Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church
The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in
Washington, D.C., is referred to as the
Washington National Cathedral.
Primate
Katharine Jefferts Schori
Headquarters 815 Second Avenue, New York
Territory
The United States and dioceses in
Taiwan, Central and South America,
the Caribbean, and Europe
Members
2,205,376[1] (estimate)
Website
EpiscopalChurch.org
Anglicanism Portal
The Episcopal Church, sometimes called
The Protestant Episcopal Church in the
United States of America, is the Province
of the Anglican Communion in the United
States,
Honduras,
Taiwan,
Colombia,
Ecuador, Haiti,
the Dominican Republic,
Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and
parts of Europe.[2][3][4]
The Church was organized shortly after
the American Revolution when it was forced
to break with the Church of England on pen-
alty of treason as Church of England clergy
were required to swear allegiance to the Brit-
ish monarch,[5] and became, in the words of
the 1990 report of the Archbishop of Canter-
bury’s Group on the Episcopate, "the first
Anglican
Province
outside
the British
Isles".[6] Today
it
is divided
into nine
provinces and has dioceses outside the U.S.
in Taiwan, Central and South America, the
Caribbean and Europe. The Episcopal Dio-
cese of the Virgin Islands encompasses both
American and British territory.
In keeping with Anglican tradition and
theology, the Episcopal Church considers it-
self a via media, or middle way, between Ro-
man Catholicism and Protestantism.[7]
The Episcopal Church was active in the
Social Gospel movement of the late nine-
teenth century and since the 1960s and
1970s has played a leading role in the pro-
gressive movement and on related political
issues. For example, in its resolutions on
state issues the Episcopal Church has op-
posed the death penalty, and supported the
civil rights movement and affirmative action.
Some of its leaders and priests marched with
civil rights demonstrators. The church calls
for the full civil equality of gay men