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- HISTORICAL BACKGROUND -
(Click on above for historical information)

- SPIRITUAL MESSAGE -

The Episcopal Church

by Rev. Dr. William Pugliese
St. David's Episcopal Church, Spokane, WA
Copyright © September 1998 Heart Links / All Rights Reserved

One of my favorite descriptions of the Episcopal Church is that it is made up of all sorts and conditions of people. Every congregation is likewise. This makes for much diversity of thought and opinion. Because of that, what makes the Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church in the United States is a part, so wonderful and yet so frustrating is that we believe in the "middle way."
In other words we are both Catholic and Reformed. Our faith is catholic in that it is universal and goes all the way back to Jesus and the apostles. It is also reformed, coming in part from the reformation period of the 16th Century. In fact, we are always being reformed.
That does not mean that anything and everything goes or that there are no norms. It simply means that while we have a basic belief system based on Scripture and the historic Creeds, we also believe that tradition and reason play a part in that belief system.
Being the middle way does cause problems. If you stand in the middle of the road, you are likely to get run over. The temptation is to take a stand on one side or the other, to not allow for a diversity of thought and opinion, to be of like mind on everything. That may be a safe way to go, but it is not the Anglican Way -- for better or for worse.
The "worse" part comes because of the strong opinions that are held -- and offered up for belief -- by some in authority, like bishops. If those strong opinions are against the cherished beliefs of many, tension may arise. The "better" part is that we have lived in that tension for over 450 years and have grown because of it.
The church that I serve, St. David’s, is a typical Episcopal Church. On any subject there can be a diversity of opinion, even on matters of faith practice. The members believe in what they believe but also respect the beliefs of those who disagree with them -- and will listen and discuss and even learn from those who disagree.
While we may not always agree in the finer points of faith, we all agree that one of our most important responsibilities, maybe the most important responsibility, is to live out in our daily lives what we believe. It is fine to talk and discuss. But in the end it is what we do about what we believe that matters. Episcopalians, the members of St. David’s, tend to be doers of the word and not hearers only, as the Epistle of James admonishes.
Episcopalians tend to be on the forefront of community action for we believe that a church that does not serve the community in which it lives and moves and has its being is really not being a church. Jesus came among us as one who serves. We believe we must go and do likewise. And we do.
Again, we may not all agree on the areas and scope of service, but we do not debate the need to be involved.
I personally enjoy being a member of the Episcopal Church because of the joy I find in being with the people of the church. I miss them when I am not with them and am filled when I am. They are part of my family, are my family both in faith and in fact.
As we often say: There is always room and you are always welcomed at St. David’s.

This wonderful personal message is from Rev. Dr. William Pugliese, formerly of St. David's Episcopal Church in Spokane, Washington. He is now in Iowa and can be contacted at his church's website: http://www.christepiscopal.org

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- HISTORICAL BACKGROUND -

What is the Episcopal Church?

by Rev. Scott I. Paradise

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. They together make up the Anglican Communion, a body headed spiritually by the Archbishop of Canterbury and having some 80 million members, making it the second largest Christian body in the world.
The Episcopal Church came into existence as an independent denomination after the American Revolution. Today it 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, Edmond Browning.
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. In 1988 the Diocese of Massachusetts elected the first Anglican woman bishop, Barbara Harris.
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 tends to stress less 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, even in its revisions, stands today as a major source of unity for Anglicans around the world.
The Church of England has always valued the life of the mind and dialogue with fields of secular study. Isaac Newton was an Anglican clergyman and theologian as were several of the founders of the Royal Society, the earliest institution organized for the promotion of science. The Episcopal Church maintains this tradition, routinely requiring its clergy to hold university as well as seminary degrees and supporting many university chaplains.

The Nicene Creed	The Apostles' Creed
We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.	I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Nicene Creed

The Apostles' Creed

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son,
our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living
and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

This article and other information about the mission service the Episcopal Churches are involved in can be found at the "Unofficial Episcopal Church Home Page" hosted by Br. Thomas Bushnell, http://www.mit.edu/~tb/anglican or at the Episcopal Home Page: http://www.ecusa.anglican.org.

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