Preface
Over fifty years ago, in the wake of World War II,
a group of lay people created this booklet to inform others about
the history and mission of the Episcopal Church and Anglican Communion.
The booklet met with such success that in 1965 the authors generously
permitted it to be updated and made more comprehensive for the use
of the whole church. A second revised edition appeared in 1975. (At
that point more than half a million copies had been distributed.)
In 1980, a further revision was published to bring the contents of
the booklet into conformity with the Book of Common Prayer.
In 1995, a fourth edition was released to update facts
and statistics relating to the dramatic growth in recent decades of
the Anglican Communion world-wide. On the eve of a new millennium,
this fifth edition continues to reflect the growth of Anglicanism
throughout the world and to provide a basic resource for those interested
in the church, or in telling others about its faith and practice.
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The Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church is a part of Christ's Church,
and, as such, it has had a continuous and unbroken existence since
the founding of the Church by Christ.
The Episcopal Church is a part of the great branches
of One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. It arrived on American
shores as the Church of England, brought along by the early colonists
and settlers. Following the War of Independence it adopted the name
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America
- also known as the Episcopal Church - and it made such modifications
in its liturgy and practices as seemed necessary to life in the new
nation and in newer times .
We know, from the presence of its bishops at the Council
of Arles, that the Church in England has had an individual and continuous
life since A.D. 314. The first missionaries from Gaul came to the
British Isles prior to that time so the popular assertion that the
English Church was founded by King Henry VIII has no real basis in
fact. Resistance to the increasing domination of the Roman pontiff
and to his usurpation of ecclesiastical and political authority had
existed since the seventh century. Under Henry, finally, the nation
and the Church were able to renounce papal supremacy and to eliminate
abuses which had crept into the doctrine and discipline of the Church
during the medieval centuries of papal influence.
Under Queen Mary, Henry's elder daughter, the English
Church reverted briefly to papal authority; but with Elizabeth I as
queen, it gained complete freedom from all Roman claims and has remained
free ever since - a Church profoundly influenced and revitalized by
the great religious movements of the Reformation but whose essential
worship, ministry, and doctrine continued to be what they had always
been in historic Church of Christ.
Thus, the Church remains both catholic and apostolic
- catholic in standing for the wholeness of the faith and life of
the Christian community, apostolic because it continues in unbroken
succession from the time of the Apostles.
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The Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is made up of 38 self-governing
-- and largely self-supporting -- provinces located in more than 164
countries. Linked by tradition by tradition and a common worship,
they are in full communion with the See of Canterbury. The membership
of the Communion is more than 75 million people -- and is growing
rapidly, especially in africa.
The Church of England, the "Mother Church,"
has two spiritual leaders: the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is Primate
of All England and Metropolitan and, in the northern province, the
Archbishop of York, who is Primate of England and Metropolitan. The
first Archbishop of Canterbury, St. Augustine, arrived in his future
see (official seat) in A.D. 597 as missionary monk sent by Pope Gregory
I and was consecrated in Gaul in A.D. 601. The present archbishop,
George L. Carey, is the 103rd occupant of the See of Canterbury.
The current primate of the Church in Wales is also
the Bishop of St. Asaph. In Wales the primacy is not associated with
any particular see. The Church of Ireland has two metropolitans: the
Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland and Metropolitan, and
the Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of Ireland and Metropolitan. St.
Patrick was bishop of Armaugh from about A.D. 432, and Armagh remains
the senior Irish see.
The Scottish Episcopal Church is the second oldest
branch of the Anglican Communion. Its office of Primus (Prime
Bishop) dates from 1704, but, as with Wales, the office is not associated
with any particular see.
The North American continent contains four Anglican
provinces. Our own Episcopal Church -- which also includes dioceses
in Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, and Taiwan,
plus 11 parishes and missions in Europe and the Mission Territory
of Micronesia -- is next in Anglican seniority after the Scottish
Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Church was constitutionally inaugurated
by the General Convention of 1789, although its first bishop, Samuel
Seabury, was consecrated in Scotland in 1784. The primate of the Episcopal
Church is called Presiding Bishop. The Anglican Church of Canada dates
from 1787. Each of its four provinces has an archbishop who is metropolitan
of a particular ecclesiastical province, but its primate has no diocesan
jurisdiction. Mexico, once a missionary diocese of the Episcopal Church,
is now autonomous as Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico, it has five diocese.
The Church in the Province of the West Indies has eight dioceses.
In the region, the dioceses of Cuba, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and
Venezuela are extra-provincial to the Episcopal Church, while the
diocese of Bermuda is extra-provincial to the See of Canterbury.
South America has two Anglican provinces: Iglesia
Anglicana del Cono Sud de las Americas (comprised of five dioceses)
and Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil. One of the Episcopal Church's
first missionary endeavors, the Brazilian Church now has seven dioceses.
The four dioceses of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem
and the Middle Ease, which includes countries along the entire Mediterranean
coast of North Africa, are under the presidency of the Anglican Bishop
of Jerusalem.
Sub-Saharan Africa is divided into 12 Anglican provinces,
each presided over by an archbishop. As the fastest-growing area of
the Anglican Communion, literally thousands of persons are added to
membership rolls each day with the Church of the Province of Nigeria
being the largest Anglican province in the Communion (more than 17
million members in 61 dioceses). The other sub-Saharan provinces are
the Episcopal Church of the Province of Burundi (five dioceses), the
Church of the Province of Central Africa (10 dioceses), the Church
of the Province of the Indian Ocean (five dioceses), the Church of
the Province of Kenya (27 dioceses), the Province of the Episcopal
Church of Rwanda (nine dioceses), the Church of the Province of Southern
Africa (23 dioceses), the Province of Sudan (24 dioceses), the Church
of the Province of West Africa (12 dioceses), and the Province of
the Anglican Church of Congo [Zaire] (six dioceses).
The Anglican Church of Korea has three dioceses, and
the Church of the Province of Myanmar (formerly Burma) has six dioceses.
Sri Lanka has two Anglican dioceses. Four dioceses in Southeast Asia
hold their mission from the See of Canterbury as extra-provincial
dioceses. The 11 dioceses of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (Holy Catholic
Church in Japan), another early missionary field of the American Church,
have as their current primate the Bishop of Tokyo.
The Episcopal Church in the Philippines, once a missionary
territory of the Episcopal Church, ins independent and has five dioceses.
The Province of Melanesia contains eight dioceses, and the Anglican
Church of Papua New Guinea has five dioceses. The Anglican Church
of Australia is divided into five provinces. One of the provincial
bishops serves as primate. The Diocese of Tasmania is extra-provincial.
The Anglican Church in Autearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia has nine
dioceses.
The Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui (the Holy Catholic Church
in China has been incorporated into the "post-denominational"
Three-Self Movement and is not a province of the Anglican Communion,
the Anglican Diocese of Hong Kong and Macao is temporarily separated
from it and is incorporated into the Communion through association
with the Council of the Church of East Asia, a regional grouping of
provinces and dioceses.
The Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church and the Lusitanian
Church (Portugal) are under the metropolitan jurisdiction of the See
of Canterbury.
In addition to the relationships within the Anglican
family, Anglicans are in a relationship of full communion with a number
of non-Anglican churches, including the (European) Old Catholic Churches
of the Union of Utrecht, the Philippine Independent Church, the Mar
Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar (India), and four churches which came
into being as a result of the union of former Anglican dioceses with
Christians of other traditions: the churches of Bangladesh, North
India, Pakistan, and South India.
Relationships are developing between the Anglican
Communion and the Lutheran churches of Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
Latvia, Norway, and Sweden as well as between the Episcopal Church
and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Additionally, ecumenical
dialogues continue with the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox churches,
and a group of Protestant denominations through a consortium known
as COCU (Consultation on Christian Unity). Interfaith dialogues have
also been established with Jews, Muslims, and other world faith groups.
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The Gospel
The church exists to continue the ministry Jesus began.
That ministry was, and is, simply the announcement of the Gospel --
the Good News of Christ.
The Good News is that God is the Lord of all life;
that although sinful humanity cannot earn or deserve God's love, that
love is freely given; that the company of forgiven people, living
together as the church, forms a community in which they and others
who join with them receive new live and power; that in Jesus the Christ,
God has raised humanity's distorted nature to what it was intended
to be so distorted nature to what it was intended to be so that insofar
as any person lives in Christ, that person is freed from the slavery
of sin and is assured of the Kingdom of God.
To say this by proclamation and by witness, in its
corporate life and in the lives of its individual members, is the
church's reason for being.
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Baptism
Membership in the church is bestowed by God's action
through the sacrament of Holy Baptism in the Name of the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Baptism, one's life is initially
and deliberately opened -- by oneself or, in the case of an infant,
by those who bear responsibility for a child during his or her early
years -- to the care and sustaining of one's Heavenly Father, to God's
action in one's early life as the Incarnate Son, to God's presence
and strengthening power as the Holy Spirit. Baptism is into the Body
of Christ, a fellowship of people guided, taught, and strengthened
by the presence of God the Holy Spirit in their relationship with
each other.
People of any age may be baptized. The first converts
to Christianity were naturally adults, but the church has always understood
a loving God as willing that all would be his, and therefore the baptism
of infants was an early Christian tradition and one the Episcopal
Church continues to practice. Faith is basic to Baptism. While a baby
in a Christian family does not yet have the ability to make a personal
decision, that baby is a participant in the community of faith just
as he or she is a participant in the secular community that accepts
him or her in the cradle as a loyal citizen. The climate or environment
in which that faith is nourished and matures is in the supporting
life of Christian fellowship, the church.
If a person has been baptized by water (symbolizing
spiritual washing and renewal) in the Name of the Trinity through
the ministry of any Christian body, the Episcopal Church recognizes
that baptism and does not require, or even permit, rebaptism unless
there is strong doubt of earlier baptism.
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Confirmation
The word "confirmation" is derived from
confirmare, which means "to strengthen." The Rite
of Confirmation, the laying of apostolic hands on baptized believers,
strengthens persons through the action of the Holy Spirit at the time
they assume personal responsibility for their baptismal vows. In the
early days of the church, when most of the new members were adults,
this "Laying on of Hands" was a part of the service of Holy
Baptism and was immediately followed by First Communion. The same
procedure is used today when adults are baptized at a service presided
over by a bishop. In addition to laying hands on the newly baptized
adults, the bishop may anoint them with holy oil (chrism).
As infants were brought into the fellowship through
Baptism, the Western Church lengthened the period between Baptism
and the Laying on of Hands. It recognized that one's growth from a
child, primarily nourished by the Christian family, into a mature
adult member of the Body of Christ is a process extending through
a number of years. In Confirmation persons do not "join the Church."
They joined -- or, better, "were joined to" -- the church
in Baptism. But now they renew their promise to obey Jesus as their
Lord and accept for themselves the responsibility for Christian belief
and life previously accepted by others on their behalf. Then through
the sacramental action of the laying on of the bishop's hands, their
status as mature and responsible members of the Christian community
is signified and the special gifts of the Holy Spirit for adult Christian
life and ministry become theirs.
Candidates for Confirmation must have been baptized,
must be penitent for their sins, must be ready to affirm their confession
of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and must have received such instruction
as will guide them in being intelligent, loyal, and regular members
of the Christian community and effective ambassadors for Christ in
daily life.
In addition to the Rite of Confirmation for those
baptized as children, the church provides special forms for the bishop
to use when admitting to the Episcopal Church persons who were baptized
in another denomination and for blessing persons who desire to re-affirm
their baptismal vows.
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The Sacraments
The Episcopal Church is a sacramental church.
Its central rites of worship are sacraments -- visible signs and effectual
means by which God's grace works in us and by which our faith in God
is strengthened. They express the church's belief in the sacramental
nature of the universe and life, that God is not divorced from his
creation, but is present and always at work in all aspects of it.
This was supremely expressed in God's entering human history as a
human being, in Jesus the Christ.
Jesus ordained the sacraments of Holy Baptism and
Holy Eucharist (Holy Communion) as the chief sacraments of his church.
By means of the water of Baptism, we are cleansed
from sin, are united with Christ in his death and resurrection, are
born again by the action of the Holy Spirit, and are adopted by God
the FAther as his sons and daughters. Through the bread and wine of
the Eucharist we are fed by Christ's Body and Blood and strengthened
in our union with him and with one another. Without attempting to
explain or define this "holy mystery," the Episcopal Church
has always held to the ancient Christian belief that not only is the
Holy Eucharist celebrated in remembrance of Christ's sacrifice, but
that he is really present in the Sacrament.
The other traditionally important rites, though not
specifically ordained by Christ, but which the Episcopal Church recognized
as having sacramental character, are Confirmation, Reconciliation
of a Penitent (Penance or Confession and Absolution of sins), Marriage,
Ordination, and Unction (Anointing or Laying on of Hands) for the
sick.
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The Creeds
The Episcopal Church is a believing church.
Its answer to those who object to "ancient, old-fashioned creeds
and dogmas" is that what a person does and stands for depends
on what and in whom he or she believes. Everyone lives by some creed.
To believe in a creedless church is to stat a creed.
The Episcopal Church states its faith in the historic
words of the two great creeds of Christendom, the Apostles' and the
Nicene creeds. These statements of belief have come down to us from
the early church and have been the accepted statements of Christian
faith for centuries. The Apostles' Creed in almost its present form
was in use in Rome in the middle of the second century to instruct
candidates preparing for Baptism. Although it cannot actually be traced
all the way back to the Apostles, and has never been used in the Eastern
Church, it is the oldest Christian creed in continuous use. The Nicene
Creed is the "ecumenical creed," adopted by church Councils
representing the whole of Christendom. It is the work of three such
Councils -- Nicea in A.D. 325, Constantinople in A.D. 381, and Chalcedon
in A.D. 451.
Recognizing, however, that there is always more in
the continuous revelation of the nature of God than can be set forth
in any human statement, the Anglican Communion encourages fearless
and open-minded pursuit of truth in every area of life. The Episcopal
Church, which places no limitation on any honest human endeavor to
study and investigate, stands for the use of the mind and reason as
God-given faculties that will enrich and widen the understanding of
God's revealed truth. It trusts the guidance of the Holy Spirit to
lead us into newly revealed truth and believes that the same Holy
Spirit enable the church to relate all truth to God's truth in Jesus
the Christ.
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The Bible
The Episcopal Church is a Bible church. The early
church recognized the writings we know as the books of the Old and
the New Testaments as inspired by God and as being crucial to our
knowledge of God in Christ, and it brought them together in the "Canon
of Scripture," the Holy Bible. Leaders of the English Church
were in the forefront of the long struggle to have the Bible printed
in the language of the people, to give everyone the right to read
the Gospel record and hear it publicly read in a language they understood.
Although many modern and distinguished translations exist, probably
the greatest achievement in the English language is the King James
translation of the Bible, the Bible translation the Anglican Communion
gave to the world.
The Episcopal Church believes the Holy Scriptures
contain all doctrine necessary for salvation and that nothing that
cannot be read in or proved by Scripture shall be required as an article
of the faith or as necessary for salvation.
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The Prayer Book
The Book of Common Prayer has been called the
Bible in worship. It also contains doctrine the church requires
to be taught and believed.
Next to the King James Version of the Bible, The
Book of Common Prayer has probably had a wider influence than
any other book in the English language. It is a product and development
of the service books used in the church for many hundreds of years,
and it also contains elements form the Jewish services held in the
synagogues and in the homes of the faithful at the time of our Lord.
Almost every province of the Anglican Communion has
revised and updated the Prayer Book according to its particular needs.
The first completed contemporary revision of the Prayer Book for the
Episcopal Church in the United States was published in 1979. (Previous
revisions in the United States took place in 1789, 1892, and 1928.)
In addition to preserving the best materials from previous Prayer
Books, the 1979 revision provides services in contemporary English
and special services for use on Ash Wednesday and in Holy Week. The
three-year Lectionary (plan for reading the Scriptures on Sundays)
is an Episcopal version of the one many other Western churches have
adopted.
Common prayer is the prayer and worship used in "in
common" when members of the fellowship are gathered together.
It does not supplant the private prayers and devotions of the individual
Christian, but is equally part of the worshiping life. Neither approach
to God is complete without the other: In Christ we are both individuals
and "members one of another."
The Book of Common Prayer is one of the finest collections
of great prayers ever offered by human beings to God. In it are prayers
suitable to every need and occasion. It is a devotional manual by
which the worshiper may, in concert with others and with beauty and
dignity, participate actively in the services of the church. It is
also a magnificent guide for private prayer and meditation.
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The
Church's Worship
The most frequently used of the church's services
are the Holy Eucharist (which is the principal act of Christian worship
on Sundays and other major feasts), and the daily Offices of Morning
and Evening Prayers. These are printed in The Book of Common Prayer
together with services for special times of the year and for different
occasions in one's life.
The Prayer Book is so arranged that a person, by noting
the rubrics, or directions, may easily follow and participate in the
services. The rubrics receive their name form the Latin word meaning
"red." They were printed in red as guides for the conduct
of worship. In altar editions of the Prayer Book they are still printed
in red.
One of the great Anglican principles is that the church's
worship is corporate affair, an activity of the whole fellowship.
Thus, great emphasis is placed on congregational participation in
the services, and the Prayer Books is designed to be used by both
clergy and laity.
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Instruction
The Episcopal Church is teaching church. It has cherished
customs, a rich history, and a great tradition, all of which stem
from the earliest days of the Christian church. Great emphasis is
placed upon the teaching of all three.
But over and above customs, tradition and history,
all members of the church need to be informed about the great body
of Christian belief. The church wants all persons to know in whom
they believe and to be convinced that Christ is the Way, the Truth,
and the Life.
Every Episcopal congregation strives to provide opportunity
for instruction for people of all ages. At the present time, increasing
attention is being given to Christian education for adults, both for
members of the church and inquirers, and for catechumens (adults preparing
for Baptism).
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The Ordained Ministry
The Episcopal Church teaches that all its members
share in Christ's ministry to the world and to one another. Within
the church, however, from the time of the Apostles, there have been
three orders of ordained ministers: bishops, priests, and deacons.
The chief pastors of the church are bishops, persons
ordained and consecrated to proclaim the Good News to the world, to
be the chief pastor and sacramental minister of a diocese, and to
ordain others to the ministries of a diocese, and to ordain others
to the ministers of bishop, priest, and deacon. Bishops are ordained
through the Laying on of Hands of other bishops whose authority has
come down in an unbroken line from the Apostles. The very word episcopal
means "of or relating to bishops," and the bishops, by virtue
of their historic office, are both a visible symbol of Christian unity
in the church's life and a link with the church of all the ages. Like
the Apostles, the bishops are the church's accredited witnesses to
the Resurrection and have special responsibilities for maintaining
the integrity of the church's faith in its risen Lord.
Priests (also known as presbyters) are ordained and
consecrated to assist the bishop in the overseeing of the church.
They usually serve as pastors of congregations, teaching and preaching
God's word, celebrating the sacraments, and pronouncing absolution
and blessing in God's name. When vested, they wear a stole (a band
of fabric representing the yoke of Christ) about the neck, over both
shoulders.
Deacons are ordained and consecrated to assist the
bishop in the ministry of service, particularly to those in need.
They also help in public worship, proclaiming the Gospel and assisting
in the celebration of the sacraments. Another of their duties is to
take Holy Communion to the sick and shut-in. When vested, they wear
a stole over the left shoulder.
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Church Government
The Episcopal Church is both constitutional and democratic
in its government. Some of the men who played leading roles in the
framing of the Constitution of the United States had responsibility
for drawing up the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.
The two governments have many similarities
Every parish church has a body of laypersons called
the vestry, elected by the congregation to be its legal representatives
in all matters concerning its corporate properties and to perform
other duties prescribed by church law. After consultation with the
bishop, the vestry calls a priest to serve as rector of the parish.
A priest serving a chapel or mission congregation is know as a vicar
and is appointed either by the bishop or the rector involved.
A diocese is geographical containing no fewer than
six parishes and is under the jurisdiction of a bishop. It is governed
by it bishop and a diocesan convention composed of the clergy of the
diocese and laypersons elected by the parishes. A Diocese elects its
own bishop or bishops, subject to the consent of the majority of the
bishops and diocesan standing committees of the church.
The dioceses are grouped geographically into areas
known as provinces.
The governing body of the Episcopal Church is the
General Convention, which meets every three years. It is composed
of two Houses: the House of Deputies, whose members are laity and
clergy elected in equal numbers from the dioceses, and the House of
Bishops. Between meetings, a smaller of bishops, clergy and laypersons,
called the Executive, Council, administers the program of General
The laity, who comprise more than 99 percent of the
Episcopal Church, share extensively and responsibly in its government
and internal affairs, but their responsibility goes beyond that: The
laity must also represent the church in the affairs of the world.
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Symbols and
Vestments
The Episcopal Church believes that God is the Creator
and is therefore constantly being revealed through the materials of
creation. The church expresses this truth in the enrichment of its
worship by the use of many of God's earthly gifts: splendid buildings
and beautiful music, a great variety of material symbols, vestments
worn by clergy, choir, and others.
The central symbol in Episcopal churches is the altar,
or holy table, a visible testament of the presence of the living God,
whose Son was sacrificed that we might find new life. Here, in Holy
Communion, we are made one with him and with one another.
Candles and flowers about the altar serve to beautify
it and the church. They are symbolic of the church's joy in the Resurrection
of the Lord and in the Light of Christ.
The colors displayed in altar hangings and vestments
of the clergy symbolize various great emphases of the Gospel and the
church year. Common usage is worship is:
White or gold - symbolizing victory and
purity. Christmas season, the Epiphany (though the following Sunday),
Easter season, the Transfiguration, and other joyous festivals and
saints' days, Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, Ordination.
Violet - signifying seasons of preparation.
Advent and Lent. In some churches, in place of violet, unbleached
linen in used during Lent. Deep red (crimson) is frequently used in
Holy Week.
Red - symbolizing the Holy Spirit (the tongues
of fire at Pentecost) and martyrdom. The Day of Pentecost and days
of saints known to be martyrs.
Green - signifying universality and growth
(the most frequent color in nature). The season after Epiphany and
the long season after Pentecost, seasons during which the texts of
the Gospels and Epistles are read sequentially from Sunday to Sunday.
Other equally proper traditions of color usage and
symbolism may be found in certain parishes.
Clergy, choir members, and others wear vestments in
obedience to long-standing church custom. Vestments symbolize the
sacred nature and function of the office rather than the importance
of the person. They are also reminders of the democratic nature of
Christ's church as those who occupy the same office are dressed in
like manner. Vestments are worn for the sake of dignity, beauty, and
uniformity.
Each emblem, sign, vestment, word, and act has meaning
and purpose. Yet many of these could be eliminated, even the church
building itself, and a person praying by the side of another (for
example a chaplain on the field with a soldier) would still be the
Christian Church at worship in the presence of God.
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The Congregation
We have stated a basic
principle of Anglican worship: The congregation is made up of participants,
not spectators. Members of the Episcopal Church attend services to
worship God, not to be lectured or entertained. Congregational participation
in worship is expressed in such actions as standing, sitting, or kneeling
as liturgical or psychological needs require.
Many people practice other customs - such as bowing
low when approaching the altar, genuflecting (bending the knee) before
the Sacrament, bowing the head at the name of Jesus, making the sign
of the cross, or bowing the head as the cross goes by in procession
- as expressions of reverence. All outward actions in worship are
signs of and aids to inward devotion.
Visitors and strangers are not required to observe
any particular customs, but many people find that as they become familiar
with them, the traditional ways of worship are increasingly helpful
and meaningful.
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Episcopalians
and Their Church
Episcopalians show great
reverence for God's house as a hallowed place where his people gather
to worship and pray. This is sometimes mistaken by visitors and newcomers
as coldness or lack of cordiality on the part6 of the church's members.
It means simply the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth
keep silence before him. This is a holy place.
But Episcopalians also find great joy in their church
and its fellowship. They have a deep affection for the church and
awareness of the privilege of being members of it. A person coming
to church will generally leave with a deepened sense of "one-ness,"
of belonging to one great family. Exceptions to this no doubt occur,
but they do not express the spirit of the Episcopal Church.
Episcopalians are humbly grateful for their church.
Wherever they may go in the world, church with its life of common
prayer ministers in the same familiar manner. To Episcopalians it
offers a way to God that fully reveals the mind, the spirit and the
love of Jesus.
As they give themselves to the church and to its out-going
concern for God's world, they find their lives are richly blessed
by God through the holy church that is their heritage.
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Fifth Revised Edition, 1999
©1999 by The Domestic & Foreign Missionary Society
of the Episcopal Church, 815 Second Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017.
This pamphlet can be obtained in the Florida Room's collection
of information material.
Trinity Episcopal Church