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About The Episcopal Church

The History of The Episcopal Church

The Church of England declared its independence from Rome in 1534 when Parliament passed the Act of Supremacy, stating that the monarch, not the Pope, was the head of the church. Not until 1570 did the Roman Catholic Church separate itself from the Church of England (The Anglican Church). The American Revolution caused Anglicans in this country to form their own church. The Protestant Episcopal Church was officially united in 1789.

The Church of England can document its presence in North America with a Book of Common Prayer service led by John Hawkes off the coast of Florida in 1565. On June 16, 1607, the first Anglican Communion was celebrated by John Smith and company in Jamestown, Virginia. The Reverend Robert Hunt was the celebrant.

The New World had considerable religious contention between the Church of England in the southern portions and the Puritans in the northeast. Finally, the Church of England was established in all the colonies and was under the Bishop of London.

The American Revolution severely tested Anglicans in the colonies. Over half of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution were Anglicans, yet the Church, because of its links to the monarchy through the Act of Supremacy, foundered. It also suffered as there were no bishops to confirm members or ordain priests.

Finally, a plan emerged. Reverend Samuel Seabury was sent to the United Kingdom to be ordained a bishop. He was unsuccessful in being ordained in England (due to the Oath of Allegiance to the monarch), so he went to the Independent Church of Scotland. He was ordained a Bishop on November 14, 1784 in Aberdeen, Scotland.

After he returned, he found the Church had begun to organize and in 1785 held its first General Convention to establish Church unity. This precluded establishing many small, independent churches and preserved the apostolic succession. In 1786, Parliament eliminated the Oath of Allegiance from requirements for the clergy and February 4, 1787, the Reverends William White and Samuel Provoost went to England and were consecrated as bishops in the Church. Now, the Church in the United States could operate.

Our Traditions and Roots

The Church practices the Via Media or Middle Way. You may know this as Aristotle’s Golden Mean, avoiding extremes to search for virtue. It does not refer to compromises or hedging bets. It may be familiar to some of you as a reference to Isaiah 35:8-12.

Our history is enriched with Celtic, Catholic, and Protestant traditions. We are both Catholic and Protestant. We are also Celtic in our search for God in all things and our profound respect for all life as well as in some of our ‘mystic’ or spiritual practices. Our Church is Catholic because we believe ourselves to be a part of the direct succession passed from Christ to his disciples as well as because our ways of worship {the weekly celebration of Communion, and the consecration of our ministers (priests, deacons, and bishops)} are from the same tradition as that of the Roman Catholic Church. We are Protestant because in that we do not own obedience to the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and are not restricted by dogma or official interpretations of ‘correct’ belief by a centralized office.

What is The Episcopal Church?

We are a liturgical church. That means that our services of worship have a certain method or order to them. No matter that the service is contemporary or traditional, it follows the ancient patterns passed down to Christians since the time of Christ. Many can even be traced to the ancient Hebrews. We are shaped by three watch words: Grace, Blessing and Reconciliation

  • We are a family bound not by our ability to agree but by our ability to love
  • We have a beautiful liturgy (service and prayer)
  • We encourage respect for the dignity of the person through blessings, not curses
  • We are a Church engaged in communion with God
  • We are a people of God gathered together to carry out a mission
  • Our belief is shaped half education and half mission.

Growing Our Church for God’s Work

Together we can make a difference in our community. Please feel free to donate to Grace Episcopal Church to help us grow our ministry and outreach.