The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church is Michael Bruce Curry, the first African-American bishop to serve in that position.
As of 2020, the Episcopal Church had 1,736,282 active baptized members, of whom 1,576,702 were in the United States. In addition to active members, the church reported 138,822 other persons who are active in congregations. In 2011, it was the nation's 14th largest denomination. In 2015, Pew Research estimated that 1.2 percent of the adult population in the United States, or 3 million people, self-identify as mainline Episcopalians.The church was organized after the American Revolution, when it became separate from the Church of England, whose clergy are required to swear allegiance to the British monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The Episcopal Church describes itself as "Protestant, yet Catholic" and claims apostolic succession, tracing its bishops back to the apostles via holy orders. The Book of Common Prayer, a collection of rites, blessings, liturgies, and prayers used throughout the Anglican Communion, is central to Episcopal worship. A broad spectrum of theological views is represented within the Episcopal Church, including evangelical, Anglo-Catholic, and broad church views.
Historically, the members of the Episcopal Church have played leadership roles in many aspects of American life, including politics, business, science, the arts, and education. About three-quarters of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were affiliated with the Episcopal Church, and over a quarter of all Presidents of the United States have been Episcopalians. Numbers of the most wealthy and affluent American families, such as Boston Brahmin and old money, are Episcopalians. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Episcopalians were active in the Social Gospel movement. Since the 1960s and 1970s, the church has pursued a more liberal course, though there remains a wide spectrum of liberals and conservatives within the church. It has opposed the death penalty and supported the civil rights movement. The church calls for the full legal equality of LGBT people. In 2015, the church's 78th triennial General Convention passed resolutions allowing the blessing of same-sex marriages and approved two official liturgies to bless such unions.
The Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP; Tagalog: Simbahang Episkopal sa Pilipinas; Ilocano: Simabaan nga Episkopal iti Filipinas) is a province of the Anglican Communion comprising the country of the Philippines. It was established by the Episcopal Church of the United States (Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America) in 1901 by American missionaries led by Charles Henry Brent, who served as the first resident bishop, when the Philippines was opened to Protestant American missionaries. It became an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion on May 1, 1990.
At present, the Episcopal Church has seven dioceses. Under Rev. Charles Henry Brent of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America, it was responsible for founding and overseeing institutions such as St. Luke's Medical Center, Brent International School, St. Stephen's High School, and Trinity University of Asia. Its principal ministerial training institution is St. Andrew's Theological Seminary. The current Prime Bishop is Brent Harry Alawas. Its national headquarters is the Cathedral Heights, New Manila, Quezon City.
The Church is in a concordat of full communion with the Philippine Independent Church and is a member of both the Christian Conference of Asia and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines.
1990May, 1
The former Philippine Episcopal Church (supervised by the Episcopal Church of the United States of America) is granted full autonomy and raised to the status of an Autocephalous Anglican Province and renamed the Episcopal Church in the Philippines.
Choose Another Date
Events on 1990
- 2Aug
Gulf War
Iraq invades Kuwait, eventually leading to the Gulf War. - 8Aug
Gulf War
Iraq occupies Kuwait and the state is annexed to Iraq. This would lead to the Gulf War shortly afterward. - 23Aug
Gulf War
Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi state television with a number of Western "guests" (actually hostages) to try to prevent the Gulf War. - 28Aug
Kuwait
Iraq declares Kuwait to be its newest province. - 28Nov
Margaret Thatcher
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher resigns as leader of the Conservative Party and the prime ministry, and is succeeded as both by John Major.