The Protestant Episcopal Church has approximately 2.5 million members in the US today. But the followers of this branch of Protestantism also live in Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Taiwan, Ecuador, Colombia, there is a small community in Eastern Europe and even in Russia.
Until the end of the 19th century, almost a third of the American financial and political elite were members of the Episcopal Church. Also, 11 of the 43 presidents of the United States of America were Episcopal Protestants. Presidents Madison, Monroe, and Tyler are members of St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington DC. They, along with Ford and Bush Sr., are considered the most deeply religious among all the rulers of America.
Today the church is in a period of schism, it was expelled from the Anglican Communion for too modern views on same-sex marriage.
How was the Episcopal denomination created?
The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the Englishthe Protestant Church, a free-spirited version of British Protestantism. It was created in 1607 by settlers from Britain in Virginia, then spread to Georgia, Carolina, New York.
The establishment of the church was preceded by the American War of Independence, when most of the Anglican churches were destroyed and the bishops were expelled. But for believers, the traditions and values of Protestantism remained true and indestructible, they did not want to give up their faith. Therefore, as a result, the Anglican community was reorganized and began to call itself the following: the Episcopal Church of America. Samuel Seabury was elected the first bishop, he did not receive a handshake in London, only in opposition Scotland.
The construction of church seminaries, the integration of the church into the social life of American society contributed to the development of the movement. In the 1970s, the American version of the Book of Public Worship was published.
How has the Episcopal doctrine developed in recent years?
Although in the history of the church the number of parishioners did not exceed 3.5% of all state citizens, the US Episcopal Church has always been one of the most influential and close to the political elite of religious organizations. The church has evolved along with the evolution of society. In the period of the 60-70s of the twentieth century, the Episcopal Church began to hold services for African Americans, and decided on the handshake of women. The peak of the liberalization of the church was the admission to the wedding of same-sex marriages, and in 2003 for the first time inthroughout the history of world religion, an open homosexual became a bishop: Gene Robinson became the head of the diocese of New Hampshire.
Ever since the beginning of the late twentieth century, conservative parishioners and Anglican Protestants did not approve of the super-liberal course of the church, but a new grandiose round of disputes occurred just in 2003. Today, the Episcopal Church is undergoing a split, and the number of parishioners is at an all-time low.
The General Convention is the supreme governing body of the Episcopal Church
Church governance is quite democratic. Even the leadership of the episcopates is conducted in a very American style. The General Convention is a unique governing administrative unit.
It is divided into two chambers: the Chamber of Bishops and the Chamber of Deputies. The first consists only of bishops from each diocese (district). The Chamber of Deputies is larger in number of representatives, with four priests and four laymen from each district. A kind of miniature model of governing the entire country. To achieve the adoption of some important innovation, the consent of both chambers is needed.
The Protestant Episcopal Church has always been a kind of elite religious organization, even today its followers include the most educated and influential members of society.
The diocesan conventions meet annually, while the general convention meets every three years.
Who do Episcopal Protestants believe in?
Some commandments of Episcopal Protestants coincide with Catholic andOrthodox truths. In fact, the entire Protestant movement in England and Germany was born as a kind of Catholicism, but without the intoxicated power of the papacy (as it was in the Middle Ages). At the dawn of its activity, the episcopate differed little from Anglicanism, but over time it moved far into left-wing liberalism.
The commandments of the doctrine of the Episcopal Church are described in the "Book of Public Prayer", which nevertheless has been copied several times already. With the exception of a few digressions, there are many postulates in the Episcopal Book in solidarity with the Church of England.
They believe in the One Lord and in the only mediator between God and people - Jesus Christ. Also, a person is saved only by faith and good works. In essence, the religious platform of Catholicism and the episcopate is the same, but there are significant differences in the rites (especially communion, baptism, weddings) and creeds. For example, according to the Orthodox and Catholic rites, only those who have fasted and confessed are allowed to receive the Sacrament, while at the episcopate, all lay people are allowed to receive communion. And in other aspects, American Protestants are distinguished by unprecedented religious democracy and tolerance.
Episcopal Church in Washington DC and other states. Where are the temples?
The largest concentrations of Episcopalians are in the states of New York, Virginia, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington.
Logistically, the Episcopal Church has 76 dioceses in the United States. In big citiesthere are spiritual, theological seminaries, magazines are published.
The main temple of the United States - the pompous National Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Washington, the sixth largest cathedral in the world, is on the balance sheet of the Episcopal Church. It is located at the intersection of Massachusetts and Wisconsin Avenue.
Another temple - St. John's Episcopal Church (Washington), which is also called the "Cathedral of the Presidents", is located a hundred meters from the White House. And current President Donald Trump attended the temple service on his inauguration day.
In New York, the notorious temple at the intersection of Broadway and Wall Street is Trinity Church, Trinity Church is also Episcopal. This is a recognizable neo-Gothic temple.
Symbols and rites of Episcopal believers
The main symbol of faith among the episcopates is a large red cross, or the cross of St. George. There are nine small crosses in the upper left corner of the big cross. When the Episcopal Church was founded in the states in 1789, it had nine dioceses in the states, hence the 9 crosses.
As this faith system grew, its excessive liberalization began to worry some influential parishioners and the bishops themselves. Bishop Freeman Jung took several steps towards a return to the sacraments of the ancient churches. The second census of the "Book of Public Prayer" was made on his initiative under the distinct influence of the Orthodox canons in the liturgy. He wanted moreintroduce the need for fasting, but hastily died, and after his death, the fasting initiative was not supported, and the church continued to develop in a liberal way.
The position of the Episcopal Church on gender, race and sexual issues
In matters of equality of all members of the human race on gender, race, sexual grounds, the episcopal religious system is perhaps the most progressive and liberal in the world. The Protestant episcopal movement has always been dependent on its influential members, who, in addition to presidents, were also stars, politicians, and businessmen. The church had the largest number of donations in proportion to the number of parishioners. It has been the richest religious community in all centuries, thanks in large part to its democratic leftist views.
In the Episcopal faith, women are allowed to serve, they occupy the highest positions in dioceses. Although the church proclaims gender equality and insists that promotion in the church hierarchy depends only on the personal qualities and intellect of the believer, but in the entire history of the church, only 17 women have received the highest positions in dioceses. However, in most other religions, women not only do not become priests, but their rights are reduced to the maximum, they are not allowed to come to the temple during menstruation (ritual impurity), they can visit the temple only with their heads covered, etc.
If the church's position for gender equality in the liturgy was perceived calmly or even favorably, then approvalsame-sex marriage by the episcopate caused a lot of gossip and gave rise to a new round of disputes in an already split church.
And the liberal course for the rights of sexual minorities began back in 1982. The General Convention declared that "homosexuals are also God's children and should have all civil rights."
In 2003, the General Convention confirmed the election of openly homosexual Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. In December 2009, openly lesbian Mary Douglas Glasspool was elected head of the Diocese of Los Angeles.
And in 2009, the Episcopal Church began to marry same-sex couples in states where same-sex marriage is legal.
Controversy surrounding the Episcopal Protestant Movement, split within the church
The General Convention of the Episcopal Church suspected that the movement's emphatically liberal course could not but provoke a backlash from the global religious community. But if the condemning reaction of Catholics, Orthodox or, especially, Muslims was not unexpected, then the radical position of the Anglican Church was underestimated. However, at the World Conference of the Leaders of the Protestant Churches, a decision was made to suspend the membership of the Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion for a fundamental departure from the doctrines of marriage.
Episcopal Church in Russia
The episcopal movement in Russia was founded relatively late, already in 1999, in Moscow. It also began to emerge inTomsk and St. Petersburg. This may have been a consequence of the course towards the Orthodox East, which was adopted by the Episcopal Church in 1983. In Eastern Europe, especially in Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Orthodoxy prevails in its classical, almost unchanged purity, therefore, studying the traditions of Orthodoxy, many episcopal priests traveled around Russia. But the course towards the rapprochement of the episcopate with Orthodoxy turned out to be two-sided. And some of the free dogmas of the American Church have also taken root in Russia, especially in big cities.
In Moscow there is an Episcopal Church - the Anglican Church of St. Andrew on the lane. Voznesensky, 8, Okhotny Ryad metro station. This is an international parish church and services are conducted in English.
