierarchical church, they retain ownership of parish property when parishioners leave. Departing groups, in contrast, assert that they should be able to retain ownership of individual church facilities and diocesan property.[106][107]
In a letter to the House of Bishops during summer 2009, Presiding BishopKatharine Jefferts Schori instructed local dioceses not to sell parish property to departing groups. She stated: "We do not make settlements that encourage religious bodies who seek to replace The Episcopal Church".[108]
Before Schori took this stand, prior bishops had treated parish property disputes as internal diocesan matters that are "not subject to the review or oversight of the presiding bishop". One example was when then-Presiding BishopFrank Griswold told the Diocese of Western Louisiana on May 11, 2006, that the national church involved itself in parish property disputes only upon invitation of the local bishop and diocesan standing committees.[109] Schori's letter stated that her firm stance was the consensus of the Council of Advice and expressed hope that "those who have departed can gain clarity about their own identity".[108]
After the South Carolina diocese voted to withdraw, it sued the national Episcopal Church to retain control over its property. The departing diocese mostly won on appeal to the South Carolina Supreme Court. Multiple parishes affiliated with the departing group were allowed to keep their property. Other church and diocesan property in the lawsuit remained with the Episcopal Church and its affiliated local diocese.[110] The name "Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina" and related names and marks were initially claimed by the departing group. In 2019, a federal court ruled that they legally belonged to The Episcopal Church. The departing diocese was renamed The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina.
In 1986, the Episcopal Church adopted a "revised definition of membership," counting only active baptized members; previously, the church counted all baptized members.[111] As of 2023, the Episcopal Church had 1,547,779 active baptized members,[112] of whom 1,394,769 were in the United States.[4] Total average Sunday attendance (ASA) for 2018 was 962,529 (933,206 in the U.S. and 29,323 outside the U.S.), a decrease of 24.7% percent from 2008.[113] In 2024, reporting online attendance for the first time, in-person ASA was 413,034 with online ASA being 121,545; average weekly in-person attendance was 183,156 with online weekly attendance being 75,103.[114] In 2015, the church reported 2.2 million members and 1,917,182 active baptized members.[115][116] In 2016, a data-based quantitative study for theJournal of Anglican Studies, and published byCambridge University Press, reported that the Episcopal Church had 2,405,000 total baptized members, including inactive members, and 1,588,057 active members in the United States.[117][118]
According to a report by American Religious Identify Survey or ARIS/Barna in 2001, 3.5 million Americans self-identified as Episcopalians, highlighting "a gap between those who are affiliated with the church (on membership rolls), versus those who self-identify [as Episcopalians]".[119][120] Church Pension Group also cited having 3.5 million adherents in 2002.[121] In 2008,The New York Times reported that The Episcopal Church claimed 4 million total members.[122] Also in 2008, ARIS counted 2,405,000 self-identified Episcopalians.[120] More recently, in 2025, Pew Research found that approximately 1 percent of 260 million U.S. adults, around 2.6 million people, self-identified as mainline Episcopalian/Anglican.[11]
According to data collected in 2000, the District of Columbia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Virginia have the highest rates of adherents per capita, and states along theEast Coast generally have a higher number of adherents per capita than in other parts of the country.[123] New York was the state with the largest total number of adherents, over 200,000.[124] In 2013, theEpiscopal Diocese of Haiti was the largest single diocese, with 84,301 baptized members, which constitute slightly over half of the church's foreign membership.[113]
Roughly half of those identifying as Episcopalian are converts; the vast majority of converts (93%) were raised in another Christian denomination, with 37% coming fromMainline Protestantism, 29% fromRoman Catholicism, 24% fromEvangelical Protestantism, and 3% from some other Christian tradition.[125] In the years preceding 2012 over 225,000 Roman Catholics became Episcopalians and as of 2012, there are "432 living Episcopal priests [who] have been received [as priests] from the Roman Catholic Church."[126]
According to statistics, U.S. membership dropped 2.7 percent from a reported 1,866,758 members in 2013 to 1,745,156 in 2016, a loss of 121,602 persons. Attendance took an even steeper hit, with the average number of Sunday worshipers dropping from 623,691 in 2013 to 570,454 in 2016, a decline of 53,237 persons in the pews, down 8.5 percent. Congregations dropped to 6,473.[127]
The Episcopal Church experienced notable growth in the first half of the 20th century, but like many mainline churches, it has had a decline in membership in more recent decades.[128] Membership grew from 1.1 million members in 1925 to a peak of over 3.4 million members in the mid-1960s.[129] Between 1970 and 1990, membership declined from about 3.2 million to about 2.4 million.[129] Once changes in how membership is counted are taken into consideration, the Episcopal Church's membership numbers were broadly flat throughout the 1990s, with a slight growth in the first years of the 21st century.[130][131][132][133][134] A loss of 115,000 members was reported for the years 2003–2005.[135] Some theories about the decline in membership include a failure to sufficiently reach beyond ethnic barriers in an increasingly diverse society, and the low fertility rates prevailing among the predominant ethnic groups traditionally belonging to the church. In 1965, there were 880,000 children in Episcopal Sunday School programs. By 2001, the number had declined to 297,000.[136]
The Episcopal Church used to be heavily associated with theRepublican Party, such that it was jokingly referred to as "the Republican Party at prayer."[137][138][139] Episcopalians were often associated with theRockefeller Republican wing of the Republican Party.[140] This demonstrated the perception of many Episcopalians' "political conservatism [and] theological liberalism."[141] During the 1970s, Episcopalian Republicans were associated with the moresocially liberal wing of the Republican Party.[142][143]
In modern times, members of the Episcopal Church tend to identify more as moderate (38%) or liberal (32%) rather than conservative (28%).[144] According to a 2025Pew Research Center study with 627 self-identified Episcopalians, 57% describe themselves asDemocrats or Democratic-leaning independents, 37% describe themselves asRepublicans or Republican-leaning independents, and 6% state that they do not identify with either party.[144]
In the twentieth century, Episcopalians tended to be wealthier[15] and more educated (having moregraduate andpostgraduate degrees per capita) than most other religious groups in the United States,[145] and were disproportionately represented in the upper reaches of Americanbusiness,[146] law, and politics.[147] Many of the nation's oldesteducational institutions, such asUniversity of Pennsylvania andColumbia University, were founded by Episcopal clergy or were associated with the Episcopal Church.[148][149] According toPew Research Center Episcopal Church "has often been seen as the religious institution most closely associated with the Americanestablishment, producing many of the nation's most important leaders in politics and business."[150] About a quarter of thepresidents of the United States (11) were members of the Episcopal Church.[18]
Historically, Episcopalians were overrepresented among American scientific elite andNobel Prize winners.[19][20] According toScientific Elite: Nobel Laureates in the United States byHarriet Zuckerman, between 1901 and 1972, 72% of AmericanNobel Prize laureates have come from aProtestant background, mostly from Episcopalian,Presbyterian or Lutheran background.[20] CitingGallup polling data from 1976, Kit and Frederica Konolige wrote in their 1978 bookThe Power of Their Glory, "As befits a church that belongs to the worldwideAnglican Communion, Episcopalianism has theUnited Kingdom to thank for the ancestors of fully 49 percent of its members. ... The stereotype of theWhite Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) finds its fullest expression in the Episcopal Church."[151]
TheBoston Brahmins, who were regarded as the nation's social and cultural elites, were often associated with theAmerican upper class,Harvard University;[152] and the Episcopal Church.[153][154]Old Philadelphians were often associated with the Episcopal Church.[21]Old money in the United States was typically associated withWhite Anglo-Saxon Protestant ("WASP") status,[155] particularly with the Episcopal andPresbyterian Church.[156] In the 1970s, aFortune magazine study found one-in-five of the country's largest businesses and one-in-three of its largest banks was run by an Episcopalian.[15] Numbers of the mostwealthy and affluent American families such as theVanderbilts,Astors,Du Ponts,[22]Whitneys,Morgans,Fords,[22]Mellons,[22]Van Leers,Browns,[22]Waynes andHarrimans are Episcopalians.[15] While theRockefeller family are mostlyBaptists, some of the Rockefellers were Episcopalians.[22]
According to a 2014 study by the Pew Research Center, the Episcopal Church also has the highest number ofgraduate andpost-graduate degrees per capita (56%)[157] of any other Christian denomination in the United States,[158] as well as the mosthigh-income earners.[159] According toThe New York Times Episcopalians tend also to be better educated and they have a high number ofgraduate (76%) andpost-graduate degrees (35%) per capita.[160] According to a 2014 study by thePew Research Center, Episcopalians ranked as the third wealthiest religious group in the United States, with 35% of Episcopalians living in households with incomes of at least $100,000.[161] In 2014, roughly 70% of Episcopalians were living in households with incomes of $50,000 or above.[161] In recent years, the church has become much more economically and racially diverse[162] through evangelism, and has attracted many Hispanic immigrants who are often working-class.[163][164]
The Episcopal Church is governed according toepiscopal polity with its own system ofcanon law. This means that the church is organized intodioceses led bybishops in consultation with representative bodies. It is aunitary body, in that the power of theGeneral Convention is not limited by the individual dioceses. The church has, however, a highly decentralized structure and characteristics of aconfederation.[165]
At the local level, there are 6,447 Episcopal congregations, each of which elects avestry or bishop's committee. Subject to the approval of itsdiocesan bishop, the vestry of eachparish elects apriest, called therector, who has spiritual jurisdiction in the parish and selects assistant clergy, bothdeacons and priests. (There is a difference between vestry and clergy elections – clergy are ordained members usually selected from outside the parish, whereas any member in good standing of a parish is eligible to serve on the vestry.) The diocesan bishop, however, appoints the clergy for all missions and may choose to do so for non-self-supporting parishes.[citation needed]
Themiddle judicatory consists of a diocese headed by a bishop who is assisted by a standing committee.[166] The bishop and standing committee are elected by the diocesan convention whose members are canonically resident clergy of the diocese and laity selected by the congregations. The election of a bishop requires the consent of a majority of standing committees and diocesan bishops.[167] Conventions meet annually to consider legislation (such as revisions to the diocesan constitution and canons) and speak for the diocese. Dioceses are organized into nineprovinces. Each province has asynod and a mission budget, but it has no authority over its member dioceses.[citation needed]
There are 106 dioceses in the United States,Colombia, theDominican Republic,Ecuador,Haiti,Honduras,Puerto Rico,Taiwan,Venezuela, Cuba and theVirgin Islands. TheConvocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe and theNavajoland Area Mission are jurisdictions similar to a diocese.[27][28][29][168]
TheWashington National Cathedral is theseat of thePresiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church as well as the bishop of theEpiscopal Diocese of Washington.
The highest legislative body of the Episcopal Church is the triennialGeneral Convention, consisting of theHouse of Deputies and theHouse of Bishops. All active (whetherdiocesan,coadjutor,suffragan, orassistant) and retired bishops make up the over 300 members of the House of Bishops. Diocesan conventions elect over 800 representatives (each diocese elects four laity and four clergy) to the House of Deputies. The House of Deputies elects a president and vice-president to preside at meetings. General Convention enacts two types of legislation. The first type is the rules by which the church is governed as contained in the Constitution andCanons; the second type are broad guidelines on church policy called resolutions.[169] Either house may propose legislation.[170] The House of Deputies only meets as a full body once every three years; however, the House of Bishops meets regularly throughout the triennium between conventions.
The real work of General Convention is done by interim bodies, the most powerful being the Executive Council, which oversees the work of the national church during the triennium. The council has 40 members; 20 are directly elected by the General Convention, 18 are elected by the nine provinces, and the presiding bishop and president of the House of Deputies areex officio members.[170] Other interim bodies include a number of standing commissions ordered by the canons and temporary task forces formulated by resolutions of General Convention. Both types of bodies study and draft policy proposals for consideration and report back to the convention. Each standing commission consists of five bishops, five priests or deacons, and ten laypersons. Bishops are appointed by the Presiding Bishop while the other clergy and laypersons are appointed by the president of the House of Deputies.[170] Task forces vary in size, composition, and duration depending on the General Convention resolution that orders them.[171]
Thepresiding bishop is elected from and by the House of Bishops and confirmed by the House of Deputies for a nine-year term.[172] The presiding bishop is the chief pastor andprimate of the Episcopal Church and is charged with providing leadership in the development of the church's program as well as speaking on behalf of the church.[173] The presiding bishop does not possess a territorialsee; since the 1970s, however, the presiding bishop has enjoyed extraordinary jurisdiction (metropolitical authority) and has authority to visit dioceses forsacramental and preaching ministry, for consulting bishops, and for related purposes.[174] The presiding bishop chairs the House of Bishops as well as the Executive Council of the General Convention. In addition, the presiding bishop directs the Episcopal Church Center, the national administrative headquarters of the denomination. Located at 815 Second Avenue, New York City, New York, the center is often referred to by Episcopalians simply as "815".[175]
A system ofecclesiastical courts is provided for underTitle IV of the canons of General Convention. These courts are empowered to discipline and depose deacons, priests, and bishops.
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Worship according to theBook of Common Prayer (BCP) is central to the Episcopal Church's identity and its main source of unity. The current edition of the BCP was published in 1979 and is similar to other Anglican prayer books in use around the world. It contains most of the worship services (orliturgies) used in the Episcopal Church.[176]
The Episcopal Church has a sacramental understanding of worship. The Episcopalcatechism defines asacrament as "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given to us".[177] Episcopalians believe that sacraments are material things that God uses to act in human lives.[177] The BCP identifiesBaptism and theEucharist as the "two great sacraments of the Gospel".Confirmation,ordination,holy matrimony,reconciliation of a penitent, andunction are identified as "sacramental rites".[178]Private confession of sin is available in the Episcopal Church, though it is not as commonly practiced as in the Roman Catholic Church. This is in part due to thegeneral confession provided for in Episcopal services.[178]
The prayer book specifies that the Eucharist or Holy Communion is "the principal act of Christian worship on the Lord's Day".[179] The service has two parts. The first is centered onBible readings and preaching. At each service, four scripture passages are read from theOld Testament and theNew Testament. The readings are organized in a three-year cycle during which much of the Bible will have been read in church.[180] The second part of the service is centered on the Eucharist. The Episcopal Church teaches thereal presence doctrine—that the bread and wine truly become thebody andblood of Christ. However, it does not define how this happens, which allows for different views to coexist within the church.[181] Generally, Episcopal churches have retained features such as the altar rail, the inclusion or exclusion of which does not elicit much controversy, but usually celebrate in theversus populum orientation.[citation needed]
Often a congregation or a particular service will be referred to asLow Church orHigh Church. In theory:
The Book of Common Prayer also provides theDaily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer. The daily offices can be said by lay people at home.[183]
The veneration ofsaints in the Episcopal Church is a continuation of an ancient tradition from the early church which honors important people of the Christian faith. The usage of the term "saint" is similar to Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. There are explicit references in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer to invoking the aid of the prophets, patriarchs, saints, martyrs and the Virgin Mary as in an optional prayer in the committal at a funeral, p. 504. In general Anglicans pray with the saints in their fellowship, not to them, although their intercessions may be requested. Those inclined to the Anglo-Catholic traditions may explicitly invoke saints as intercessors in prayer.[citation needed] The 1979 edition contains a provision for the use of "traditional" (Elizabethan) language under various circumstances not directly provided for in the book.
At the center of Episcopal belief and practice are the life, teachings and Resurrection ofJesus Christ.[184] The doctrine of the Episcopal Church is found in the canon of scripture as understood in the Apostles' and Nicene creeds and in the sacramental rites, the ordinal and catechism of the Book of Common Prayer.[185] Some of these teachings include:
The full catechism is included in the Book of Common Prayer and is posted on the Episcopal website.[209]
In practice, not all Episcopalians hold all of these beliefs, but ordained clergy are required to "solemnly engage to conform" to this doctrine.[210]The Episcopal Church follows thevia media or "middle way" betweenProtestant and Roman Catholic doctrine and practices: that is both Catholic and Reformed. Although many Episcopalians identify with this concept, those whose convictions lean toward eitherevangelical Anglicanism orAnglo-Catholicism may not.[211]
Abroad spectrum of theological views is represented within the Episcopal Church. Some Episcopal members or theologians holdevangelical positions, affirming the authority ofscripture over all. The Episcopal Church website glossary defines the sources of authority as a balance between scripture, tradition, and reason. These three are characterized as a "three-legged stool" which will topple if any one overbalances the other. It also notes:[212]
The Anglican balancing of the sources of authority has been criticized as clumsy or "muddy." It has been associated with the Anglican affinity for seeking the mean between extremes and living the via media. It has also been associated with the Anglican willingness to tolerate and comprehend opposing viewpoints instead of imposing tests of orthodoxy or resorting to heresy trials.
This balance of scripture, tradition and reason is traced to the work ofRichard Hooker, a 16th-century apologist. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary means of arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are ambiguous are determined by tradition, which is checked by reason.[213] Noting the role of personal experience in Christian life, some Episcopalians have advocated following the example of theWesleyan Quadrilateral ofMethodist theology by thinking in terms of a "Fourth Leg" of "experience". This understanding is highly dependent on the work ofFriedrich Schleiermacher.
A public example of this struggle between different Christian positions in the church has been the 2003 consecration ofGene Robinson, an openly gay man living with a long-term partner. The acceptance/rejection of his consecration is motivated by different views on the understanding of scripture.[214] This struggle has some members concerned that the church may not continue its relationship with the larger Anglican Church. Others, however, view this pluralism as an asset, allowing a place for both sides to balance each other.
Comedian and EpiscopalianRobin Williams once described the Episcopal faith (and, in a performance in London, specifically the Church of England) as "Catholic Lite – same rituals, half the guilt".[215]
In 1991, the church's general convention recommended parity in pay and benefits betweenclergy andlay employees in equivalent positions.[216]Several times between 1979 and 2003, the convention expressed concern overaffordable housing and supported work to provide affordable housing.[217]In 1982 and 1997, the convention reaffirmed the church's commitment to eradicatingpoverty andmalnutrition, and challenged parishes to increase ministries to the poor.[218]
The convention urged the church in 1997 and 2000 to promoteliving wages for all.[219][220]In 2003, the convention urged U.S. legislators to raise the nationalminimum wage, and to establish aliving wage withhealth benefits as the national standard.[221][222]
The Episcopal Church opposes laws in society which discriminate against individuals because of their sex, sexual orientation, or gender expression. The Episcopal Church enforces this policy of non-discrimination; women are ordained to all levels of ministry and church leadership.[223] The church maintains an anti-sexism taskforce.[224]Similarly, openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals are eligible to be ordained.[225][226]The Episcopal Church affirms that marriage is the historic Christian standard for sexual intimacy between two people but does encourage clergy and laity to maintain ministry and dialogue with "the growing number of persons entering into sexually intimate relationships other than marriage."[227]
At its 2015 triennial general convention, the church adopted "canonical and liturgical changes to provide marriage equality for Episcopalians". The "two new marriage rites" contain language that allows "them to be used by same-sex or opposite-sex couples".[25] The blessing of same-sex relationships is not uniform throughout the Episcopal Church. Following the 2015 general convention, bishops were able to determine whether churches and priests within their dioceses were permitted to use the new liturgies. Bishops who did not permit their use were to connect same-sex couples to a diocese where the liturgies were allowed.[228] However, following the 2018 general convention, resolution B012 was amended to "make provision for all couples asking to be married in this church to have access to these liturgies". This effectively granted all churches and clergy, with or without the support of their bishop, the ability to perform same-sex marriages. They may, however, refuse to do so.[229] The church also opposes any state or federal constitutional amendments designed to prohibit the marriages of same-sex couples.[230]
In 2022, the 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, affirmed its position in favor of access to gender affirming care, including all forms of medical transition for people of any age, as a part of the Baptismal call to "respect the dignity of every human being."[99]
In 1861,John Henry Hopkins wrote a pamphlet entitled,A Scriptural, Ecclesiastical, and Historical View of Slavery, attempting to give a view of slavery from his interpretation of the New Testament: he argued that slavery was not a sin per se. Rather, Hopkins argued that slavery was an institution that was objectionable and should be abrogated by agreement, not by war.Bishop Hopkins' Letter on Slavery Ripped Up and his Misuse of the Sacred Scriptures Exposed, written byG.W. Hyer in 1863, opposed the points mentioned in Hopkins' pamphlet and revealed a startling divide in the Episcopal Church, as in other American churches, over the issue of slavery. It was not, however, strong enough to split the church into Northern and Southern wings even after the war, as many other denominations did. And though the church did divide into two wings during the war, Hopkins was active in re-uniting them in 1865.[231]
The Social Gospel movement within American Christianity was a mainstay of racial justice and reconciliation activism amongst Episcopal clergy and laity alike throughout in the nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth century, it stressed a view of sin as being "more than individual" and "to be the consequence of forces of evil in human society so that salvation must involve the redemption of the social order as well as the redemption of the individual."[232]
In 1991, the General Convention declared "the practice of racism is sin",[233] and in 2006, a unanimous House of Bishops endorsed Resolution A123 apologizing for complicity in the institution of slavery, and silence over "Jim Crow" laws, segregation, and racial discrimination.[234] In 2018, following thewhite nationalist rally in Charlottesville, then-Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry said that "the stain of bigotry has once again covered our land" and called on Episcopalians to choose "organized love intent on creating God's beloved community on Earth" rather than hate.[235]
In April 2021, the Episcopal Church released the findings of a racial justice audit after three years of study, it cited nine areas of needed improvement within the church regardingsystemic racism.[236]
In May 2025, the Episcopal Church announced that they would be terminating their participation in theUnited States Refugee Admissions Program, as they were morally opposed to resettling whiteAfrikaners that theDonald Trump administration was bringing into the country.[237][238]
The Episcopal Church affirms that human life is sacred "from inception until death" and opposes elective abortion. As such, the Episcopal Church condemns the use of abortion as a method of birth control, gender selection, family planning, or for "any reason of convenience". The Church acknowledges the right of women to choose to undergo the procedure "only in extreme situations". It has stated that laws prohibiting abortions fail to address the social conditions which give rise to them. The 1994 resolution establishing the Episcopal Church's position gave "unequivocal opposition to any legislative, executive or judicial action on the part of local, state or national governments that abridges the right of a woman to reach an informed decision about the termination of pregnancy or that would limit the access of a woman to safe means of acting on her decision."[239] In 2022, the 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church approved a resolution calling for the protection of "abortion services and birth control with no restriction on movement, autonomy, type, or timing."[240]
The Episcopal Church disapproves of assisted suicide and other forms ofeuthanasia, but does teach that it is permissible to withdraw medical treatment, such as artificial nutrition and hydration, when the burden of such treatment outweighs its benefits to an individual.[241]
The Episcopal Church accepts the empirical findings of biology and does not consider the theory ofevolution to be in conflict with its understanding of Holy Scripture in light of reason. In 1982, the Episcopal Church passed a resolution to "affirm its belief in the glorious ability of God to create in any manner, and in this affirmation reject the rigid dogmatism of the 'Creationist' movement." The church has also expressed skepticism toward the intelligent design movement.[242]
Holding that human life is sacred, the Episcopal Church is opposed tocapital punishment. At the 1958 General Convention, Episcopal bishops issued a public statement against the death penalty, a position which has since been reaffirmed.[243]
The Episcopal Church website's Creation Care Glossary of Terms definesclimate change as a "crisis" consisting of "severe problems that arise as human activity increases the level of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere, and the world's average global temperature soars", a statement which places the church's stance on climate change in line with globalscientific consensus on the matter. According to the church's website glossary, the climate crisis is one of "triple urgency" resulting from "the intersection of climate change, poverty andinequality, andbiodiversity loss." The church's range of advocacy areas with respect to the environment include public support for netcarbon neutrality,environmental justice, opposition toenvironmental racism, support forrenewable energy and for setting and meetingsustainability goals, and support for workers, communities, and economies as they undergo a "just transition" toward eco-friendly policies.[244]
The Episcopal Church "recognizes no claim of theological or religious exemption from vaccination for our members and reiterates the spirit of General Convention policies that Episcopalians should seek the counsel of experienced medical professionals, scientific research, and epidemiological evidence", while similarly condemning the "spreading of fraudulent research that suggested vaccines might cause harm." In a similar vein, the church has expressed "grave concern and sorrow for the recent rise in easily preventable diseases due to anti-vaccination movements which have harmed thousands of children and adults."The Episcopal Church has endorsed stronger government mandates for vaccinations and has characterized the choice to be inoculated as "a duty not only to our own selves and families but to our communities", while describing the choice to not vaccinate, when it is medically safe to do so, as a decision which "threatens the lives of others."[245]
The Society for the Increase of the Ministry (SIM) is the only organization raising funds on a national basis for Episcopal seminarian support. SIM's founding purpose in 1857 – "to find suitable persons for the Episcopal ministry and aid them in acquiring a thorough education". SIM has awarded scholarships to qualified full-time seminary students.[246]
Episcopal Relief & Development is the international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church in the United States. It helps to rebuild after disasters and aims to empower people by offering lasting solutions that fight poverty, hunger and disease. Episcopal Relief and Development programs focus on alleviating hunger, improving food supply, creating economic opportunities, strengthening communities, promoting health, fighting disease, responding to disasters, and rebuilding communities.[247]
There are about 60 trust funds administered by the Episcopal Church which offer scholarships to young people affiliated with the church. Qualifying considerations often relate to historical missionary work of the church among Native Americans and African-Americans, as well as work in China and other foreign missions.[248][249] There are special programs for both Native Americans[250] and African-Americans[251] interested in training for the ministry.
There are threehistorical societies ofAmerican Episcopalianism:Historical Society of the Episcopal Church, theNational Episcopal Historians and Archivists (NEHA), and the Episcopal Women's History Project.[citation needed][252]
Church Publishing Incorporated (Church Publishing Inc., CPI) began as the Church Hymnal Corporation in 1918, dedicated initially to publishing a single work,The Hymnal 1918, which still remains in print. It is the official publisher for theGeneral Convention of the Episcopal Church in the United States.[citation needed] Imprints include Church Publishing, Morehouse Publishing (independently founded in 1884) and Seabury Books (the "trade" imprint).[253]
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Under the leadership ofLutheran bishopJesper Swedberg, parishes in colonial America that belonged to the Evangelical LutheranChurch of Sweden establishedecumenical dialogue that resulted inaltar and pulpit fellowship with the Episcopal Church in the 1700s, which led to a merger of all of the Swedish Lutheran churches there into the Episcopal Church by 1846.[254] The Episcopal Church entered into a full communion agreement with the Church of Sweden at its General Convention inSalt Lake City on June 28, 2015.
Like the other churches of the Anglican Communion, the Episcopal Church has entered intofull communion with theOld Catholic Churches of theUnion of Utrecht, thePhilippine Independent Church, and theMar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar. The Episcopal Church is also in a relationship of full communion with theEvangelical Lutheran Church in America[255] and the Northern and Southern Provinces of theMoravian Church in America.[256]
In 2006 a relation of interim Eucharistic sharing was inaugurated with theUnited Methodist Church, a step that may ultimately lead to full communion. In 2024, the United Methodist Church's General Conference approved full communion with the Episcopal Church, effective upon mutual approval by the General Convention, which is scheduled for as early as 2027.[257][258][259]
In 2025, the Episcopal Church entered into full communion with theEvangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria.[260] The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria is a member church of theEvangelical Lutheran Church in Germany, a federation of 20 independent Christian denominations in Germany. This agreement was authorized by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria's synod in 2022 and by the Episcopal Church's General Convention in 2024. The full communion agreement is titled "Sharing the Gifts of Communion (Augsburg Agreement)."
The Episcopal Church maintains ecumenical dialogues with theUnited Methodist Church, thePresbyterian Church (USA)[261] and the Moravian Church in America, and participates in pan-Anglican dialogues with theOriental Orthodox Churches, theWorld Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Roman Catholic Church.
Historically Anglican churches have had strong ecumenical ties with theEastern Orthodox Churches, and the Episcopal Church particularly with theRussian Orthodox Church, but relations in more recent years have been strained by theordination of women and the consecration ofGene Robinson, an openly homosexual priest, to the episcopate. A former relation of full communion with thePolish National Catholic Church (once a part of theUnion of Utrecht) was broken off by the PNCC in 1976 over the ordination of women.
The Episcopal Church was a founding member of theConsultation on Church Union and participates in its successor,Churches Uniting in Christ. The Episcopal Church is a founding member of theNational Council of Churches, theWorld Council of Churches, and the newChristian Churches Together in the USA. Dioceses and parishes are frequently members of local ecumenical councils as well.
14. The Episcopal Church, 2,026,343 members, down 2.48 percent.Note: The number of members given here is the total number of baptized members in 2012 (cf.Baptized Members by Province and Diocese 2002–2013).
Protestants turn up among the American-reared laureates in slightly greater proportion to their numbers in the general population. Thus 72 percent of the seventy-one laureates but about two thirds of the American population were reared in one or another Protestantone denomination mostly Presbyterian, Episcopalian, or Lutheran rather than Baptist or Fundamentalist.
The names of fashionable families who were already Episcopalian, like the Morgans, or those, like the Fricks, who now became so, goes on interminably: Aldrich, Astor, Biddle, Booth, Brown, Du Pont, Firestone, Ford, Gardner, Mellon, Morgan, Procter, the Vanderbilt, Whitney. Episcopalians branches of the Baptist Rockefellers and Jewish Guggenheims even appeared on these family trees.
The Moravian Church is a full communion partner of the Episcopal Church. ... the Moravian Church's bishops are part of the historic Apostolic Succession.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.The ecumenical movements of the second half of the twentieth century led to a shared reading of Scripture in worship as well, with the current lectionaries for all liturgical denominations today having certain elements in common.
Many Christians are already familiar with the ancient, and now recently restored, liturgies of the Three Days: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the great Easter Vigil service of light, readings, baptism, and communion. The worship resources published by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Episcopal Church, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and the Catholic Church include nearly identical versions of these liturgies.
The RCL goes into official use in the Episcopal Church on the First Sunday of Advent 2007...
[I]n 2001, 3.5 million American adults said they were Episcopalians. But in 2000 the Episcopal Church reported a total constituency of 2,317,794 people, including fully-committed [sic] members and inclusive adherents. This signifies a gap between those who are affiliated with the church (on membership rolls), versus those who self-identify with a particular denominational label but in most cases have no practical connection to the denomination and do not attend services.
Congregational "adherents" include all full members, their children, and others who regularly attend services.
Of all these northern schools, only Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania were historically Anglican; the rest are associated with revivalist Presbyterianism or Congregationalism.
Princeton was Presbyterian, while Columbia and Pennsylvania were Episcopalian.
By the late nineteenth century, one of the strongest bulwarks of Brahmin power was Harvard University. Statistics underscore the close relationship between Harvard and Boston's upper strata.
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