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SAINT MARK'S PRO-CATHEDRAL
Hastings, Nebraska |
While Anglican Churches share a common heritage, their worship is expressed in
a variety of languages and customs. All accept Holy Scripture of the Old and New
Testaments as "containing all things necessary to salvation;" the Apostles' and the
Nicene Creeds as sufficient statements of the Christian faith; the two great sacraments
of Baptism and Holy Communion as instituted by Christ himself, and a ministry comprised
of the laity, deacons, priests and bishops whose succession reaches back in time to the
Apostles. In this sense, Anglicans share a heritage which includes both the Eastern
Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. Although these three great communions remain
separated, all are working toward understanding and cooperation. By seeking the middle
way ("via media"), Anglicanism is "the bridge church" between protestant and catholic
traditions.
The Episcopal Church came into existence as an independent denomination
after the American Revolution. Certain changes in church governance had to be made
since Americans could no longer pledge allegiance to England and English
bishops as had been formerly required.
It is no accident that the governance of the
Episcopal Church followed that of the United States Government since two-thirds of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence, as well as George Washington, were committed
Anglican churchmen. The first bishop of the Episcopal Church, Samuel Seabury of Connecticut, was
consecrated in Scotland by three Scottish Episcopal Bishops who were not subject to the
Church of England. Our next two American bishops, however, were consecrated in England
because the laws were changed.
Today the Episcopal Church in the United States has between two and three million
members in the United States, Mexico and Central America, all of which are
under jurisdiction of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Frank
Griswald.
Bishops in the American Episcopal Church are elected by individual dioceses
and are consecrated into the Apostolic Succession, considered to witness to
an unbroken line of Church leadership beginning with the Apostles
themselves. For more than two decades the American Episcopal Church has
ordained women to the priesthood and several women bishops have been consecrated.
Although it subscribes to the historic Creeds (the Nicene Creed
and the Apostles' Creed), considers the Bible to be
divinely inspired, and holds the Eucharist or Lord's Supper to be the central act of
Christian worship, the Episcopal Church grants great latitude in interpretation of
doctrine. It puts less stress on the confession of particular beliefs than the use of
the Book of Common Prayer in public worship. This book, first published in the
sixteenth century but revised over the centuries, stands today as a major source of
unity for Anglicans around the world.
Return to About Saint Mark'sWhat is the Episcopal Church?
The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the Anglican Communion. The
Anglican Communion is an inheritor of 2000 years of catholic and apostolic
tradition dating from Christ himself, rooted in the Church of England.
When the Church of England spread throughout the British Empire, sister
churches sprang up. These churches, while autonomous in their governance,
are bound together by tradition, Scripture, and the inheritance they have
received from the Church of England. Together they make up the Anglican
Communion, a body headed spiritually by the Archbishop of Canterbury and
having nearly 80 million members, making it the second largest Christian body
in the world.
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