Anglican Churches

★150 ★

American Anglican Church

8364 Big Bend Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63119

The American Anglican Church is a relatively new jurisdiction within the larger Continuing Church movement that began in the mid-1970s among former Episcopalians who rejected the direction that the Episcopal Church was following in the revision of traditional worship and the ordination of females to the priesthood. The church represents the high church or Anglo-Catholic wing of Anglicanism that places great emphasis upon the affinity of Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism. The church's constitution and canons were adopted in 1996. The church is headed by Bishop Donald Perschall.

The church moved quickly to assume a role in the larger movement and has signed a statement of "Ecclesiastical Fellowship" with the Anglican Church in America (that includes various jurisdictions in the Traditional Anglican Communion), the Anglican Province of America, the Anglican Rite Synod in the Americas, the Episcopal Missionary Church, and the Episcopal Orthodox Church. The statement assumes a common adherence to the Bible as the Word of God, the ancient Ecumenical Creeds, the historic episcopate (and an understanding of apostolic succession), and the historic Anglican liturgies, primarily those preserved in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. The church also affirmed their adherence to the 39 Articles of Religion of 1801, and both the Chicago (1886) and Lambeth (1888) statements of the Lambeth Quadrilateral.

The American Anglican Church has accepted the 1928 Book of Common Prayer as its official Prayer Book. It specifically affirms traditional standards of marriage and the limitation on sexual relations outside of marriage. The church has also agreed to not alter liturgical texts merely to accommodate current trends.

The church is also in communion with the Traditional Church of England, a conservative jurisdiction with parishes in the United Kingdom.

Membership: In 2002, there were 31 parishes in fourteen states plus those in Costa Rica, In dia and the United Kingdom.

Sources:

American Anglican Church. http://www.geocities.com/ascen_stl/. 15 February 2002.

Nones, Jane, ed. 1994/95 Directory of Traditional Anglican and Episcopal Parishes. Tulsa, OK: Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen, 1995.

★151 ★

Anamchara Celtic Church

432 W. High St.
Wills Point, TX 75169

The Anamchara Celtic Church was founded in 1996 in Wills Point, Texas, by its presiding bishop Thomas J. Faukenbury. He was consecrated by Bp. Ivan MacKillop of the Church of the Culdees (and formerly the Servant Catholic Church). The church views itself as an association of people who follow the prayer and Eucharist in the tradition of the ancient Celtic Church (the pre-Roman Catholic church of the ancient British Isles). Celtic Christianity is distinguished, in part, by an emphasis on community over institutional religion and recognition of the equality of women. The theological work of St. Morgan of Wales (fifth century) and St. John Scotus Eriugena (ninth century) are especially appreciated.

The church affirms the truth of the Holy Scriptures (including the inter-testament writings known as the Apocrypha), the Nicene Creed, and the Seven Ecumenical Councils. It affirms the unity of the church as exemplified by the undivided Catholic church during the first ages of its existence rather than an enforced organizational unity. The church recognizes that all of life is sacramental but also practices the two major sacraments of baptism and Holy Communion, and the five minor sacraments: confirmation (or charismation), penance (or reconciliation), matrimony, holy orders, and unction are recognized. The church is headed by an episcopate in the apostolic lineage though calling is leadership to an attitude of service rather than autocracy.

The church practices open Communion and invites all Christians to partake of the Holy Eucharist. Worship varies from congregation to congregation, but some use the contemporary Celticinspired Desert Missel still in process of development. The Celtic calendar is followed as are the feast days of the saints (with special emphasis on Celtic saints). Some congregations mark the seasonal changes at Samhain, Imbolc, Beltaine, and Lammas.

The church is headed by a bishop, but congregations are organized into a loosely affiliated fellowship. The Anamchara Celtic Church is a member of the Celtic Christian Communion and in communion with the Church of the Culdes and St. Ciaran's Fellowship of Celtic Christian Communities.

Membership: In 1997 the church reported 300 members in 11 congregations served by 10 priests in the United States. There was a single congregation in Canada and one each in Scotland and Japan.

Periodicals: Celtic Fire Newsletter.

Sources:

http://www.celtchristian.net/.

★152 ★

Anglican Catholic Church

3841 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Ste. 202
Metairie, LA 70002-5624

While dissent over what many felt was theological and moral drift in the Protestant Episcopal Church led to the formation of several small protesting bodies, large-scale dissent occurred only after a series of events beginning in 1974 gave substantive focus to the conservative protest. In 1974 four Episcopal bishops (in defiance of their colleagues and the church) ordained 11 women to the priesthood. The following year, the Anglican Church of Canada approved a provision for the ordination of women. Then in 1976, with only a token censure of the bishops, the Protestant Episcopal Church regularized the ordinations of the 11 women. It also approved the revised Book Of Common Prayer which replaced the 1928 edition most Episcopalians had used for half a century.

The events of the mid-1970s led to the calling of a Congress of Episcopalians to consider alternatives to the Protestant Episcopal Church and to find a way to continue a traditional Anglican Church. In the months leading up to the congress, several congregations and priests withdrew from the Episcopal Church and formed the provisional Diocese of the Holy Trinity. They designated James O. Mote as their bishop elect. Eighteen hundred persons gathered in St. Louis in September 1977 and adopted a lengthy statement, the "Affirmation of St. Louis," which called for allegiance to the Anglican tradition of belief (as expressed in the ancient creeds and the teachings of the church fathers) and practice (as exemplified in the 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer). It specifically denounced the admission of women to the priesthood, the liberal attitudes to alternative sexual patterns (especially homosexuality), and both the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches. It affirmed the rights of congregations to manage their own financial affairs and expressed a desire to remain in communion with the See of Canterbury.

Throughout 1977 more congregations left the Protestant Episcopal Church, and others were formed by groups of people who had left as individual members. Following the September congress, three more provisional dioceses were established, and bishops elected. The Diocese of Christ the King elected Robert S. Morse; the Diocese of the Southwest elected Peter F. Watterson; and the Diocese of the Midwest elected C. Dale D. Doren. Bishops were sought who would consent to consecrate the new bishopselect, and four finally agreed. Of the four Paul Boynton, retired suffragan of New York, was the first to withdraw from the consecration service, due to illness. Then Mark Pae of the Anglican Church of Korea, a close personal friend of Dale Doren, withdrew under pressure from his fellow bishops. But he did send a letter of consent to the consecration. On January 28, 1978, with Pae's letter to confirm the action, Albert Chambers, former bishop of Springfield, Illinois and Francisco Pagtakhan, of the Philippine Independent Church, consecrated Doren. Doren in turn joined Chambers and Pagtakhan in consecrating Morse, Watterson, and Mote.

Having established itself with proper episcopal leadership, the new church, unofficially called the Anglican Church of North America, turned its attention to the task of ordering its life. A national synod meeting was held in Dallas in 1978. Those present adopted a name, the Anglican Catholic Church, and approved a constitution which was sent to the several dioceses (by then seven in number) for ratification. In May 1979, the bishops announced that five of the seven dioceses had ratified the actions of the Dallas synod; thus, the Anglican Catholic Church had been officially constituted.

The early 1980s was a period of flux for the Anglican Catholic Church. It emerged as the single largest body of the St. Louis meeting, claiming more than half of the congregations and members. But along the way, it lost two of its original dioceses and three of its original bishops. The dioceses of Christ the King and the Southeast and their bishops (Morse and Watterson) refused to ratify the constitution. They instead continued under the name "Anglican Church of North America." The Diocese of the Southeast soon broke with the Diocese of Christ the King and became an independent jurisdiction. Then, in 1984, Watterson resigned as bishop and joined the Roman Catholic Church. His action effectively killed the diocese, and member churches were absorbed by the other Anglican bodies, primarily the Anglican Catholic Church.

While dealing with the loss of the dioceses of Christ the King and the Southeast, the church continued to grow as new and independent congregations joined; additions more than made up for losses. Bishop Doren resigned in 1980, but only two congregations followed him. In 1981 several priests and parishes left to form the Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite Jurisdiction of the Americas. The largest schism occurred in 1983 when the Diocese of the Southwest under Bishop Robert C. Harvey withdrew and took twenty-one congregations in Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona. Later that year they joined the American Episcopal Church.

The Anglican Catholic Church describes itself as the continuation of the traditional Anglicanism as expressed in the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds, and it holds to the liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer, 1928 edition. It rejects women in the priesthood and holds to traditional standards of moral conduct, condemning specifically "easy" divorce and remarriage, abortion on demand, and homosexual activity.

At its national convention in 1983, Louis W. Falk, bishop of the Diocese of the Missouri Valley, was elected as the ACC's first archbishop. Falk was succeed by Mt. Rev. William O. Lewis (d.1997) and Mt. Rev. M. Dean Stephens (1990-1998), who died after less than a year in office. Rt. Rev. John T. Cahoon is presently serving as acting Metropolitan until a new election is held in 1999.

Internationally, the church is in communion with the equally conservative Anglican Catholic Church-Australia, which is under Canadian oversight. In what is termed its Original Province, the church has parishes in Puerto Rico, Columbia, and Guatemala. In 1984 a Province for India was created. It has five dioceses and 3,000 members and, as of 1988, Bishop Falk serves as metropolitan for the providence. The American church has also developed direct oversight of a new conservative Anglican movement developing in New Zealand.

Membership: In 1988 the church reported 12,000 members, 200 parishes, and 200 priests in the United States. Worldwide membership included an additional 8,000 members. There are 8 dioceses in the United States and missionary dioceses in Australia, South Africa, Columbia, and the United Kingdom.

Educational Facilities: Holyrood Seminary, Liberty, New York.

Periodicals: The Trinitarian. Send orders to 6413 S. Elati, Littleton, CO 80120.

Sources:

A Directory of Churches of the Continuing Anglican Tradition. Eureka Springs, AK: Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen, 1983-84.

Laukhuff, Perry. The Anglican Catholic Church. Eureka Springs, AK: Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen, 1977.

Opening Addresses of the Church Congress at St. Louis, Missouri, 14-16 September 1977. Amherst, VA: Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen,1977.

★153 ★

Anglican Catholic Church of Canada

℅ Bp. Alfred Woolcock
709 Attersley Dr.
Oshawa, ON, Canada L1K 1P9

The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada grew out of the same movement against changes in the Anglican Church of Canada that had occurred within the Episcopal Church in the United States. In Canada, changes included the allowance of new liturgical forms of questioned orthodoxy, including new sacramental rites, the loosening of the regulations of the marriage canons, and most importantly, the ordination of female priests. The unrest in the church came to a head in 1980 when Carmino J. deCatanzaro, an eminent Anglican scholar who had participated in the 1977 congress of traditionalist Episcopalians in St. Louis, Missouri, left the Anglican Church of Canada and was consecrated by Bp. Lupe Rosete of the Philippine Independent Catholic Church, assisted by a number of other bishops of the Continuing Church Movement. As with its sister church in the United States, the Anglican Catholic Church, the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada considers itself the continuing Anglicanism in Canada, believing that the Anglican Church of Canada has departed from the faith.

The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada was shaken shortly after its founding by deCatanzaro's sudden death in 1983. However, he was succeeded by Alfred Woolcock, who had recently affiliated with the new jurisdiction, and on January 27, 1984, Bp. Louis W. Falk of the Anglican Catholic Church, assisted by Bps. James O. Mote and William O. Lewis, consecrated Woolcock. The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada follows the traditional Anglican liturgy and belief. It uses the Book of Common Prayer(1962, Canadian revision). It is a part of the Traditional Anglican Communion, an association of national Anglican churches in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Central America. Association with the World Council of Churches and the Canadian Council of Churches has been renounced.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

Nones, Jane, ed. 1994/95 Directory of Traditional Anglican and Episcopal Parishes. Tulsa, OK: Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen, 1995.

★154 ★

Anglican Church in America

℅ Mt. Rev. Louis W. Falk
4807 Aspen Dr.
West Des Moines, IA 50265

The Anglican Church in America was founded in 1991 following merger talks between the American Episcopal Church and the Anglican Catholic Church (ACC). In the end, leadership of the Anglican Catholic Church was in disagreement with the merger plan and the majority withdrew its support. However, a large segment of the church under Abp. Louis W. Falk did approve, and they subsequently separated from their colleagues in the ACC and merged with the American Episcopal Church. Falk was elected primate of the merged church. Abp. Anthony F. M. Clavier, the leader of the American Episcopal Church, continued as head of the diocese covering the eastern states.

The American Episcopal Church was founded in 1968 by a group of former clergy and members of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Orthodox Church. They sought a more loosely organized structure than that offered by the Anglican Orthodox Church and formed the new jurisdiction with a congregational polity. The church turned to James Charles Ryan, better known by his Indian name, Joseph K. C. Pillai, of the Indian Orthodox Church, for episcopal orders. Pillai then became the first primate of the new church and merged the Indian Orthodox Church into it. In December 1968, Pillai consecrated James George as Bishop of Birmingham. Bishop George succeeded Pillai as primate following the latter's death in 1970.

On February 11, 1970, George consecrated Clavier as suffragan bishop. Having found the very loose structure of the church unworkable, the pair spearheaded a reorganization plan that led to the adoption of a more centrally organized polity. To accomplish the reorganization, it proved necessary for all of the clergy to resign and to reconstitute the structure. Then the new American Episcopal Church, meeting in a general convention in April 1970, ratified a constitution and canon more in keeping with Anglican tradition. After the reorganization, George resigned as primate and Bishop Clavier succeeded him. In 1981, the bishops of the American Episcopal Church received conditional reconsecration from Bp. Francisco Pagtakhan, assisted by Bps. Sergio Mondala and Lupe Rosete, three bishops of the Philippine Independent Church who chose to become involved in the emergence of the Continuing Church Movement in the United States.

In 1982 the American Episcopal Church grew with the addition of two dioceses from the Anglican Episcopal Church, which merged into it. In 1986, churches which had formed in Mexico in the late 1970s were recognized as a diocese. The Rt. Rev. Roberto Martinez-Resendiz, formerly suffragan bishop of Central Mexico of the Episcopal Church, became the first bishop of the new diocese In addition, the church also entered into communion with the Anglican Church in India and the Anglican Diocese of Pakistan.

The Anglican Catholic Church was one of two bodies that came directly out of the 1977 conference of Episcopalians who met at St. Louis, Missouri, to protest the recent direction of the Episcopal Church and discuss alternatives for those who adhered to the conservative stance regarding the Anglican tradition. After the formation of the church, originally under the name of the Anglican Church of North America, retired Episcopal bishop Albert Chambers and Francisco Pagtakhan of the Philippine Independent Church consecrated the bishops of the new jurisdiction. In 1983, Louis W. Falk, bishop of the Diocese of the Missouri Valley, was elected the ACC's first archbishop.

Beliefs: The Anglican Church in America is theologically conservative and follows the 1928 Book of Common Prayer in its liturgy and teachings. It acknowledges the authority of the ancient creeds of Christendom, the teachings of the seven Ecumenical Councils, and the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1886–88. The 1801 text of the Anglican Thirty-nine Articles of Religion are accepted.

Organization: The Anglican Church in America is episcopal in that it is headed by a bishop, but democratic in that laity share in the decision-making process at every level of church life. The church is governed by a General Synod consisting of the House of Bishops, the House of the Clergy, and the House of the Laity. The General Synod meets biannually.

Archbishop Falk resides in Iowa. He is assisted by 7 other bishops whose territory covers the United States and the several foreign dioceses. Four of the eight bishops were reconsecrated conditionally by Bps. Robert Mercer, Robert Mize, and Charles Boynton, thereby providing them with an undisputed Anglican succession of orders and erasing any lingering doubts about the orders which had been earlier passed to the Continuing Church Movement. Three bishops have been consecrated since 1991.

Internationally, the Anglican Church in America is the American Jurisdiction within the Traditional Anglican Communion. Other countries represented by the communion include Canada, Australia, England, Ireland, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Guatemala. In 1992, Archbishop Falk was elected the primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion.

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: The Traditional Anglican Theological Seminary, Spartanberg, South Carolina.

St. Mary's Theological College, Los Angeles, California.

Periodicals: Ecclesia, Box 368, Ivy, VA 22945-0368. • Anglican Herald, 4807 Aspen Dr., West Des Moines, IA 50265.

Remarks: In 1995 the Anglican Church in America suffered a severe loss when Archbishop Clavier was charged with sexually abusing several female members of his diocese and subsequently resigned his position. The church quickly moved to minister to the abused women while reaffirming its allegiance to its traditional sexual ethical stance. Clavier has since left the Anglican Church in America and is now serving as an Episcopal priest in the diocese in Arkansas.

Sources:

Falk, Louis W. The Anglicans: Who Are They? What Is Their Faith? West Des Moines, IA: Anglican Church in America, n.d.

Nones, Jane, ed. 1994/95 Directory of Traditional Anglican and Episcopal Parishes. Tulsa, OK: Fellowship of Concerned Clergymen, 1995.

★155 ★

Anglican Church, Inc.

℅ Rt. Rev. Frank H. Benning
Box 52702
Atlanta, GA 30355

The Anglican Church, Inc., was founded in the 1980s as the Anglican Church, U.S., a small independent jurisdiction of the Continuing Church movement that had rejected the thrust of the Episcopal Church in the previous generation. In 1988 that church was joined by the former Anglican Diocese of the South of the Anglican Episcopal Church under the leadership of the Rt. Rev. Frank H. Benning. Bishop Benning, unlike most of the leaders of the independent Anglican movement, was never a priest in the Episcopal Church. He was ordained in 1968 as a priest by James Parker Dees of the Anglican Orthodox Church. In 1972 he went into the Anglican Episcopal Church of North America. In 1973 he was elected suffragan bishop and consecrated by Walter Hollis Adams, assisted by James George and Orlando J. Woodward. In 1975 he was elected coadjutor for the Anglican Episcopal Church. As the Anglican Episcopal Church grew, the church was subdivided into diocese, and Benning was elected bishop of the Diocese of the East in 1980.

For a number of years, Walter Adams had promoted the cause of unity among the several independent Anglican factions. In that cause, the bishops of the Anglican Episcopal Church, including Benning, were consecrated sub conditione by Philippine Independent Church bishops Francisco Pagtakhan, Sergio Mondala, and Lupe Rosete in 1981. This action gave each bishop the unquestionably valid orders of the Philippine Church. It also promoted the union of the Anglican Episcopal Church and the American Episcopal Church in 1982. Benning participated wholeheartedly in the merger and his diocese was renamed the Anglican Diocese of the South. He served in that position for six years. In 1988 he withdrew because of administrative canonical changes and joined the Anglican Church, U. S. with his diocese, now renamed the Anglican Episcopal Diocese South. The new jurisdiction retained the same doctrine and practice.

In 1993 the name of the Anglican Church, U.S. was changed to Anglican Church, Inc. In 1994 Benning was elected presiding bishop of the Anglican Church, Inc., while remaining ordinary of the Anglican Episcopal Diocese South.

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: St. Georges School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas.

Sources:

Nones, Jane. 1994/95 Directory of Traditioinal Anglican and Episcopal Parishes. Tulsa, OK: Fellowship of Concerned Clergymen, 1995.

Ward, Gary L. Independent Bishops: An International Directory. Detroit: Apogee Books, 1990.

★156 ★

Anglican Church of North America

1906 Forest Green Dr. NE
Atlanta, GA 30329

The Anglican Church of North America traces its origin to the Independent Anglican Church founded in Canada in the 1930s by William H. Daw who was originally a priest of the Church of England in Canada (now the Anglican Church of Canada). Later he led his jurisdiction into the Liberal Catholic Church headed by Bishop Edward M. Matthews and in 1955 was consecrated by Matthews. In 1964 Daw and Bishop James Pickford Roberts left Matthews to found the Liberal Catholic Church International. Daw assumed the role of primate, but retired because of severe health problems. He resumed the primacy in 1979.

In 1981 Daw participated in the formation of the Independent Catholic Church International, which brought together a number of independent Old Catholic, Anglican, and Liberal Catholic jurisdictions in both North America and Europe. Meanwhile, the Liberal Catholic Church International and Daw reasserted its Anglican roots in the wake of the increased liberalization of the national Anglican churches. The Liberal Catholic Church International repudiated all non-orthodox theology and practice and changed its name to the North American Episcopal Church. In 1983 Peter Wayne Goodrich Reynold became primate of the North American Episcopal Church. Goodrich had originally been consecrated by Daw as bishop for the small Independent Catholic Church of Canada.

Goodrich's leadership of the North American Episcopal Church was temporary however, and within a year Archbishop Daw again resumed the primacy. Daw died in 1987. Two bishops, Rt. Rev Robert T. Shepherd and Rt. Rev. M. B. D. Crawford, were consecrated to administer the work of the church in America and Canada respectively. In 1985 Crawford retired to lay life and abandoned his office, which was resumed by Goodrich. The first American parish was established in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1983. In June 1984, the church's name was changed to Anglican Church of North America.

The Anglican Church of North America, as other continuing Anglican Bodies, accepts the 1977 affirmation of St. Louis and follows the practices of the Protestant Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada prior to the changes of the 1970s. It differs from other continuing Anglican bodies in that it believes that small independent churches, even at the diocesan level, are preferable to a single jurisdiction for all of North America. It also stresses the collegiality of all levels of the clergy and the laity.

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: St. Matthew's Cathedral Seminary, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada (a correspondence school).

★157 ★

Anglican Churches of America

2402 Usery Pass Rd.
Mesa, AZ 85207

The Anglican Churches of America is a small, conservative Anglican church headed by Bp. C. Truman Davis. In belief and practice it is at one with the Continuing Church Movement, which rejects the liturgical changes within the Episcopal Church in the last generation and does not believe in the ordination of females to the priesthood, but is jurisdictionally separate.

Membership: Not reported. In 1995 there were two parishes, one in Arizona and one in Wisconsin.

Sources:

Nones, Jane, ed. 1994/95 Directory of Traditional Anglican and Episcopal Parishes. Tulsa, OK: Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen, 1995.

★158 ★

Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes

c/o Rt. Rev. Julius A. Neeser
152 Dixon Rd.
Etobicoke, ON, Canada M9P 2L6

The Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes is a small Canadian-based jurisdiction founded in 1998 by the merger of two previously existing jurisdictions, the Independent Anglican Diocese of Ontario and the Independent Anglican Missionary District of the USA. These jurisdictions trace their existence to some independent Anglican churches that came into existence in the 1930s, but took on new life because of the controversy in Canadian Anglicanism in the 1970s with the ordination of the first women to the priesthood, a position rejected by the Diocese. The bishops of the former jurisdictions, Rt. Rev. Julius A. Neeser and Rt. Rev. Jackson D. Worsham, Jr., now serve as the diocesan bishop and suffragan respectively. The diocese has established intercommunion with the United Episcopal Church of North America.

The diocese is in agreement with the other churches of the Continuing Church movement in its rejection of the trends followed by the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal church in the United States concerning revisions in the traditional Prayer Book, and the Diocese is committed to the use of the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. It affirms the succession of Episcopal leadership that is in a lineage of bishops that can be traced to the Apostles, and of the three levels of ordained ministry-bishop, priest, and deacon. It affirms the 39 Articles of Religion common to the Anglican tradition.

Membership: Not reported. The diocese has five congregations: four in Ontario, Canada, and one in Michigan in the United States.

Sources:

Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes. http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch03356. 15 February 2002.

★159 ★

Anglican Episcopal Church

Current address not obtained for this edition.

The Anglican Episcopal Church was founded in 1994 by Bp. Robert H. Hawn and the majority of churches and missions of the former Diocese of the West and Missionary District of the Southwest of the United Episcopal Church in North America. Bishop Hawn had been a leader in the charismatic renewal within the Episcopal Church. He was the first president of the Episcopal Charismatic Fellowship and the original editor of Acts 29, the fellowship's magazine. However, he left the Episcopal Church, joined the United Episcopal Church in North America, and in 1992 was consecrated to the episcopacy by Bps. Ogden Miller, Albion Knight, and John Gramley. He was assigned as bishop of the Diocese of the West and had oversight of the Missionary District of the Southwest. By the end of 1993, Hawn had become dissatisfied with what he termed the lack of leadership at the national level within the United Episcopal Church.

As a part of the Continuing Church Movement, the Anglican Episcopal Church adheres to the 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer and accepts the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion as its doctrinal standard. The church believes that the Episcopal Church has left the Apostolic Faith and Order. It is most favorable to charismatic congregations and members but is inclusive of noncharismatic Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics in its membership. It is open to relationships with the other churches, consisting largely of former members of the Episcopal Church constituting the Continuing Church movement.

Membership: Not reported.

★160 ★

Anglican Episcopal Church of North America

789 Allen Ct.
Palo Alto, CA 94303

The Anglican Episcopal Church of North America was founded in 1972 by Walter Hollis Adams, a veteran of the British Foreign Office who had retired in California. That same year, Adams was consecrated by William Elliot Littlewood of the Free Protestant Episcopal Church. Later that year he was consecrated sub conditione by Herman Adrian Spruit of the Church of Antioch, and the next year by Frederick Littler Pyman of the Evangelical Orthodox (Catholic) Church in America (Non-Papal Catholic).

Adams spearheaded efforts in the 1970s to bring together a number of traditional Anglican groups which, by the end of the decade, had either disappeared or merged into the Anglican Episcopal Church. These included, among others, the Anglican Church of America, the Episcopal Church (Evangelical), and the United Episcopal Church. In 1981 intercommunion was established with the American Episcopal Church (since revoked) and the Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite Jurisdiction of the Americas. On September 26, 1981, Adams was the first of several bishops to be consecrated (in Adams case sub conditione) by Bishops Francisco Pagtakhan, Sergio Mondala, and Lupe Rosete of the Philippine Independent Church, an effort initiated by Pagtakhan to promote unity among Anglican traditionalists.

In May 1982, the Anglican Episcopal Church and the American Episcopal Church met in Seattle, Washington, to discuss steps towards unity. This effort failed for a variety of reasons (Adams was undergoing emergency surgery at the time of the meeting). However, Anglican Episcopal Church Bishops John M. Hamers and Frank H. Benning withdrew from the church and, taking some of their respective dioceses with them, joined the American Episcopal Church.

In 1983, the Anglican Catholic Church (ACC) initiated discussions with Adams looking toward the merger of the two jurisdictions. At separate synods in 1985, the two formally approved the merger in which the Anglican Episcopal Church would retain its identity as the non-geographical Diocese of St. Paul within the ACC. This union was shortlived, for on July 14, 1986, with the backing of the clergy and parishes, Adams announced the withdrawal of the diocese and the reconstitution of the Anglican Episcopal Church of North America. In a manifesto published two weeks later (July 29, 1986), he accused the ACC heirarchy of intending, contrary to their previous agreement, to eliminate the special status of the Diocese of St. Paul, its bishop, and its clergy.

The Anglican Episcopal Church is traditional Anglican, with roots deeply embedded in the Church of England. It uses the King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. It believes the Holy Bible to be the inspired Word of God. It accepts the Apostles, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds, and the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion as found in the Book of Common Prayer. The church permits a broad spectrum of ceremonial practice (encompassing both high and low emphases). It has also taken the lead in supporting the recent efforts of the Bishop of London (Great Britain) and the Archbishop of Sydney (Australia) to establish a world-wide unity of faith among traditional Anglicans.

The church has two dioceses, each headed by a bishop. Bishop Adams is the ordinary for the Diocese of St. Paul. In January 1987, Robert Henry Voight, a former priest of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A., was consecrated bishop for the Diocese of the Southwest. In that service, Adams was joined by four bishops from the United Episcopal Church of North America and the Anglican Rite Jurisdiction of the Americas.

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: Laud Hall Anglican Episcopal Seminary, Deming, New Mexico.

Periodicals: Anglican Episcopal Tidings. Send orders to Box 1693, Deming, NM 88031.

Remarks: The Episcopal Church (Evangelical) was formed in 1977 by Rt. Rev. M. Dean Stephens and former members of the Protestant Episcopal Church who wished to continue to "teach the faith of Our Father as given to the Church in England and subsequently to the Episcopal Church in America" but which had been abandoned by the Protestant Episcopal Church. Stephens, formerly associated with the American Episcopal Church, had edited their periodical Ecclesia. In 1982, Stephens left the Anglican Episcopal Church and was reconsecrated in the Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite Jurisdiction of the Americas.

The United Episcopal Church was founded in 1973 by former members of the Anglican Orthodox Church under the leadership of bishops Troy A. Kaichen, Thomas Kleppinger, and Russell G. Fry. Under Kleppinger's leadership the church joined the Anglican Episcopal Council and subsequently merged with the Anglican Episcopal Church. Kleppinger served as suffragan to Bishop Adams and continued to edit the periodical Episcopal Tidings, which he had begun several years before. (Most recently, Kleppinger has transferred to the Anglican Catholic Church.)

★161 ★

Anglican Fathers of the Corpus Christi

601 Webber Rd.
Spartanburg, SC 29307

The Anglican Fathers of the Corpus Christi is a small Anglican jurisdiction operating in the American South that describes itself as a community of bishops, priests, deacons, and subdeacons who are faithful to traditional Anglican beliefs and practices, especially as related to the affirmation that grew out of the convention of traditionally-oriented Episcopalians who met in St. Louis in 1976 and who served in parishes and missions in America. The jurisdiction is led by its two bishops: Rt. Rev. Kenn Duley, who serves St. Francis parish in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and oversees the adjacent seminary center, and Rt. Rev. Arthur Rushlow, who also serves as rector of St. George's Church in Ocala, Florida. They constitute the pontificate and have the power to assign parish priests and to choose their own successors.

The church represents the Anglo-Catholic or high-church wing of Anglicanism that emphasizes the church's affinity with Roman Catholicism. It is committed to the 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer and rejects the more recent revision of the Book that are now commonly used in the parishes of the Episcopal Church.

The jurisdiction sponsors the St. Anselm Seminary Center for the training of clergy. The center is also home to the Anglican Guild of Scholars and a Parish Resource Center.

The Episcopate of the Anglican Fathers of the Corpus Christi had developed a relationship with Mt. Rev. A. Donald Davies, the retired conservative bishop of Forth Worth, Texas, of the Episcopal Church who has become the Primate Archbishop of a Canadian branch of the Continuing Church movement, the Christian Episcopal Church of Canada.

Membership: Not reported. There are six parishes in Florida and South Carolina.

Educational Facilities: St. Anselm Seminary Center, Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Sources:

Anglican Fathers of the Corpus Christi. http://www.anglican-church.org/afccindx.html. 15 February 2002.

★162 ★

Anglican Independent Communion

c/o St. Paul's Anglican Church
Crownsville/Annapolis, MD 21032

The Anglican Independent Communion is a small independent jurisdiction that considers itself as part of the larger Continuing Church movement that grew out of the convention of traditionally-oriented Episcopalians who met in St. Louis in 1976. The communion was founded in the later 1990s and held its first annual meeting in 1999. At that time, the Rev. Peter A. Compton-Caputo (d.2000) was named the first presiding bishop. He was succeeded by Rt. Rev. Robert Samuel Loiselle, who currently leads the church. Bishop Loiselle was consecrated as a bishop by Bishop Paget E.J. Mack of the Apostolic Episcopal Church, who was joined by Bishop Emigidiusz J. Ryzy and Bishop Compton-Caputo. Bishop Mack had been consecrated by Archbishop Bertil Persson of the Apostolic Episcopal Church, assisted by bishops Francis C. Spatero and Edwin Caudill.

Among the highlights of the church's short history was the participation of Bishop Compton-Caputo and other clergy in the meeting at Brandenburg, Maryland, at which traditional Anglican leaders called for the Episcopal Church to return to its authentic Catholic roots. Speakers centered their remarks around their affirmation that as Anglicans, they had no faith except that of the fathers of the church and of the undivided councils (from which they believed the Episcopal Church had departed). Also participating was Archbishop Louis W. Falk and Bishop Louis Compese of the Anglican Church in America.

In 2000, the communion also adopted a Statement of Doctrine that accepts the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the 39 Articles of Religion (of traditional Anglicanism), and the authority of the Holy Scriptures. The communion accepts only males to the ordained priesthood.

The communion sponsors the Atlantic Orthodox and Anglican Seminary that was co-founded by the communion and Most Rev. E. J. Ryzy, the Primate of American World Patriarchs.

Membership: Not reported. The Anglican Independent communion has two congregations, both in Maryland.

Educational Facilities: Atlantic Orthodox and Anglican Seminary, Lothian, Maryland.

Sources:

Anglican Independent communion. http://www.cinemaparallel.com/anglican.html. 15 February 2002.

★163 ★

Anglican Mission in America

PO Box 3427
Pawleys Island, SC 29585

The Anglican Mission in America began in 2000 following three years of negotiation among members of the conservative Continuing Church movement in the United States and several bishops of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The mission was born in Amsterdam, Holland, in August 2000 following three years of preparation. In 1997, the Association of Anglican Congregations on Mission (a non-profit corporation), claiming to represent a wide spectrum of conservative Episcopalians, petitioned the Episcopal Church hierarchy concerning what they saw as a case of exceptional emergency caused by the rejection of the authority of the Bible, the undermining of the orthodox Anglican faith, and the approval given to sexual relations outside of marriage (especially homosexuality). The association professed belief in the Anglican tradition and commitment to the historic creeds of the Christian church and the traditional prayer book. It affirmed the 39 Articles of Religion and the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral. Earlier that year, several bishops of the worldwide Anglican Communion had protested the action of Anglican bishops in ordaining practicing homosexuals and blessing same-sex unions.

Then in January 2000, Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini of Rwanda and Datuk Yong Ping Chung of South East Asia consecrated Revs. Charles H. Murphy and John H. Rodgers as Missionary Bishops to the United States representing Rwanda and South East Asia. This action sent shock waves through the communion as it represented the entrance of bishops from two Anglican provinces into the territory assigned to another Anglican jurisdiction with whom they were in full communion. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the chief spokesman for the Anglican Communion, has refused to recognize the missions, and the issue remains unresolved. The mission has seen a precedent for its existence in other less than strictly geographical dioceses. In 2001, four additional bishops were consecrated for the mission.

However, the American Mission founded subsequently to the consecration began immediately to receive congregations that wished to leave the Episcopal Church and to plant new congregations across the United States in the belief that a parallel Anglican communion/province in America was the future. The mission sees itself as an Anglican missionary effort in the United States from countries that were in the last century the objects of the missionary thrust. As such, it is not believed to be a new church, but a mission to the American church and accountable to the Archbishops of Rwanda and South East Asia.

While adhering to traditional Anglican belief and practice, the new mission has been open to the wide range of belief and practice within Anglicanism, including the charismatic, the low-church evangelicals, and the high church Anglo-Catholics. It also accepts females into the priesthood, unlike most churches of the Continuing Church movement.

The mission has developed a working agreement with the Reformed Episcopal Church and the Anglican Province of America, and developed an association with the Anglican Evangelical Church. While disagreeing with many of the conservative Anglican churches on female priests, it has a concern to bring together the various Anglican splinter jurisdictions.

The church sponsors the Institute for Christian Leadership, Pawleys Island, South Carolina, for the training of clergy. The institute has an academic partnership with Columbia International University, Columbia, South Carolina.

Membership: Not reported. As of 2001, the mission had 37 affiliated congregations and was in a growth phase with every month bringing clergy, individual members, and congregations into the membership.

Educational Facilities: Institute for Christian Leadership, Pawleys Island, South Carolina

Periodicals: Newsletter.

Sources:

Anglican Mission in America. http://anglicanmissioninamerica.org/. 15 February 2002.

★164 ★

Anglican Orthodox Church

323 Walnut St.
Box 128 Statesville, NC 28687

Rev. James Parker Dees, a priest in the Protestant Episcopal Church, was the first of the modern spokespersons to call the members of that church who opposed the changes in liturgy and program to come out and separate themselves from apostasy. A low church Episcopalian, he had trouble with both liberalism, which he felt denied biblical authority, and sacerdotalism among high church members. He therefore left the Episcopal Church and in 1963 formed the Anglican Orthodox Church. The following year he received episcopal orders from autocephalous Ukrainian Bishop Wasyl Sawyna and Old Catholic Bishop Orlando J. Woodward (who later joined the United Episcopal Church of America). Formed in the southern United States in the early 1960s, the North Carolina-based group found its greatest response among Episcopalians who rejected the Protestant Episcopal Church's departure from scriptural teaching and sound biblical doctrine.

The Anglican Orthodox Church follows the low church in a very conservative manner. It adheres to the Thirty-Nine Articles and uses the 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. The polity is episcopal, but local congregations are autonomous and own their own property. Much power has been placed in the hands of the presiding bishop in order to provide a strong center of leadership and reduce the opportunity for error.

The Anglican Orthodox Church was able to bring together many pockets of dissent, however, and has created a strong church. By 1972 it had 37 congregations, though some were lost to other Anglican splinters as the decade progressed. Dees established Cramner Seminary, which in 1977 had four full-time students. He also has brought the church into communion with like-minded churches in Pakistan, South India, Nigeria, the Fiji Islands, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Central African Republic, Madagascar, Colombia, South Africa, the Philippines, Japan, and Liberia.

As other Anglican groups have formed, Dees was pressed to draw sharp lines of distinction. He argued against the doctrinal "looseness" and high church tendencies in other groups of Anglicans. He continued his campaign against the growing "apostasy" he saw within the Protestant Episcopal Church, and concentrated his attention upon building the Anglican Orthodox Church as a viable and continuing denomination. Bishop Dees died in 1990. The present bishop is Rt. Rev. Jerry L. Ogles.

Membership: In 2002 the church reported congregations and members in most of the 50 states. Foreign work, both missionary and with other jurisdictions in communion with the church, has given it a worldwide constituency of over 100,000. There are members in Liberia, Madagascar, South Africa, Philippines, Pakistan, Central African Republic, India, Canada, Kenya, and Haiti.

Educational Facilities: Cramner Seminary, Statesville, North Carolina.

Periodicals: The Anchor of Faith.

Sources:

Dees, James P. Reformation Anglicanism. Statesville, NC: Anglican Orthodox Church, 1971.

★165 ★

Anglican Province of America

℅ Saint Alban's Anglican Cathedral
3348 W. State Rd. 426
Oviedo, FL 32765

The Anglican Province of America is a traditional Anglican jurisdiction. The Most Rev. Walter H. Grundorf serves as its presiding bishop. It follows the Anglican tradition as passed from the Church of England to the Episcopal Church in the United States, and at one with other churches of the continuing church movement who have left the Episcopal Church in the last three decades, uses the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. The church is led by its bishops and adheres to the faith as summarized in the creeds and in the teachings defined by the early church in its councils.

While headed by bishops, the church has developed a democratic format that involves laity in all levels of ongoing decision making (other than doctrinal) and local church property is owned by the congregation.

Membership: In 2002 the organization reported 4,000 baptist members and 40 congregations.

Educational Facilities: Cranmer Theological House, Houston, TX.

Sources:

http://www.concentric.net/~agape/apa.html/.

★166 ★

Anglican Province of Christ the King

Box 40020
Berkeley, CA 94704

The Anglican Province of Christ the King shares the history of that larger conservative movement which participated in the 1977 congress at St. Louis and approved the "Affirmation" adopted by the delegates. The Province was one of the four original provisional dioceses that were formed. Its bishop-elect, Robert S. Morse, was consecrated along with the other new Anglican bishops in Denver, Colorado, on January 28, 1978, by Bishops Albert Chambers, Francisco Pagtakhan, and C. Dale D. Doren. However, Bishop Morse and other members of his diocese were among those most opposed to the new constitution adopted by the synod at Dallas in 1978 by the group which took the name Anglican Catholic Church. Neither what was then termed the Diocese of Christ the King nor the Diocese of the Southeast ratified the constitution, preferring instead to work without such a document. They called a synod meeting for Hot Springs, Arkansas, on October 16-18, 1978, two days immediately prior to the opening of the Anglican Catholic Church synod at Indianapolis, Indiana. Those gathered at Hot Springs decided to continue informally to use the name "Anglican Church of North America." They adopted canons (church laws) but no constitution.

The new jurisdiction immediately faced intense administrative pressures. In response to the "Anglican Church of North America" claiming many congregations in California and the South, the Anglican Catholic Church established a new structure, the patrimony, to facilitate the movement of existing congregations into the church and to assist the formation of new congregations in areas not covered by existing diocesan structures. Both Bishop Morse and Bishop Watterson viewed the patrimony as an attempt to steal the congregations under their jurisdiction.

The pressure from the Anglican Catholic Church did not keep the two dioceses in the "Anglican Church of North America" from facing crucial internal issues. Bishop Watterson argued for a strict division of the Anglican Church of North America into geographical dioceses with the understanding that neither bishop would attempt to establish congregations or missions in the other's diocese. The Diocese of Christ the King rejected Watterson's suggestions, and the Diocese of the Southeast became a separate jurisdiction. The Diocese of Christ the King proceeded to initiate work in the South.

Once separated, the Diocese of the Southeast experienced continued internal problems. In 1980, nine congregations withdrew with the blessing of Bishop Francisco Pagtakhan (who was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the Anglican Catholic Church) and formed the Associated Parishes, Traditional Anglo-Catholic. Pagtakhan named Fr. J. Bruce Medaris as archdeacon. This new jurisdiction dissolved very quickly and merged back into Anglican Catholic Church. Finally, in 1984, Bishop Watterson resigned his office and joined the Roman Catholic Church. His jurisdiction dissolved and the remaining congregations realigned themselves with the other Anglican bodies. The dissolution of the Diocese of the Southeast left the Diocese of Christ the King the only diocese in the "Anglican Church of North America."

At its synod meeting in 1991, the Dicoese of Christ the King voted to completely reorganize as the Anglican Province of Christ the King. The congregations were divided into three dioceses. At subsequent meetings of the new dioceses, George Daniels Sten-house was elected bishop of the Diocese of Eastern States and James Pollard Clark of the Diocese of Southern States. Morse became bishop of the new Diocese of Western States.

The Anglican Province of Christ the King is at one in faith and practice with the other Anglican bodies, holding to the faith of the undivided primitive church to which Episcopalians have always belonged, as spelled out in the affirmation of St. Louis. It rejects both the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. It differs from the Anglican Catholic Church on several matters of canon law and its insistance that its clergy be seminary trained.

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: Saint Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Theological College, Berkeley, California.

Periodicals: The Province.

Sources:

A Directory of Churches in the Continuing Anglican Tradition 1983-84. Eureka Springs, AK: Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen, 1983-84.

★167 ★

Anglican Rite Catholic and Orthodox Church in America

9 Abaco St.
Toms River, NJ 08757-3736

The Anglican Rite Catholic and Apostolic Church in America was founded in 1997 by Abp. James N. Meola. Meola had been consecrated in 1986 by Bp. John Riffenbury, then with the United Anglican Church of North America. He has served as a bishop with the Free Protestant Episcopal Church, the Southern Episcopal Church, and the Independent Philippine Catholic Church (IPCC). In 1996 he became the secretary general of the American branch of the IPCC, a position he held until the founding of the Anglican Rite Church.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

Barrett, David B. World Christian Encyclopedia. New York: Oxford, 1982.

★168 ★

Anglican Rite Old Catholic Church

PO Box 451006
Houston, TX 77245-1006

The Anglican Rite Old Catholic Church is an independent Old Catholic jurisdiction founded in Houston, Texas, in 1994 by its Metropolitan Abp. William Champion, pastor of St. Albans Catholic Church-Anglican Rite in Houston. He is assisted by Most Rev. Louis Bernhardt, Bishop of South Texas and Mexico. Bishop Louis is executive director of the Internet Catholic Church. The church uses the 1928 edition of the Prayerbook.

The church is a member of the Holy Patriarchate of the Americas and the Federation of Independent Catholic and Orthodox Bishops. It is in communion with the Patriarch of the American Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox) and the Byzantine Independent Catholic Church of North America.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch01331/.

★169 ★

Anglican Rite Synod in the Americas

Current address not obtained for this edition.

Alternate Address: Office of Metropolitan Abp. Herbert M. Grace, 875 Berkshire Valley Rd., Wharton, NJ 07885.

The Anglican Rite Synod in the Americas was founded in 1989 by David Marion-Davis, William C. Thompson, and Rt. Rev. Larry L. Shaver (b. 1936), formerly a bishop with the Holy Catholic

Church, Anglican Rite Jurisdiction and the American Episcopal Church. Shaver began his pastoral career as a Methodist minister, but was led first to the Lutheran and then the Anglican tradition by his discovery of and love for Apostolic Faith and other including sacramental theology. He was elected and consecrated a bishop by Abp. Frederick Littler Pyman of the Evangelical Orthodox (Catholic) Church in America (Non-Papal Catholic) while still a Lutheran pastor (1972), and following his retirement from the Lutheran Church (1980), he emerged as Pyman's coadjutant.

In 1985, Shaver was reconsecrated sub conditione by Abp. Gerald Wayne Craig Abp. Robert Q. Kennaugh, and Bp. Ogden Miller of the Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite Jurisdiction. That same year (1985) he began to build a congregation (ProCathedral of St. Andrew) in Merrillville, Indiana. In late 1987 he and St. Andrew Church left the Anglican Rite Jurisdiction. In 1989, with the permission of the Philippine Independent Catholic Church, he led in the founding of the Anglican Rite Synod as an independent church body in full communion with the PICC. Cofounders in this effort were Bps. Davis and Thompson, both formerly of the Philippine Independent Catholic Church. Shaver was reconsecrated sub conditione by Philippine Abp. Francisco Pagtakhan and Abp. Macario V. Ga. He was elevated to the rank of archbishop with full vote and voice in the Sacred Council of Bishops of the PICC in November 1994 by Abp. Maximo Macario V. Ga.

The Anglican Rite Synod in the Americas is one with several other traditional Anglican jurisdictions, its difference being more administrative than doctrinal, and it is currently engaged in unity talks with other Anglican jurisdictions. A mission in Haiti is supported.

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: Geneva Theological College, Merrillville, Indiana.

Sources:

"Profile: Bishop Shaver." The Evangelist 3, 4 (June 1985). Ward, Gary L. Independent Bishops: An International Directory. Detroit, MI: Apogee Books, 1990. 524 pp.

★170 ★

The Celtic Christian Church

℅ Most Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Grenier
PO Box 299
Canadensis, PA 18325-0299

The Celtic Christian Church, formerly known as St. Ciaran's Fellowship of Celtic Christian Communities, is a contemporary independent Catholic and Orthodox church inspired by the ancient Celtic Church. It adheres to the Seven Ecumenical Councils of the undivided Christian church and the Nicene Creed. It celebrates the seven sacraments (also called Mysteries) of this church, and believes in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

While contemporary Celtic Christian spirituality has held a special appeal to persons of Celtic heritage, the Celtic Christian Church not an ethnic fellowship and welcomes all who are attracted to the Christian life it offers. The church is comprised of small faith communities, some meeting as "house churches" or in small chapels. Stress is placed on small communities based on family, friends and kin, not in any exclusive way but practicing hospitality. Priesthood is open to both men and women, married or celibate. The bishops are elected by the church's members.

Most Rev. Joseph A. Grenier, founder and bishop of the Celtic Christian Church, was ordained a priest in 1958 in Rome, and has a Ph.D. in Theology from Fordham University in New York City. He was employed as a family therapist.

Membership: There are about 100 persons in the church.

Sources:

Barrett, David B. World Christian Encyclopedia. New York: Oxford, 1982.

★171 ★

Celtic Evangelical Church

PO Box 90880
Honolulu, HI 96835-0880

The Celtic Evangelical Church is a small Anglican body formed in 1981 by its presbyter-abbot, Wayne W. Gau, and others who had formerly been members of the Celtic Catholic Church. Inquiring about the background of the episcopal credentials of that church's bishop, Dwain Houser, they had asked numerous questions about it that had remained unanswered.

At its first general synod in November 1981, the church adopted a nine-point doctrinal statement. It is evangelical in its approach and regards the teachings and liturgy of the original Celtic church as authoritative. There are seven sacraments: two major sacraments, baptism and the eucharist, necessary for all Christians; and five minor sacraments, confirmation, penance, holy orders, matrimony, and unction, warranted by scripture but not mandatory. It acknowledges the Real Presence of Christ in the bread and wine of the holy eucharist. The filioque clause in the Nicene Creed is rejected, following the practice of the Eastern Orthodox churches. Worship is conducted in Latin following the ancient Celtic rite.

The Church has nurtured one religious order for men, the Community of St. Columba. Members are engaged in research in the ancient liturgies of Christianity, with special emphasis upon Celtic and Gallican-type rites. The order's work is directed by Canon James H. Donalson. It accepts associate members from other denominations.

In 1983, the church signed a concordant of intercommunion with the Catholic Apostolic Church of America, a small Anglican jurisdiction with parishes in the southwestern United States. That concordant was terminated in 1985, when the Catholic Apostolic Church united with the Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite Jurisdiction of the Americas. However, in 1987, Msgr. James B. Gillespie left the Anglican Rite Jurisdiction and reorganized the Catholic Apostolic Church of America as an independent jurisdiction. The Celtic Evangelical Church reinstituted the concordant with the revived church. In 1992 the church signed a concordat of intercommunion with the Independent Anglican Church-Canada Synod, followed by a similar agreement with the Episcopal Missionary Church in 1993, and the Igreja Catolica Apostolica Ortodoxa do Brasil in 1997.

Membership: In 2002, the church had one congregation in Hawaii.

Educational Facilities: The Iona Institute, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Periodicals: The Celtic Evangelist.

★172 ★

Charismatic Episcopal Church

St. Michael's Pro-Cathedral
107 W. Marquita
San Clemente, CA 92672

The Charismatic Episcopal Church is a conservative Anglican church which differs from other jurisdictions of the Continuing Church Movement by its acceptance and support for the charismatic experience. Members of the church are encouraged to participate in the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit as mentioned in I Corinthians 12. Such gifts include speaking in tongues, divine healing, and prophecy. The charismatic movement spread through the Episcopal Church in the 1970s, but some charismatics found themselves alienated from the directions being pursued by the church as a whole.

The Charismatic Episcopal Church spread across the United States in the 1990s with parishes in nine states. The church is headed by its presiding archbishop Randolph Adler. A diocese for the southern states is headquartered in Florida and for the midwestern states, in Kansas.

Membership: Not reported. In 1995 the church had 16 parishes.

Sources:

Nones, Jane, ed. 1994/95 Directory of Traditional Anglican and Episcopal Parishes. Tulsa, OK: Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen, 1995.

★173 ★

Christian Episcopal Church of Canada

4300 Corless Rd.
Richmond, BC, Canada V7C 1N2

In 1992, some traditionalists within the Anglican Church of Canada who had hoped that the church would reverse what they saw as a growing tolerance for teachings contrary to the Christian faith concluded that their situation had become hopeless. It also became clear to them that the church would not only remain on its present course but would provide no haven for traditionalists within the church community. Their major complaints against the church included its support of Third World liberation movements, the ordination of female priests and bishops, new liturgical and hymn books perceived to be theologically flawed, and the presence (with official approval) of highly offensive "pagan" rites under the guise of feminist and Native spirituality.

Meanwhile in the United States, traditionalists within the Episcopal Church had reached a similar conclusion, and with leadership provided by Rt. Rev. A. Donald Davies, formerly a bishop in the Episcopal Church, they formed the Episcopal Missionary Church. Bishop Davies, who had emerged as a conservative leader in the Episcopal Church while serving as the bishop of Dallas/Ft. Worth (Texas), also assisted the traditionalists in Canada in the creation of the Christian Episcopal Church of Canada. Through Davies and the Episcopal Missionary Church, they received apostolic orders.

The church is theologically conservative and has accepted as its doctrinal standards the Bible, the three creeds of the early Church (Apostles, Nicene, and Chacedonian Creeds), the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, and the Book of Common Prayer. The church uses the 1962 Canadian edition of the Book of Common Prayer and the Canadian Book of Common Praise. Women are welcomed into the order of deacon but are barred from the priesthood.

Membership: Not reported.

★174 ★

Christian Episcopal Church of Canada

c/o Rt. Rev. Jon M. Lindenauer
32701 5th Ave. SW
Federal Way, WA 98023-5616

A. Donald Davies served the Episcopal Church as the bishop of the Diocese of Dallas (1970-1978), the Diocese of Fort Worth (1983-1985), and the Convocation of American Churches in Europe (1986 to 1988). In 1985, when he retired from the Fort Worth post, he was honored in a resolution by the church's House of Bishops for his "unusually vigorous and splendid leadership at many levels of Church life, both diocesan and national." During these years, he founded the Episcopal Synod, a organization for conservative dissent within the church. Four years after his retirement, he concluded that the Episcopal Church was never going to be responsive to conservatives and he founded the Episcopal Missionary Church (which now continues under other leadership).

At the end of the 1990s, Davies severed his relation with the Episcopal Missionary Church and became the Archbishop Primate of the Christian Episcopal Church, incorporated in Washington in 2000. The church sees itself as a daughter of the Church of England and it accepts consensus Anglican beliefs and practices as expressed in the 39 Articles of Religion and the Book of Common Prayer. It believes that both the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church have departed from traditional Anglican standards. Through Davies, the church possesses and transmits to its clergy the lineage of apostolic succession from the bishops of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and maintains the threefold ministry of bishop, priest, and deacon. In Canada the church adheres to the idea that the ruler of the United Kingdom (at the moment Queen Elizabeth II) is the Supreme Governor of the Christian Church within her Dominions, and that such royal supremacy is in accord with Scripture Word of God and that it should be preserved.

The church immediately became an international church with parishes/dioceses in Canada, the United States, Haiti, and the Cayman Islands. Rt. Rev. Jon M. Lindenauer leads the church in the United States. In addition, the church is in communion with the Anglican Fathers of the Corpus Christi, a small jurisdiction operating in South Carolina and Florida.

Membership: Not reported. There are two parishes in Canada, five in the United States, eight in Haiti, and two in the Cayman Islands.

Sources:

Christian Episcopal Church. http://www.traditionalanglican.net/. 15 February 2002.

Christian Episcopal Church of Canada. http://christianepiscopal.org/. 15 February 2002.

★175 ★

Church of North India

Current address not obtained for this edition.

Alternate Address: International headquarters: PO Box 311, CNI Bhavan, 16 Pandit Pant Marg, New Delhi 110 001, India.

The Church of North India, formed in 1970, was the product of more than four decades of merger negotiation among various churches that had grown out of nineteenth century Protestant Christian missions. The Church of England entered India through the Church Missionary Society in 1813 and with in a few decades had thriving work in such places as Benares, Lucknow, Meerrut, and Allahabad. Its work was supplemented by the efforts of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. British Methodists entered in 1819, after beginning work in Sri Lanka prior to their being allowed into India proper. While their work was concentrated in the south, it eventually moved into Bengal, Benares, and Lucknow.

The Baptists initiated their world missionary enterprise in India with the formation of the Baptist Missionary Society in London in 1792. William Carey and John Thompson landed in Bengal the next year and established their headquarters at Serampore. The work expanded greatly in the 1820s after a college to train Indian national leadership had been established in 1818. One of the larger bodies to grow out of the original mission was the Council of Baptist Churches in North India.

The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (supported by American Congregationalists, now a part of the United Church of Christ) sent missionaries to Sri Lanka in 1818. Missionary Dr. John Scudder, arrived in Madura in 1835. From there, the work spread across India to include a variety of educational and social service institutions, the most notable in the north being a medical college at Ludhiana. Ludhiana had been the site of the original mission station established by the Presbyterians from the United States in 1834. In 1924, the Presbyterian and Congregational missions merged their efforts and formed the United Church of North India.

The Moravians did not intend to initiate work in India, but when it missionaries were unable to enter Tibet, they settled at Kyelang, India, and worked among the Tibetan-speaking residents there. Work expanded to include the Ladakh people along the China-Tibet border, though few converts were made. World War I spurred the drive to develop indigenous leadership. In 1953, the congregation at Leh, the capital of Ladkh, affiliated with the United Church of North India.

The Church of the Brethren launched it mission in India in 1895, concentrating on the Gujarati-speaking region in northwest India. It expanded in the early in the twentieth century to include stations in the Marathi-speaking area along the coast north of Mumbai (Bombay). The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) began its work in India at Harda (northeast of Mumbai) in 1882. From the initial station, missionaries established centers primarily in the central part of the country.

Negations toward the union of missions in North India began early in the twentieth century, and were further spurred by the formation of the Church of South India. However, the northern groups faced additional theological and organizational problems before a merger could be accepted by the participants. The Plan of Union was completed in 1970 and found approval with seven groups: the Council of Baptist Churches in North India, the Church of the Brethren, the Disciples of Christ, the Methodist Church, the United Church of North India, and the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma, and Ceylon, as the Anglicans were then known.

The new church adopted an episcopal polity, thus making it acceptable to the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church also retained membership in the World Methodist Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and cooperates with Global Ministries, the combined world ministries agency for the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The church developed its own ecumenical statement of faith included in the "Basis of Union" document promulgated in 1970. In 1978 it developed full communion with the Church of South India and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar. The three churches accept the validity of each other's sacraments and ministerial credentials.

The church is led by its bishops and the General Synod, its highest legislative body, which meets every three years.

Through the twentieth century, but especially since 1965, members of the Church of North India have moved to the United States. There is as yet no central headquarters for the church in North America, and the Episcopal Church has assumed some responsibility for their care.

Membership: The church reports 1.25 million members worldwide in 2001. There are 26 dioceses in India.

Periodicals: India Church Review, 16 Pandit Pant Marg, New Delhi 110001.

Sources:

The Church of North India. http://www.cnisynod.org/. 15 February 2002.

Marshall, W. J. A United Church: Faith and Order in the North India/ Pakistan Unity Plan: A Theological Assessment. New Delhi: I.S.P.C.K.,1987.

Neill, Stephen C. A History of Christianity in India. 2 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984-85.

Webster, J. C. B. The Christian Community and Change in Nineteenth Century North India. Delhi: Macmillan, 1976.

★176 ★

Church of South India

c/o CSI Christ Church of Chicago
5857 W. Giddings
Chicago, IL 60630

Alternate Address: International headquarters: CSI Centre, No. 5 Whites Rd., PO Box 688, Royapettah, Madras 600 014, India.

The Church of South India was founded in 1947 by the merger of the Anglican, Methodist, Congregationalist and Presbyterians mission churches that had been founded in southern half of the Indian subcontinent early in the nineteenth century. India was one of the first countries targeted by Protestant groups as they began the missionary movement that would turn Protestantism into a global reality through the last two centuries. The original Indian mission was begun by two graduates of the University of Halle (Germany) in 1706. Care for that work would later be assumed by representatives of the Church of England. The real beginning of the Church of South India began with the arrival of Nathaniel Forsyth in 1798 of the Congregational Church-based London Missionary Society. His initial work in Calcutta soon expanded to Madras(1814) and Travancore (1818). In 1813, Abdul Masih, an Anglican convert from the Middle East, began missionary work for the Church Missionary Society (associated with the Church of England) in the United Province. Previously, the East India Company, that controlled European access to most of India, had blocked missionary expansion, but in 1813 Parliament forced the company to open the land. British Methodists also took advantage of the new policy and sent its first group of missionaries to India. Though initially held up in Sri Lanka, one of their number made it to the Indian mainland in 1817.

Missionaries from the Scottish Missionary Society (Presbyterians affiliated with the Church of Scotland) began work in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1823. In 1833, American Presbyterians and Congregationalists moved into India with missionaries arriving under the sponsorship of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The American Board, like the Methodists, had been working in Sri Lanka.

Efforts to end competition and extend cooperation led to a series of mergers that began in 1901 when the American and Scottish Presbyterian missions merged to formed the South India United Church. Four years later, the British and American Congregationalists united to form the Congregational General Union of South India. The United Church and the General Union merged in 1924 as the United Church of South India.

In the years after World War I, negotiations began to create a broad union that would include the Anglican and Methodist churches. For such a merger to occur, the issues of the form of government of the new church and the nature of ministerial orders would have to be resolved. The Anglicans insisted upon the institution of a threefold ministry of bishop, priest, and deacon, which in the end was accepted, as was the idea of an episcopacy in apostolic lineage reaching back to Christ's twelve Apostles. The Church of South India, formed in 1947, accepted as its doctrinal position the Lambeth Quadrilateral, the historic statement of Anglican agreement.

Today, the congregations are divided among 16 dioceses (including one diocese in Sri Lanka). The synod, the highest legislative body, meets biennially at which time the presiding bishop is designated. The church is a member of the World Council of Churches, the Anglican Communion, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the World Methodist Council. In 1972 the Church of England's General Synod finally voted fill communion.

A number of the CSI members have moved to the United States, especially since immigration was eased in 1965. At first many worshipped in parishes of either the Episcopal Church or one of the Indian Orthodox churches, but gradually began to form groups that evolved into churches. In 1981, the diocese of Kerala recognized the existence of these several parishes and began to include them in their pastoral concern. In 1988, the CSI Synod placed all of the parishes of the church outside of the country directly under the Presiding Bishop. These congregations have a cordial relationship with the Episcopal Church.

Membership: Not reported. There are five congregations in the United States, in Chicago; Philadelphia; Dallas; Woodridge, New Jersey; and Bronxville, New York. In 2000, the church reported 3,800,000 members in 14,000 congregations worldwide, the great majority in India.

Sources:

Church of South India. http://www.csichurch.com/. 27 February 2002.

The Church of England Yearbook. London: Church Publishing House, 2002.

Kane, J. Herbert. A Global View of Christian Mission. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House,1971.

Van der Bent, Ans J., ed. Handbook/Member Churches/World Council of Churches. Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1985.

Wingate, Andrew, et al, eds. Anglicanism: A Global Communion. London: Mobray, 1998.

★177 ★

Church of the Culdees

℅ Most Rev. Ivan B. D. G. MacKillop, OCC
2665 "C" St.
Springfield, OR 97477

The Church of the Culdees was founded in the mid-1990s by the Most Rev. Ivan B. D. G. Mackillop. MacKillop had been consecrated in 1984 by Bp. Robert E. Burns of the Servant Catholic Church and had served as the bishop of its western diocese. While still associated with the Servant Catholic Church, he had founded the Order of the Celtic Cross, which continues as part of the independent Church of the Culdees.

Within the early Culdee (Celtic and Anglo-Saxon) Church, nearly all establishments were monastic, that is to say, that "parish" churches were usually associated with a monastery. Clergy were drawn from monastic ranks, and it was the monastery which served as the seminary for training candidates for Holy Orders. There were a number of "joint" monasteries of both men and women, the most famous being Kildare, founded by St. Brigid and ruled by an abbess. Celibacy was not universal among monastics, even those in Holy Orders.

The contemporary Church of the Culdees is guided and formed by this same style. The Order of the Celtic Cross is open to any man or woman, married or single, who is at least 18 years old and has been a regularly participating member of the church for at least one year and passes an entrance exam. Members of the Order of the Celtic Cross vow: moral purity, apostolic poverty, obedience, and stability. The vow of stability means that they will not leave the jurisdiction of their abbot or abbess without his or her approval, nor may they be forced to leave without their own consent. Although members of the order continue to lead their "secular" lives with jobs, family, and other demands, they are required to pray the Morning, Mid-Day, Evening, and Night Offices every day. They must attend all church functions unless given specific release from their abbot or abbess.

The Church of the Culdees has a leadership composed of deacons, priests, and bishops. It is associated with the Celtic Christian Communion.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

http://www.continet.com/culdee/.

★178 ★

Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches

5224 E. 69th Pl.
Tulsa, OK 74136-3407

The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches (CEEC) is one of the products of the "convergence movement," the term referring to the "convergence" of various streams of renewal that shared an understanding of the church as one Body with a variety of diverse but contributing parts. Following the lead of Swedish Bishop Leslie Newbigin, the convergence movement affirmed the threefold essence of the church as Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox/Pentecostal. The church is Catholic as it relates to the emphases of "incarnation and creation," Protestant with an emphasis on "biblical proclamation and conversion," and Orthodox/ Pentecostal in relation to "the mystical and the Holy Spirit."

In the 1970s, drawing on insights from the ecumenical, charismatic, and Liturgical Renewal movements, Robert Webber, a professor of Theology and Bible at Wheaton College, began to articulate the convergence theme as he sought to promote ecumenical and evangelical renewal. His book Common Roots (1978) highlighted the resources from the second-century church for renewal and then in a second volume, Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Why Evangelica Christians Are Attracted to the Liturgical Church (1985), he told of his own pilgrimage to Anglicanism.

Webber's initial voice led to the formation of the Fellowship of St. Barnabas, which sponsored the 1993 conference in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on the "Treasures Old and New: The Convergence of the Streams of Christianity." Attending were a variety of people on a journey to liturgical life, many from a Pentecostal/ charismatic background, including some of the founders of the Charismatic Episcopal Church. Also in attendance were the future founders of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches.

The CEEC was formally inaugurated in 1995 at which time the first bishops were consecrated. The name Evangelical Episcopal church was chosen. The previously consecrated Michael D. Owen, who presided over the ceremony, was asked to become the first presiding bishop of the new jurisdiction and its initial five congregations. The church experienced spectacular growth in its first year, and in 1996, missionary bishops were consecrated to respond to inquiries for affiliation from outside the United States.

In 1997, the church, in response to an emerging vision of its future, decided to completely reorganize and began anew as the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches. The new corporation allowed for the formation of new provinces overseas. Affiliated work began in the Philippines, India, Canada, England, Romania, and Hungary.

In 2000, the CEEC received Archbishop Gilbert McDowell and churches and clergy that were formerly a part of the Traditional Episcopal Church. McDowell now heads the extraterritorial Province of the Holy Spirit, overseen with the CEEC.

As of 2002, a diocese has been established in the Philippines and work is expanding into Indonesia and other nearby countries. An archdiocese exists in the Caribbean that includes congregations in churches in the West Indies, Haiti, Mexico, and Guyana. In the United States there are two provinces: the Provincial Diocese of Christ the Good Shepherd, with three missionary dioceses, and the Province of the USA that includes eight dioceses. Archbishop Paul Wayne Boosahda currently serves as the Presiding Bishop for the CEEC.

Doctrinally, the CEEC accepts the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1886, which cites the authority of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, The Apostle's Creed, the Nicene Creed, two sacraments (baptism and the supper of the Lord), and the historic episcopate. The CEEC ordains women to the diaconate, the only exception being in those countries where it is believed that cultural differences would present an obstacle to the church's witness within a given culture. Ordination of women to the priesthood is left to the discretion of the bishop of each diocese.

The CEEC has established intercommunion agreements with the Anamchara Celtic Church, the International Communion of Christian Churches (led by Archbishop Daniel Williams), and the American Old Catholic Church (with headquarters in Aurora, Colorado, under the leadership of Archbishop Daniel Gincig).

Membership: In 2002, the CEEC reported 46 congregations and 145 clergy in the United States. Worldwide, there are 240 congregations in full affiliation with the CEEC and an additional 1100 congregations/missions in association with the CEEC through their bishops/leaders. There are affiliated churches, missions, and clergy in 22 nations (Canada, England, Romania, India, Philippines, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Sudan, Burundi, Malawi, Angola, Ghana, Italy, Colombia, Mexico, Haiti, Barbados, S. Vincent, Tobago, and Guyana).

Educational Facilities: Theological College of St. Alcuin, St. Paul, Minnesota;

Evangelical Episcopal University and Theological Seminary, Memphis, Tennessee;
St. Jude's Seminary, Phoenix, Arizona;
St. Patrick's Diocesan School of Theology, Tulsa, Oklahoma;
Laud Hall Seminary, Clearwater, Florida.

Sources:

Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches. http://www.theceec.org/. 20 March 2002.

Webber, Robert. Common Roots. Waco, TX: Word Publishing, 1978.

——. Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Why Evangelical Christians Are Attracted to the Liturgical Church. Waco, TX: Word Publishing, 1985.

★179 ★

Continuing Anglican United States Episcopacy

1718 Moseley Dr.
Hopkinsville, KY 42240

The Continuing Anglican United States Episcopacy was founded in September 2001 by Bishop Gregory Wayne Godsey (b.1979), formerly a priest and bishop with the Independent Catholic Church. Raised as a Roman Catholic, Godsey joined the Independent Catholics in 1998. He was ordained in January 1999 and consecrated to the episcopacy in June 1999 by its bishops. He left the Independent Catholic Church complaining of its "departure from the moral values of the Bible."

In September 2001, Bishop Godsey formed the Continuing Anglican United States Episcopacy. He adopted a conservative Anglican approach to belief and practice that included affirmation of the 39 Articles of Religion. In October 2001, Godsey created All Saints Anglican Church in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and ordained Rev. Father David S. Jennings as the church's first priest. He consecrated two bishops for the church, William E. Conner and Jeffrey L. Cottingame, as the Bishop of the Church's Central Diocese. (Both Connor and Cottingame have subsequently left the Episcopacy and formed the independent Holy Cross Anglican Communion.) Godsey also opened Holy Cross Seminary for the training of future priests.

Membership: Not reported. There are two congregations, one in Kentucky and one in Virginia, and a mission in California.

Educational Facilities: Holy Cross Seminary, Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

Sources:

Continuing Anglican United States Episcopacy. http://www.anglicanusa.org/. 15 February 2002.

★180 ★

The Continuing Episcopal Church

PO Box 51373
Colorado Springs, CO 80949-1373

The Continuing Episcopal Church was founded in 1984 by former members of the Episcopal Church who opposed a series of actions taken by, and with the consent of, the leadership. These included the church's participation with other churches in the Consultation on Church Union, the consecration of women as priests and bishops, and the new liturgy of 1979. On June 2, 1984, Colin James III and Henry C. Robbins were consecrated as bishops for the church by Abp. Dismas F. G. Markle of the Eastern Orthodox Catholic Church in America. James was selected presiding bishop.

The Continuing Episcopal Church is a conservative Anglican body. It accepts the traditional 39 Articles of Religion as a doctrinal standard and the Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888-1889 as authoritative statements of catholicity. It uses the 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer and the King James Version of the Bible.

Membership: Not reported. In 2002 the church reported three congregations, one deacon and three priests (including the two bishops), and 100 members.

Educational Facilities: The Anglican Institute of Theology (AIT).

★181 ★

Diocese of the Blessed Sacrament

c/o Saint Luke's Church
PO Box 870
Sedona, AZ 86339-0870

The Diocese of the Blessed Sacrament is an independent Anglican jurisdiction in the Anglo-Catholic (high church) tradition. It was founded by Bishop David Gregory McMannes, who was consecrated by Bishop Robert S. Morse of the Anglican Province of Christ the King, assisted by Bishops James Pollard Clark and Edward LaCour, of the province's diocese of the Southern states.

McMannes cited as rationale for the new diocese what he perceived as the "instability and conflict" that existed within many Christian denominations that hold the apostolic ministry. Those churches misunderstand the call to corporate worship, especially the call to "worship and adore Christ Jesus in the sacramental setting of the Holy Eucharist," variously known as the Mass, Holy Communion, or the Divine Liturgy. Many neglect the duty, clearly proscribed in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (as used in the diocese), of Sunday worship. Thus, lack of attendance at church on Sunday has become the norm in contemporary America, and when it occurs it is often unspirited and disinterested.

The diocese's doctrine is derived from the Bible and the ancient Christian creeds. It has set as its fourfold mission: 1) the proclamation of biblical truth; 2) the preaching of God's Word and administrating the Sacraments; 3) showing the love of Christ through works of charity; and 4) the upholding of Christian family values that includes the passing along of Christian faith and morality to the next generation.

Membership: Not reported. The diocese has two parishes, one in Arizona and one in Oregon.

Sources:

Diocese of the Blessed Sacrament. http://www.episcopalnet.org/DBS/index.html. 7 May 2002.

★182 ★

Diocese of the Southwest

(Defunct)

The shortlived Diocese of the Southwest was originally formed in 1978 as a constituent part of the Anglican Catholic Church. In 1982 it left the ACC and for several months existed as an independent jurisdiction. In December 1983 it merged into the American Episcopal Church. It no longer exists as a separate body.

★183 ★

Ecumenical Anglican Catholic Church

c/o Rt. Rev. Adolphus C. Howard III
PO Box 600
New York, NY 10031

The Ecumenical Anglican Catholic Church was formed at the end of the 1990s as an independent jurisdiction representative of the Continuing Church movement, the movement that felt that the Episcopal Church had departed form the Anglican tradition insofar as it made revisions in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and had begun to ordain females to the priesthood. The church is led by its bishops Mt. Rev. Howard E. Stark, the Presiding Bishop; Rt. Rev. Adolphus C. Howard II, Bishop Coadjutor; and Mt. Rev. Daniel C. Williams, the General Secretary of the Church. Their several lines of apostolic succession for the church's bishops has come through the independent Old Catholic churches. The primary consecrator of Bishop Stark was Stephen I (Gary Stephen Trivoli-Johnson) of the Reform Catholic Church.

The church views itself as non-discriminatory, non-political, and non-restrictive and it rejects what it has seen of ecclesiastical hypocrisy and bigotry among church officials.

Though possessing Old Catholic orders, the church is Anglican in belief and practice. Like other Continuing Church movement jurisdictions, it accepts the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, but recognizes the validity of more modern liturgical forms. The church has a broad ecumenical approach to Anglican, Orthodox, and Catholic communions that also share an apostolic succession in their episcopacy. They also accept clergy from other such communions and have attempted to remove the red tape that often hinders the acceptance of clergy and the formation of new parishes and missions.

Though a relative new jurisdiction and still relatively small, the church sponsors two national conferences annually. There are work centers in the New York metropolitan area.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

Ecumenical Anglican Catholic Church. http://www.alltel.net/~frdaniel/eacc/index.htm. 15 February 2002.

★184 ★

Episcopal Church

815 2nd Ave.
New York, NY 10017

The Church of England came into the American colonies with the first British settlers. The first church was established at Jamestown in 1607, and in 1619 an act of the Virginia legislature formally declared Virginians to be members of the Church of England.

By the time of the American Revolution, more than 400 Anglican parishes were spread along the coast from Georgia to New Hampshire.

The American Revolution created a crisis for the church in the new nation because, in spite of the large number of parishes, the church in the colonies had no bishop. War with England meant England would not be sending a bishop to America, so there was no way to ordain new priests or consecrate future bishops. Further, many priests (already in short supply) sided with England in the Revolution and returned to England. Thus, the war left Anglican congregations highly disorganized. In 1783, the Connecticut churches sent Samuel Seabury to England to be consecrated. But, because he would not swear allegiance to the British Crown, he could not be consecrated. He was finally consecrated by the Nonjuring Church of Scotland in 1784. Upon Seabury's return in 1785, the Connecticut priests held a convocation to organize their parishes.

Meanwhile, a second movement to reorganize the American parishes was undertaken in the Middle Colonies (mainly in Pennsylvania and Virginia) under the leadership of William White. A series of meetings over the next several years resulted in the adoption of the "Ecclesiastical Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States." William White and Samuel Provoost were chosen as bishops. They sailed for England and were consecrated by the archbishop of Canterbury in 1787, after Parliament had rescinded the requirement of an oath of loyalty to the Crown for any consecrated bishop from "foreign parts." In 1789, the new constitution was adopted by all the American churches (including Bishop Seabury's diocese). The Protestant Episcopal Church was born, the church that represents the Anglican tradition in the U.S.

The Protestant Episcopal Church, popularly called the Episcopal Church, grew and became a national body during the nineteenth century. Within its membership three informally organized but recognizable groups developed: the high church of the Anglo-Catholic group; the low church evangelicals; and the broad church party (the group between the high church and low church groups). The differences between these groups was largely based upon their approach to liturgy and the Eucharist. Episcopalians have followed the liturgy of the Prayer Book which is built upon a belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Church of England passed to American Episcopalians a repudiation of the particular explanation of that doctrine of the Real Presence called "transubstantiation." High Church Episcopalians have tended to emphasize the forms and ceremonies associated with the Roman tradition and have tended toward a Roman explanation of the Real Presence. In contrast, Low Church Episcopalians have emphasized the "Puritan" element introduced into the Anglican Church after the Reformation. They have opposed the emphasis on outward ceremony, centering their attention upon the reading and preaching of the Word.

During the 1840s the American Church began to receive the influence of the Oxford Movement, a high church revival in the Church of England. Among the personages identified with the movement was John Henry Newman, who later joined the Roman Catholic Church. In the wake of the revival, church architecture and sanctuary furnishings began to change. The Gothic church became common. The typical arrangement of furniture in the sanctuary centered upon a table, and the pulpit was replaced with a center altar, the common arrangement today.

The broad church party, which reached into both high-church and low-church camps was identified mostly by its liberalism in matters of discipline, doctrine, and biblical interpretation. Broad churchmen generally avoided too much emphasis upon ceremony and found their identification in their enclusive spirit. They were open to a variety of creedal interpretations and would often open their pulpit and altar to non-Episcopalians.

During the mid-twentieth century new issues began to become prominent in the church, and these led to new lines of division that cut across the older groupings. Dissent within the church appeared around the issues of laxity in church moral standards (especially an acceptance of sexual immorality), the ordination of women priests, the reported use of funds contributed to the National Council of Churches and World Council of Churches for "far-left" political causes, and the church's involvement in various social crusades (from civil rights and women's liberation to gay liberation). In addition, disagreements evolved over the introduction of extensive revisions of the 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer, made available in a revised prayer book. These issues came to a head in 1976 when the General Convention of the church approved the ordination of women and the revised Book of Common Prayer. Several thousand who disapproved of the changes left the church in the late 1970s. (Following the movement out of the Episcopal Church, the Anglicans, as the conservatives called themselves, tended to split along the older party lines).

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: Seminaries:

Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, New Haven, Connecticut.
Bexley Hall-Colgate-Rochester, Rochester, New York.
Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Berkeley, California.
Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, Austin Texas.
General Theological Seminary, New York City, New York.
Nashotah House, Nashotah, Wisconsin.
Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois.
Virgina Theological Seminary, Alexandria, Virginia.

Colleges and universities:

Bard College, Annandale-on-the-Hudson, New York.
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York.
Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio.
St. Augustine's College, Raleigh, North Carolina.
St. Paul's College, Lawrenceville, Virginia.
Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut.
University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee.
Voorhees College, Denmark, South Carolina.

Periodicals: The Episcopalian. Send orders to 1930 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19103. • The Living Church. Send orders to 407 E. Michigan St., Milwaukee, WI 53202. • Historical Magazine. Send orders to Box 2247, Austin, TX 78705.

Remarks: In 1967 the General Convention adopted the designation "Episcopal Church" as an official alternative name.

Sources:

Gray, William, and Betty Gray. The Episcopal Church Welcomes You. New York: Seabury Press, 1974.

Holmes, David L. A Brief History of the Episcopal Church. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1994.

Kew, Richard, and Roger J. White. New Millennium, New Church: Trends Shaping the Episcopal Church for the 21st Century. Cambridge, MA: Cowley Publications, 1992.

Konolige, Kit, and Frederica. The Power of Their Glory. Wyden Books, 1978.

Manross, William W. A History of the American Episcopal Church. New York: Morehouse-Gorham, 1950.

Pittenger, W. Norman. The Episcopalian Way of Life. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1957.

Prichard, Robert W. A History of the Episcopal Church. Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publications, 1987.

Summer, David C. The Episcopal Church's History 1945-1985. More-house Publications, 1987.

Synder, William. Looking at the Episcopal Church. Wilton, CT: More-house-Barlow, 1980.

Webber, Christopher L. Welcome to the Episcopal Church: An Introduction. Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 2000.

★185 ★

Episcopal Missionary Church

Box 1294
Aiken, SC 29802

The Episcopal Missionary Church was founded in 1992 by Rt. Rev. A. Donald Davies, formerly a bishop in the Episcopal Church. Bishop Davies had emerged as a conservative leader in the Episcopal Church, and while serving as the bishop of Dallas/Ft. Worth (Texas) had founded the Episcopal Synod, still the organization of traditionalists within the Episcopal Church. By 1992, he had concluded that the Episcopal Church would never be a welcome environment for traditionalists. He left and founded the Episcopal Missionary Church. Initially, several congregations affiliated with it. Then in 1994, the Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite Jurisdiction of the Americas (ARJA) dissolved and united with the Episcopal Missionary Church. ARJA brought Los Hermanos Franciscanos de la Providencia, a Franciscan order headquartered in Puerto Rico, into the new church.

The Episcopal Missionary Church follows the traditional Anglican practice and belief. It rejects the recent liturgical changes of the Episcopal Church and does not accept the ordination of females to the priesthood.

Membership: In 1995 the church reported 64 affiliated congregations, including one in British Columbia, Canada.

Sources:

Nones, Jane, ed. 1994/95 Directory of Traditional Anglican and Episcopal Parishes. Tulsa, OK: Fellowship of Concerned Churchmen, 1995.

★186 ★

Episcopal Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of America

901 English Rd.
High Point, NC 27262

The Episcopal Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of America shares the history of the body currently known as the Anglican Orthodox Church until 1998 when a schism occurred. In that year, several relatives and others who had worked with founder Bishop James Parker Dees (1915-1990) broke with the church's leadership. They retained the name, Anglican Orthodox Church, and possession of the headquarters in Statesville, North Carolina. The remaining church changed its name to Episcopal Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of America.

The Anglican Orthodox Church was formed in 1963, the first of the contemporary groups to reject the direction of the Episcopal Church including the departures from traditional doctrinal perspective by some of the church's bishops. Dees came from the low-church wing of the church and rejected the emphasis on the sacraments by high-church member who stressed the church's affinity with Roman Catholicism. He received episcopal consecration from Wasyl Sawyna of the Holy Ukrainian Autocephalic Orthodox Church of North and South America and Orlando J. Woodward, a bishop in the Old Catholic tradition. The church championed the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, emphasized Christian orthodoxy, and insisted on high moral standards.

Following Dees' death in 1990, he was succeeded by Mt. Rev. Dr. George Schneller, a graduate of the Archdiocese's Cranmer Seminary (1973). He was consecrated in 1991 by Rt. Rev. Laione Q. Vuki of the Anglican Orthodox Church of Polynesia. Unfortunately, soon after taking office, he fell ill, and had to retire. The church floundered for several years until a new bishop was chosen. Finally in 1995, Robert J. Godfrey was consecrated by Hesbon O. Njera of the Anglican Orthodox Church in Kenya. He was subsequently named Archbishop of the Church in the United States and Metropolitan of what had become a worldwide Orthodox Anglican Communion. He continued to lead the church through the time of the schism and subsequent name change in 1998.

During his episcopacy, Godfrey had developed friendly relations with the leadership of the Anglican Rite Synod in the Americas. In 1999, when the new auxiliary bishop for the church Rev. Scott McLaughlin was to be consecrated, Godfrey asked Mt. Rev. Dr. Herbert Groce of the Anglican Rite Synod to be the chief consecrator. He was assisted by Larry L. Shaver, also of Synod. Shortly thereafter, Godfrey and McLaughlin led the Episcopal Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of America into full communion with the Anglican Rite Synod in the Americas.

Archbishop Godfrey retired in April 2000, and Bishop McLaughlin succeeded him as Archbishop of the Episcopal Orthodox Christian Archdiocese and Metropolitan of the Orthodox Anglican Communion.

Dees also founded the Orthodox Anglican Communion in 1967 as a worldwide fellowship of conservative Anglicans. Members vow allegiance to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the classic Anglican formularies, especially the various editions of the Book of Common Prayer–-the 1662 English, 1928 American, 1929 Scottish, and 1962 Canadian editions. The Presiding Bishop of the American branch of the communion, the Episcopal Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of America, serves as metropolitan for the communion. The communion has branches in Europe, Africa, Asia, and North and South America. Members include the Anglican Orthodox Church of Kenya, the Iglesia Anglicana Otodoxa Colombia, the Episcopal Orthodox Church in Japan, the Episcopal Orthodox Church in the Philippines, the Episcopal Orthodox Church in the Congo, the Episcopal Orthodox Mission in Honduras, the Missionary Diocese in Mexico, and the Russian Episcopal Church.

The archdiocese also sponsors the Orthodox Anglican Fellowship, an association of Anglican jurisdictions, congregations and individuals committed to assisting Christians and others outside of the Anglican tradition to have an opportunity to learn of its spiritual depth. Fellowship members included the Anglican Province of America, the Anglican Rite Synod in the Americas, and the Philippine Independent Catholic Church.

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: Cranmer Seminary, High Point, North Carolina.

Periodicals: The Encounter.

Sources:

Episcopal Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of America. http://eoc.orthodoxanglican.net/. 15 February 2002.

★187 ★

Evangelical Anglican Church in America (EACA)

Office of the Presiding Bishop 1379
Park Western Dr., Ste. 329
San Pedro, CA 90732

The Evangelical Anglican Church in America (EACA) was founded in 1993 when Rev. Craig S. Bettendorf, formerly of the Philippine Independent Church, opened All Saints Parish in Los Angeles. Bettendorf, a gay priest, had contact over the years with a number of marginalized clergy (both gay and non-gay) and developed the Anglican Institute for Affirmative Christian Studies to unite them through study of its curriculum based on liberation theology. After his election as the first bishop, Bettendorf was consecrated in December 1994 by Archbishop Gary Stephen Trivoli-Johnson of the Central Orthodox Synod. The church has grown out of the high church traditions of the Anglican Communion and affirms Holy Scripture, believes in tradition, and utilizes reason. It offers the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist and the rite of confirmation, marriage (and holy union), housewarming blessings, anointing, memorial services, and ordination.

The distinctive role of EACA, in relation to other Anglican and Old Catholic jurisdictions, is its inclusivity. The church welcomes all people without reference to gender, marital status, sexual orientation, race, or physical challenges. It welcomes gay men, lesbians, and bisexual people to the ordained ministry, but describes itself as inclusive rather than primarily gay/lesbian. It also advocates the use of inclusive language in its worship and affirms God as Creator, Redeemer, and Giver of Life.

During the Second Triennial General Convention held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in May 2001, the passing of a Constitutional amendment written and approved for vote during the previous convention (Tampa, Florida, 1998) created a new system of church governance. The establishment of a Three House system (House of Laity, House of Clergy, and House of Bishops, all with equal voice and vote) replaced the former Episcopal system. An Executive Committee comprising two individuals of each House manages all daily aspects of the church in between triennial conventions (when all members of the Three Houses meet). The positions of Chief Financial Officer, Chief Administrative Officer, and Chief Operating Officer were also established and filled by election during the Second Convention.

Membership: There are 13 missions/parishes and 850 communicant members, 16 priests, 6 transitional deacons, and 2 permanent deacons.

Educational Facilities: Anglican Institute for Affirmative Christian Studies (AIACS).

Periodicals: Kaleidoscope.

Sources:

http://www.dir.co.uk/aglo/evengeli.htm/.

★188 ★

Evangelical Episcopal Church (GRIDER)

17275 E. Goshawk Rd.
Colorado Springs, CO 80908

The Evangelical Episcopal Church was founded on May 26, 1993, by a core group of charismatic and renewal movement participants; with the participation of liturgical and sacramental leaders involved in the convergence movement. The Evangelical Episcopal Church is an international network of churches, ministries and leaders who are affiliated on the basis of spiritual bond and heart-connection and not merely are shared theological perspective or forms of worship.

The bishops, priests, deacons and lay leaders are required to affirm and uphold the international doctrinal statement of Christian unity: The Lausanne Covenant.

The Evangelical Episcopal Church is inclusive, liturgical, sacramental, evangelical, charismatic and concerns itself with compassion based evangelism, church planting and world missions. Canterbury Seminary is a ministry of the Evangelical Episcopal Church that provides parish based ministry training, professional networking, and apostolic ministry team building in local congregations and should be internet based by 2003.

The Evangelical Episcopal Church affirms and recognizes all evangelical denominations, leadership networks, and professional ministerial associations that support and defend in word and deed: The Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Men and women clergy, from around the world, serve in all levels of the church. The Evangelical Episcopal Church maintains all the signs, symbols and structure of a denomination, yet with all the freedom, flexibilty, collegiality and professional standards of excellence of most professional associations. The clergy of the Evangelical Episcopal Church are encouraged to maintain dual affiliation with other Christian groups as an expression of unity, inclusiveness, and a shared ministry among the communities we are invited into and privileged to serve.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

Ward, Gary. Independent Bishops: An International Directory. Detroit: Apogee Books, 1990. 524 pp.

★189 ★

Free Church of Scotland on Prince Edward Island

℅ Rev. William R. Underhay
Box 977
Montague, PE, Canada C0A 1R0

The present Free Church of Scotland on Prince Edward Island dates to 1954 when the Church of Scotland congregations were received into the Free Church of Scotland as the Presbytery of Prince Edward Island.

The history of these congregations dates to pioneer times. Rev. Donald MacDonald, a minister of the Church of Scotland, arrived in Prince Edward Island in 1826; and about two years later, following a transforming spiritual experience, his preaching became very effective and bore much fruit. He preached over a large part of the Island, mostly to Scottish immigrants. At the time of his death in 1867 there were about 5,000 followers. While ministers of the Church of Scotland increased in number MacDonald's ministry became largely independent of them, although officially MacDonald and his followers always considered themselves as Church of Scotland.

With the Disruption in Scotland in 1843, a large section of the Established Church (including nearly 500 ministers) withdrew in a protest against the practice of partronage, which interfered with the independence of the church. Chiefly at stake was the induction of ministers against the will of the people. The new body became the Church of Scotland Free. The split in the church also took place in the colonies, including Prince Edward Island. However, Donald MacDonald and his followers, as well as a number of others in Prince Edward Island and elsewhere in the Lower Provinces, did not join the Free Church movement. During the following years, several church unions took place among the Presbyterians in British North America culminating in the Presbyterian Church of Canada in 1875. By this time, Donald MacDonald had died. The Orwell Head congregation, the main center of MacDonald's followers in the eastern part of the Island, was received into the Presbyterian Church of Canada in 1896 and eventually became part of the United Church of Canada. A little over half a century after the union of 1875 more congregations entered the Presbyterian Church of Canada. Thus a significant number of the congregations connected with the ministry of MacDonald and his successors had now departed, leaving a much reduced Church of Scotland populations.

However, in 1954 when the Church of Scotland on Prince Edward Island was received into the Free Church of Scotland, there were still at least 10 church buildings in use. In addition, services were being held in several halls. The congregations were divided into three pastoral charges by the Free Church. At present, there are seven churches where regular services are held. In two others, there are occasional services. Each of the pastoral charges has a pastor.

It may be noted that in the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century many people from Prince Edward Island emigrated to Massachusetts, and a Church of Scotland congregation was formed there. This congregation continued until recent years but never became part of the Free Church.

There are three other Free Church congregations in North America. These are located in Livonia, Michigan; Toronto, Ontario; and Edmonton, Alberta. Together they form the Presbytery of the Great Lakes and Western Canada. The history of the formation of these congregations is distinct from that of the congregations on Prince Edward Island. The two presbyteries together make up the Free Church of Scotland of North America. Each presbytery may appoint commissioners to the General Assembly which meets in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Free Church is conservative in faith, holding to the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible. It adheres to the Westminister Confession of Faith as its secondary standard to which all ordained office bearers are required to subscribe. The Westminster Large and Shorter Catechisms are also officially recognized. The material for congregational praise is the Scottish Psalter sung without instrumental accompaniment. The Free Church of Scotland does not participate in the World Council of Churches but is a member of the International Council of Reformed Churches (ICRC).

Membership: In 1997 the church's total membership in the three pastoral charges including adherents and children was approximately 300. North American membership, including adherents and children, was approximately 400. Former mission centers in Peru, South Africa, and India have been formed into separate denominations but financial support is still provided and, in the case of South Africa and Peru, missionaries are still sent.

★190 ★

Free Episcopal Church

PO Box 13315-257
Oakland, CA 94661

The Free Episcopal Church, founded in December 2001, has a much different beginning than most Anglican bodies from the last generation that protested the liberal tendencies adopted by the Episcopal Church. Instead, the founders of the Free Episcopal Church, in their participation in a series of discussions over the several years prior to the church's establishment, were concerned with what they saw as a loss of the spiritual vitality in the life and practice. Those who participated had left their churches in previous years, but had a felt need to continue as ministers.

The group of ministers also found in the Anglican tradition the resources that appeared to best state their concerns and provide the context for future ministry. They affirmed the threefold ministry of bishop, priests and deacon; the priesthood of all believers; the via media (between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism); the 39 Articles of Religion; the Book of Common Prayer (the 1979 edition developed by the Episcopal Church); a doctrinal base built on Scripture, reason and tradition; and the two sacraments (baptism and the Eucharist) as well as the five sacramental acts (Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick, and Penance). The church also "honors" the ancient Creeds of the undivided Church (Apostles, Nicene, Chacedonian).

The first bishop of the church is Rev. Robert Angus Jones, who was consecrated on July 26, 2001 by Maran Mar Joseph Vredenburgh, Patriarch of the Federation of St. Thomas Christians. He was assisted by Mart'a Virginia Vredenburgh and Mar Tooma (Joseph) Eaton, both also of the Federation of St. Thomas Christians. The federation bishops lay claim to several lines of apostolic succession.

The Free Episcopal Church is open and inclusive of gay and lesbian persons. Its constitution declares "all persons, without regard to race, ethnicity, nationality, social or economic status, gender, age, sexuality, or physical ability shall be eligible to attend its worship, participate in its programs, and when appropriate, to be admitted into its membership or leadership in any local ministry in this church."

The Free Episcopal Church, which operated briefly as the Free Protestant Episcopal Church, USA, is in communion with the Old Protestant Episcopal Church based in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

Free Episcopal Church. http://www.fpec-us.org/. 15 February 2002.

★191 ★

Free Protestant Episcopal Church

430 Elizabeth St.
London, ON, Canada N5W 3R7

The Free Protestant Episcopal Church was established in 1897 by the union of three small British episcopates: the Ancient British Church (founded 1876/77); Nazarene Episcopal Ecclesia (founded in 1873); and Free Protestant Church of England (founded in 1889). Leon Checkemian, an Armenian, the first primate of the new church, was supposedly consecrated by Bishop A. S. Richardson of the Reformed Episcopal Church in 1890, though present claims indicate that he was consecrated in 1878 by an Archbishop Chorchorunian. In either case, no papers have been produced, and the validity of the consecration is questioned by many. In 1952, Charles D. Boltwood became the fifth person to hold the post of primate.

The faith of the Free Protestant Episcopal Church is the same as the Protestant Episcopal Church. The Thirty-nine Articles are accepted. There are, however, seven doctrines condemned as contrary to God's word: 1. That the church exists in only one order or form of polity; 2. That ministers are "priests" in any other sense than that in which all believers are a "royal priesthood;" 3. That the Lord's table is an altar on which the oblation of the body and blood of Christ is offered anew to the Father; 4. That Christ is present in the elements of bread and wine in the Lord's Supper; 5. That regeneration and baptism are inseparably connected; 6. That the law should punish Christians with death; and 7. That Christians may wear weapons and serve in war except in aiding the wounded or assisting in civil defense. In these seven objections, the sacramentalism of Anglo-Catholicism is explicitly denied and conscientious objection to carrying arms in war is elevated to dogma.

The Free Protestant Episcopal Church came to America in 1958 when Boltwood, on a trip to Los Angeles, consecrated Emmet Neil Enochs as archbishop of California and primate of the United States. On the same trip, John Marion Stanley was consecrated bishop of Washington; subsequently four additional bishops were consecrated for the United States. The primate was directly responsible to the bishop primus in London. In 1967 the Free Protestant Episcopal Church reported 23 congregations plus a number of affiliated missions, and there were an estimated 2,000 members in the United States and Canada.

The Free Protestant Episcopal Church dissipated as various bishops passed orders to men who established other jurisdictions. These included such groups as the Autocephalous Syro-Chaldean Church of North America, which received orders from Bishop Stanley; the Anglican Episcopal Church, whose founder was consecrated by a Free PEC bishop, William Elliot Littlewood; and the Apostolic Catholic Church of the Americas, formed by former Free Protestant Episcopal Bishop Gordon I. DaCosta. The last United States Primate Albert J. Fuge, retired without naming a successor. He died in 1982. Boltwood, as Primus Emeritus, named Rt. Rev. Charles Kennedy Stewart Moffatt of Brandon, Manitoba, as the new Primus. Moffatt passed away recently and Boltwood died earlier in the 1980s. Most Rev. Edwin D. Follick of Woodland Hills, California, is presently serving as Primus. A second bishop, Harry K. Means, resides in Florida.

★192 ★

Holy Catholic Church (Anglican Rite)

c/o Rt. Rev. Thomas Kleppinger
232 Yankee Rd., No. 28
Quakertown, PA 18951-5334

The Holy Catholic Church (Anglican Rite) is the result of a schism in the Anglican Catholic Church, the major body representing the Continuing Church Movement that emerged in the 1970s among conservative members of the Episcopal Church who rejected the direction the church was taking. Essential to the dissent was the church's ordination of females to the priesthood. Leading the Holy Catholic Church is Rt. Rev. Thomas Kleppinger who has previously served in the United Episcopal Church, who followed that church's merger into the Anglican Episcopal Church and subsequently the Anglican Catholic Church. The 1997 schism appears to be primarily administrative, as non-doctrinal issues appear to divide the Holy Catholic Church and the Anglican Catholic Church.

The church is similar in belief and practice to the Anglican Catholic Church. It places special emphasis upon its adherence to the seven Ecumenical Councils of the ancient Christian Church. The church's congregations are divided into dioceses including the Diocese of the Resurrection (in the Eastern states), the Diocese of Holy Trinity and Great Plains, and the Diocese of the Pacific and the Southwest. There is a mission in Mexico. The church sponsors St. Gregory's House of Theological Studies, a combined residential and distance learning program for theological instruction under the administration of the church's Diocese of the Resurrection. It has a working relationship with the Holy Catholic Church (Western Rite).

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: Saint Gregory's House of Theological Studies, Tampa, Florida.

Sources:

Holy Catholic Church (Anglican Rite). http://www.anglicancatholic.com/. 15 February 2002.

★193 ★

Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite Jurisdiction of the Americas

(Defunct)

In the several years following the 1977 St. Louis congress, the Anglican Movement grew to encompass more than 200 congregations. However, as it grew, it splintered into several factions due to administrative disagreements as well as the issue of the domination of the Anglican Catholic Church by the Anglo-Catholic (high-church) perspective. Some congregations remained outside of the various diocesan structures altogether. Bishop Francisco Pagtakhan of the Philippine Independent Church, who had participated in the original consecrations of the four Anglican bishops in 1978, became increasingly disturbed at the splintering and lack of unity in the Anglican Movement. In 1980, asserting his role as the ecumenical and missionary officer for the Philippine Independent Church, Pagtakhan decided to create an "umbrella" for those in the Anglican Movement who were searching for a home where they could "belong to a genuinely canonical part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church." Thus in March 1980, in Texas, he initiated the incorporation of the Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite Jurisdiction of the Americas.

On September 26, 1981 (with the permission of the supreme bishop of the Philippine Independent Church, the M. Rev. Macario V. Ga) Bishop Pagtakhan, assisted by retired bishops Sergio Mondala and Lupe Rosete, consecrated Robert Q. Kennaugh, F. Ogden Miller, and Gerald Wayne Craig, all former priests in the Anglican Catholic Church. Kennaugh became head of the Diocese of St. Luke, centered in Corsicana, Texas, and archbishop for the jurisdiction. Miller was named bishop of the Diocese of St. Matthew with headquarters in California. Craig became bishop of the Diocese of St. Mark with headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. In 1982 Herman F. Nelson was consecrated as bishop for the Diocese of St. John the Evangelist with headquarters in Venice, Florida. Shortly thereafter, Kennaugh retired as archbishop, and Craig was named to that post. In 1985 the Anglican Rite Jurisdiction received Bishop Harold L. Trott into the Church as the Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of Reconciliation. Trott had left the American Episcopal Church in 1979 and had formed the Pro-Diocese of Reconciliation (consisting of several congregations in California and New Mexico) while waiting for a larger body with which to affiliate.

In 1986 the jurisdiction accepted Rt. Rev. Lafond Lapointe, a Haitian-born bishop who had been exiled from his homeland for political reasons. In the intervening years he had worked in the Haitian-American community in Chicago, Illinois. After the fall of the dictatorship in Haiti he was able to return as the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Haiti. He reconstituted L'Iglise Orthodox Apostolique Haitienne, an independent church established in 1874 by Bishop James Theodore Holley with the approval and backing of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Holley died in 1911 and his church was absorbed into the Episcopal Missionary Diocese in 1913. Also, in recent years, the Anglican Rite Jurisdiction of the Americas has established close ties to Los Hermanos Franciscanos de la Providencia, a Franciscan order in Puerto Rico. Retired Archbishop Robert Q. Kennaugh has become the bishop-protector of the order.

Educational Facilities: Anglican Theological Collegum, Columbus, Ohio.

Sources:

Dibbert, Roderic B. The Roots of Traditional Anglicanism. Akron, OH: Dekoven Foundation, 1984.

Official Directory of Bishops, Clergy, Parishes. Akron, OH: Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite Jurisdiction of the America, Office of the Secretary of the ARJA Synod, 1985. The Prologue. Akron, OH: DeKoven Foundation, 1984.

★194 ★

Holy Celtic Church

℅ Most Rev. Donald E. Hugh, Presiding Bishop
PO Box 2401
Apple Valley, CA 92307

The Holy Celtic Church traces its history to the ancient Celtic church which preceded the imposition of Roman authority in Celtic lands. Documentation concerning the Celtic church has been lacking because of the destruction of its records and artifacts beginning with the Roman conquests. The modern Holy Celtic Church was reestablished in the 1990s with orders derived from the Order of Corporate Reunion. The order had been founded in 1874 in London, England, to confer valid Apostolic Orders on individuals who were working for the unity of Anglican and Eastern Orthodox churches. In more recent years, it has focused on bringing unity among the many independent Anglican and Orthodox jurisdictions.

The Holy Celtic Church is conservative and adheres closely to basic Christian teachings and the holy Scripture as expressed in the Apostolic Constitution, Teachings and Creed. It recognizes the spirit of the Seven Ecumenical Councils, especially the first three, which were attended by Celtic bishops. The church has a particular affinity with the Coptic Church, especially the spirit of the ancient Desert Fathers who carried Christianity to the fringes of the then-known world. The church's clergy work to visit those unable to attend church services, and to establish small missions, priories, and cell groups.

Membership: Not reported.

★195 ★

Holy Cross Anglican Communion

c/o HCAC Central Diocese
1000 Rice
Denison, TX 75020

The Holy Cross Anglican Communion is a small new jurisdiction of the Continuing Church movement, the conservative movement of former members of the Episcopal Church who began in the mid-1970s to reject what they saw as liberal trends in the Episcopal Church and to leave and found independent dioceses. The Communion, originally known as the Holy Cross Episcopal Church, traces its existence to the March 6, 2001, consecration of the Rev. William E. Conner to the office of bishop. In August 2001, Conner consecrated Rev. Jeffrey Cottingame as the church's second bishop. The service was held at the Parker College of Chiropractic Chapel in Dallas, Texas. Following the consecration ceremony, the new Bishop Cottingame laid his hands on Bishop Conner in an act to elevate him to the office of archbishop for the communion. The new jurisdiction brought together several previously existing ministries in Texas and elsewhere. Its present name was adopted in September 2001.

At the beginning of 2002, the communion merged with the Continuing Anglican United States Episcopacy, was founded in September 2001 by Bishop Gregory Wayne Godsey. Godsey had been the original consecrator of Bishop Conner. However, at the beginning of February 2002, the bishops of Holy Cross Anglican Communion voted overwhelmingly to dissolve the merger. They reorganized the communion and created a new logo, using the shield of St. George. The communion affirms the authority of the 39 Articles of Religion and the Nicene Creed, both unanimously affirmed with the larger Anglican world, and uses the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. While affirming the vital role of female leadership in the church, the communion rejects the entrance of women into the ordained ministry.

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: Holy Cross Seminary, New Rochelle, New York.

Sources:

Holy Cross Anglican Communion. http://cottingamej.tripod.com/hcac.html. 15 February 2002.

★196 ★

Independent Anglican Church (Canada Synod)

18 Harvey St.
Cambridge, ON, Canada N3C-1M6

The Independent Anglican Church (Canada Synod), also known as the Archdiocese of Canada, The Anglican Church, Canada Synod (Independent) trace its origins to the 1930s and the founding of the Independent Anglican Church by William H. Daw, a former priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. The church went through several changes of name and administration over the next half century, but emerged in 1984 as the Anglican Church of North America. In 1978 Daw, assisted by Archbishop Joseph Edward Neth and Bishop William Vincent (Paul) Hains-Howard consecrated the Peter Wayne Goodrich to the episcopate. What is now the Independent Anglican Church (Canada Synod) served as the Canadian affiliate of the Anglican Church of North America. In the 1990s that relationship was severed and the Canada Synod has become an independent church in its own right with Goodrich as the Presiding Archbishop.

The Canada Synod has identified with the Continuing Church movement, a loose network of jurisdictions, the first of which emerged in the 1970s. The movement rejects what it sees as the liberal trends in the Episcopal Church and strongly affirms traditional Anglican standards of doctrine. The Canada Synod sees itself as conservative in policy. It retains use of the 1938 edition of the Book of Common Praise and has also published its own version of the Book of Common Prayer (1991) based directly on Archbishop Cranmer's Prayer Book of 1549, and the Anglican Chant for the Psalms and Canticles (1991). All clergy must subscribe to the 39 Articles of Religion. Women are not accepted into the ordained priesthood, though they may be admitted to the diaconate.

Congregations in the church range across the traditional Anglican spectrum from low-church Evangelical to high-church Anglo-Catholic, though most follow the middle ground between the two.

The church has a training facility, St. Matthew's Cathedral College, which grants diplomas or certificates for future ministers, as well as Honorary Doctorates of Divinity.

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: St. Matthew's Cathedral College, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.

Sources:

Independent Anglican Church (Canada Synod). http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch09256. 15 February 2002.

★197 ★

Independent Episcopal Church (Anglican Rite, Old Catholic Church)

5414 W. Pierson St.
Phoenix, AZ 85031

The Independent Episcopal Church (Anglican Rite, Old Catholic Church), also known as the Independent Episcopal Church, International, was founded in 1987 by Most Rev. Steven Styblo, its Primate Bishop. Styblo was consecrated in 1985 by Bishops John Michael Dale, the Bishop Abbot of the Missionaries of Saint John the Beloved, and Western Orthodox Church (Ordinariates within the Evangelical-Eucharistic Catholic Observance). He is assisted in the Church by Bishop Protestant Episcopal Church but has added insights from the Orthodox and Old Catholic traditions. It accepts the 39 Articles of Religion common to Anglicanism and the Lambeth Quadrilateral as approved by the Episcopal Church(1886) and the Church of England (1888) as its standard of doctrine. The Quadrilateral establishes four foundational points of church unity the Bible, the ancient creeds (Apostles' and Nicene), two sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and the historic episcopate. The Independent Episcopal Church deviates from the Quadrilateral in its acceptance of seven sacraments (rather than the two accepted by Anglicans).

The church is centered in the Diocese of Arizona and the Christ the King Cathedral Mission in Phoenix.

Membership: Not reported. There are three clergy members and a single parish in Phoenix.

Periodicals: Christ Work: Independent Episcopal News Letter.

Sources:

Ward, Gary L. Independent Bishops: An International Directory. Detroit: Apogee Books, 1990. 524 pp.

★198 ★

International Communion of Christian Churches

190 S. Roscoe Blvd.
Ponte Vedra, FL 32082

The International Communion of Christian Churches (ICCC) was founded in 1998 by Rev. Dr. Daniel Williams. Williams is the pastor of Christ the Redeemer Church, in Ponte Vedra, Florida (founded in 1992). Associated with several Evangelical organizations, Williams is also the founder and President Emeritus of Calvary International (a missionary sending agency), a trustee of the Association of International Mission Services (AIMS), and the chair of the Board of Teen Mania Ministries.

William was consecrated to the bishopric in 1999 by Archbishop Paul Wayne Boosahda and several bishops of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches. The Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches remains in communion with the ICCC, and both share a history from the "convergence movement" the term referring to the "convergence" of various streams of renewal, that shared an understanding of the church as one Body with a variety of diverse but contributing parts. The movement is generally traced to Robert Webber, a professor of Theology and Bible at Wheaton College, who developed the convergence theme in his two books, Common Roots (1978), and Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Why Evangelical Christians Are Attracted to the Liturgical Church (1985), the latter one recounting his own pilgrimage to Anglicanism. Webber saw the threefold essence of the church as Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox/Pentecostal. The church is Catholic as it relates to the emphases of "incarnation and creation," Protestant with an emphasis on "biblical proclamation and conversion," and Orthodox/Pentecostal in relation to "the mystical and the Holy Spirit."

Like the earlier formed Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, the ICCC accepts the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1886 and affirms the authority of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, The Apostle's Creed, and the Nicene Creed.

It practices two sacraments (baptism and the supper of the Lord) and holds to the historic episcopate.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

International Communion of Christian Churches. http://www.iccc.cc/. 20 March 2002.

Webber, Robert. Common Roots. Waco, TX: Word Publishing, 1978.

——. Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Why Evangelical Christians Are Attracted to the Liturgical Church. Waco, TX: Word Publishing, 1985.

★199 ★

National Anglican Church

Current address not obtained for this edition.

The National Anglican Church is a small jurisdiction created in the late 1980s by Bp. Montgomery Griffith-Mair. A former priest in the Episcopal Church, Griffith-Mair was consecrated in 1987 by Donald Lee West, a bishop of the Evangelical Catholic Communion. He now serves as premier bishop of the church and ordinary for the Anglican Diocese of the Eastern United States.

Membership: Not reported.

★200 ★

Old Episcopal Church

Current address not obtained for this edition.

The Old Episcopal Church is a small diocese in the Southwest headed by Rt. Rev. Jack C. Adam, Bishop of Arizona. A former Protestant Episcopal Church priest, he left the Episcopal Church and was consecrated by Archbishop Walter A. Propheta of the American Orthodox Catholic Church in 1972.

Membership: Not reported. There are several parishes in Arizona and New Mexico.

★201 ★

Old Episcopal Church of Scotland (OECS)

Current address not obtained for this edition.

The Old Episcopal Church of Scotland (OECS) traces its heritage to the pre-Roman Celtic Christian community, which is believed to have existed in the British Isles as early as the first century. This tradition continued in the Celtic monastic communities through the centuries until the Reformation of the sixteenth century when the state-sanctioned Church of Scotland became Presbyterian, i.e., reorganized as a church led by an assembly of elders (the presbytery) rather than bishops. Those who retained the reformed Catholic faith and polity reorganized as the Episcopal Church of Scotland. Problems developed in the Episcopal Church of Scotland in the mid-eighteenth century when King William of Orange and the Church of England attempted to install English bishops over the Scottish church. Those non-jurors opposed to the new policy, who also refused to swear allegiance to the deposed monarch, left and formed the Old Free Episcopal Church of Scotland.

Later, members of the Old Free Episcopal Church of Scotland migrated to Canada. A small community continued through the years and experienced a revival in the 1970s. The present leader of the church is Rt. Rev. Fredrick R. O'Keefe O.S.B. who succeeded Brian G. Turkington in 1983. Turkington, now with the Federation of St. Thomas Christian Churches, had been voted out of office by the church's leadership. O'Keefe had been a priest in the Old Catholic Church of North America. He was loaned to the OECS, which needed additional leadership. In 1981 O'Keefe was consecrated by Abp. Charles V. Hearn of the Old Catholic Church in North America as a bishop for both jurisdictions. An increasing amount of his time was spent with the OECS, and in 1983 he was chosen as its Primus, though he still retains his formal ties to the Old Catholics. He is assisted by Bp. Fonzy J. Broussard. In cooperat with several other small Old Catholic jurisdictions, the church sponsors Incarnation Abbey in Clearwater, Florida, a Benedictine monastic community.

The church has no property and all worship is conducted in the homes of members or in rented facilities. Ministers are unsalaried and usually work at a secular occupation. Both the 1928 and 1979 Episcopal Prayer Books are used, as well as the Eastern Orthodox Peshitta Bible, translated from the Aramaic by George M. Lamsa.

Membership: There are fewer than 50 members and six priests.

Remarks: During the 1970s and early 1980s, in an attempt to move away from their singularly ethnic identification, a number of names were used by different leaders in the church. These names included Free Anglican Church, Free Anglican Church (Iona Conference); Free Anglican Church in America, Free Anglican Church in America and the British Isles; Free Anglican Communion, United Anglican Communion, and United Anglican Communion in America (and the British Isles). The use of such diverse names led to a great deal of confusion, with observers seeing several churches where, in fact, there was only one. The OECS was also confused with other small jurisdictions that used the same or similar names, such as Free Anglican Church. In recent years, the use of the divergent names has ceased.

Also, the relationship of the present-day OECS to the movement founded in the eighteenth century is not entirely clear. At one time it was claimed that the lineage had passed through Bp. Cowan King, the last of the OECS bishops in Great Britain. King supposedly consecrated Harry Edwin Smith in 1970 and Smith passed the lineage to Brian G. Turkington. However, that story has been challenged by O'Keefe.

★202 ★

Old Protestant Episcopal Church

PO Box 33079
Cathedral District Post Office
Regina, SK, Canada S4T 7X2

The Old Protestant Episcopal Church, one of the newer Anglican bodies, was founded in August 2001 in Regina, Saskatchewan, by Bishop Darrel Hockley. Hockley originally saw his effort as a revival of the missionary work in Western Canada of the Free Protestant Episcopal Church, in whose name his work was incorporated. However, as he investigated the church further, the learned of its factionalism, and withdrew. He reorganized his work as Old Protestant Episcopal Church. He structured his work to function exclusively in the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan and to operate as a house church body.

The church bases its teachings on five sets of documents: 1. Holy Scripture; 2. The Creed of Nicaea-Constantinople; 3. The Dogmatic Decisions of the first four Ecumenical Councils; 4. The Canadian edition of the Book of Common Prayer (1962); and 5. The 39 Articles of Religion (1571). The 1962 Book of Common Prayer is the authorized liturgical text for the new church.

The church recognized the three-fold ministry of bishop, priest, and deacon. Though not going through a formal consecration ceremony, On April 24, 2001, Archbishop Joseph L. Vredenburgh, Patriarch of the Federation of St. Thomas Christians sent Hockley a letter confirming his status as a bishop in the Federation's lineage of Apostolic succession. The federation possesses several different lines of apostolic succession. Unlike the Federation, the Old Protestant Episcopal Church does not ordain women to the ministry. Women are invited to its Order of Deaconess.

The Old Protestant Episcopal Church is in communion with the Free Episcopal Church, formerly known as the Free Protestant Episcopal Church-USA.

Membership: The Old Protestant Episcopal Church Inc. to date has only one mission, St. Matthias the Apostles Missions, in Regina.

Sources:

Old Protestant Episcopal Church. http://netministries.org/see/churches/ch08923. 15 February 2002.

★203 ★

Philippine Independent Catholic Church in the Americas

Current address not obtained for this edition.

During the 1980s, the Philippine Independent Church, the representative of the worldwide Anglican Communion in the Philippine Islands, was shaken by severe internal disputes. A major issue focused on the church's refusal to reelect Marcario V. Ga as Obispo Maximo, Supreme Bishop. Ga had served in that position for several four-year terms. Refusing to accept the decision of the church, he reorganized his following and began what has become an ongoing court fight for recognition in the Philippines. The split in the Philippine Independent Church has had significant repercussions in the United States where several of Ga's close associates have involved themselves since the late 1970s.

In January 1978, Abp. Francisco Pagtakhan took center stage at the consecration of C. Dale D. Doren, Robert S. Morse, James O. Mote, and Peter F. Watterson as bishops for the new church being formed by the conservative Anglicans who had recently left the Episcopal Church. His active participation in the event projected the Philippine Independent Church directly into the affairs of a sister communion by providing legitimacy to a breakaway group.

During the 1980s, Pagtakhan and two other bishops, Sergio Mondala and Lupe Rosete, performed consecrations for several independent Anglican groups, each time further straining relations between the Episcopal Church and the Philippine Independent Church. Following the split in the Philippines, Pagtakhan moved to establish the Ga branch of the Philippine Independent Church in North America. (All of the previous consecrations had been for independent American Anglican jurisdictions.) In April 1986, Pagtakhan consecrated Thomas Gore, an Episcopal minister who was a psychiatrist in Lubbock, Texas. Gore moved to incorporate the church as the Eglesia Filipina Independente, the Philippine Independent Catholic Church in the Americas, as a Texas corporation. Pagtakhan was named president and Gore vicar-general. Pagtakhan and Gore consecrated George Martinus as the church's bishop for Mexico in 1988.

In the few years of the church's existence, it has grown through the addition of independent bishops who have sought association with it. These include Bp. Paul G. W. Schultz (Glendale, California), Bp. Charles Boulton (Texas), Bp. Charles S. J. White (Washington, D.C.) In 1987 Pagtakhan named Abp Bertil Persson, primate of the Apostolic Episcopal Church, as his apostolic representative for Scandinavia and Europe.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

Ward, Gary L. Independent Bishops: An International Directory. Detroit, MI: Apogee Books, 1990.

★204 ★

Philippine Independent Church

℅ St. Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral
Queen Emma Sq.
Honolulu, HI 96813

The Philippine Independent Church emerged from the political struggles of the nineteenth century which led to full independence of the Philippine Islands. Following the defeat of the Spanish in 1898, the United States took control of the Philippines, rather than grant it full governmental autonomy. As a result, a revolt led by Emilio Aguinaldo developed against American rule. In that area of the country briefly controlled by Aguinaldo, a military vicar general, Gregorio Aglipay (1860-1940), was appointed to head the Roman Catholic Church. In 1899 the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila excommunicated Aglipay, and the church under his control reorganized as the Iglesia Filipina Independiente.

As a guerrilla general, Aglipay became a hero to many, and was the last of the revolutionary leaders to surrender. He retained the loyalty of the members of the new church and spent the remainder of his life guiding it. The progress of the church was checked by a 1906 ruling of the country's supreme court, which awarded most of the church's property to the Roman Catholic Church. Early in the century Aglipay became influenced by Unitarian views (which deny the doctrine of the Trinity), and he led the church in their acceptance. The extent of the theological drift was clearly demonstrated by the 1939 appointment of Dr. Louis C. Cornish, president of the American Unitarian Association, as the honorary president of the church.

The dominance of Unitarian thought was ended after Aglipay's death by his successor as supreme bishop, Isabelo de los Reyes, Jr. A Trinitarian, Reyes led the church to adopt a strong Trinitarian Declaration of Faith in 1947 which included acceptance of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. Concurrently, the Protestant Episcopal Church recognized the Philippine Independent Church. The following year the supreme bishop and two other bishops of the Philippine Independent Church were consecrated by the Protestant Episcopal Church, giving them the Anglican lineage of apostolic succession.

The Philippine Independent Church began work in the United States during the years of negotiation, which led to the establishment of full intercommunion with the Protestant Episcopal Church in 1961. With the blessing of the Episcopal bishop in Hawaii, a mission among Filipino-Americans was initiated in 1959. By the mid-1970s three parishes, meeting in Episcopal churches, had been established. Services were held in both the English and Ilocano languages. The church has subsequently established congregations in other states.

The Philippine Independent Church established communion with the Protestant Episcopal Church, the Philippine Episcopal Church, and other Anglican bodies through the terms of the Bonn agreement of 1931, which brought the Church of England and the Old Catholic Church into accord. As of 1985 it maintained communion with a number of Anglican bodies, the Old Catholic Churches in Europe, the Polish National Catholic Church, and the Lusitanian Catholic-Apostolic Evangelical Church. It is a member of the World Council of Churches.

Membership: Not reported.

Periodicals: Aglipayian Review. Send orders to Box 2484, Manila, Philippines.

Remarks: Since the late 1970s relations between the Protestant Episcopal Church and the Philippine Independent Church have been strained due to the participation of several Philippine bishops in the consecration of bishops for independent conservative Anglican jurisdictions established by former Episcopalians. In 1978 Francisco Pagtakhan, Bishop Secretary of Missions for the Philippine Independent Church, participated in the consecration of several bishops for what became the Anglican Catholic Church, the Diocese of Christ the King, and the United Episcopal Church of North America. Then in 1980, Pagtakhan led in the founding of the Holy Catholic Church, Anglican Rite Jurisdiction of the Americas, and with Bishops Sergio Mondala and Lupe Rosete, consecrated three bishops for the new church. In 1982 he broke relations with that jurisdiction and established rival work in a new Anglican Rite Diocese of Texas.

Sources:

Anderson, Gerald H., ed. Studies in Philippine Church History. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1969.

Deats, Richard L. Nationalism and Christianity in the Philippines. Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University Press, 1967.

★205 ★

Primitive Episcopal Church

1729 Rivercross Ln.
Galax, VA 24333

The Primitive Episcopal church was founded in 1997 as the Diocese of the Holy Spirit. On May 28 of that year, its presiding bishop, Steven Murrell, was both ordained as a priest and consecrated as a bishop. The present name was adopted in 2001. The church describes itself as Evangelical, Anglican, and Catholic. Its accepts the absolute authority of the Bible; traditional Anglican liturgy and belief; the three-fold ministry of bishop, priest, and deacon; the apostolic succession of his episcopal leadership; and participation in the historical lineage of the Christian church. While conservative in its approach, it is not particularly identified with the Continuing Church movement, the loose network of jurisdictions that emerged in the 1970s in opposition to the "liberal" trends in the Episcopal Church.

The church has a missionary outreach in Puerto Rico centered at Christ the King of Glory Church in Dorado, Puerto Rico, pastured by Very Rev. Juan Cepero.

Membership: Not reported. The jurisdiction has two congregations in the continental United States and one parish in Puerto Rico.

Sources:

Primitive Episcopal Church. http://members.aol.com/primitiveepisc/. 15 February 2002.

★206 ★

Protestant Anglican Bible Church

PO Box 42
Marshall, NC 28753

The Protestant Anglican Bible Church, formerly known at the Evangelical Episcopal Church was founded in the 1980s by Bp. Edward Marshall. The current name change too place in July 2001. It is one of a number of churches associated with the Continuing Church Movement among Anglicans who rejected the changes in the Episcopal Church during the last generation. Marshall arrived at his position by a distinct route, as he was never an Episcopal minister. As a young man, he had become a published poet of some note. He was also a lay reader in the Episcopal Church. Then in 1965 he accepted ordination from Abp. Richard A. Marchenna of the North American Old Roman Catholic Church. He was consecrated in 1976 by Bp. James E. Burns of the United Episcopal Church (1945) Anglican/Celtic. Finally in 1989 he was reconsecrated by Francisco Pagtakhan, the bishop of the Philippine Independent Church from whom many in the Continuing Church Movement have their orders.

The Evangelical Episcopal Church has fraternal ties to several other small Anglican jurisdictions of similar faith and practice, especially the Traditional Protestant Episcopal Church and the United Anglican Church.

Membership: Not reported.

Sources:

Ward, Gary L. Independent Bishops: An International Directory. Detroit, MI: Apogee Books, 1990.

★207 ★

Provisional Diocese of St. Augustine of Canterbury

(Defunct)

The Provisional Diocese of St. Augustine of Canterbury was formed in 1978 by Canon Albert J. duBois (1906-1980), former head of the American Church Union, and five former parishes of the Diocese of the Holy Trinity (of what is now the Anglican Catholic Church). It was the desire of the parishes to unite with The Roman Catholic Church, though they wished to retain their own liturgy, forms of piety, and their traditional lay involvement in the life of the Church. The group was led by its "senior priest," Canon duBois; the Rev. John Barker, head of the "Clericus," a priests' conference; and Dr. Theodore L. McEvoy, head of its "Laymen's League."

In 1980 Archbishop John Raphael Quinn, Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco, announced a plan by which Anglicans could come into the Roman Catholic Church and keep their own priests, an approved Anglican liturgy, and a common identity. In 1981, James Parker became the first priest to move from the Protestant Episcopal Church to the Roman jurisdiction. By 1985, twenty-three married priests had been re-ordained as Roman priests. Five parishes had been received by the Vatican.

★208 ★

Reformed Episcopal Church

2001 Frederick Rd.
Baltimore, MD 21228-5599

History. The Reformed Episcopal Church was founded on December 2, 1873, in New York City at the call of the Rt. Rev. George David Cummins, formerly the assistant bishop of Kentucky in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. As an evangelical, Cummins viewed with alarm the influence of the Anglo-Catholic movement within the Episcopal Church. He had come to believe that it had fatally compromised the Protestant character of Anglican doctrine and worship and that it had bred intolerance to evangelical preaching and worship.

Throughout the 1860s, factions within the Episcopal church had been clashing over ceremonial and doctrinal issues, especially concerning the meaning of critical passages of the Book of Common Prayer. These clashes reached a climax for Cummins in October 1873, when he was publicly attacked by his fellow bishops for participating in an ecumenical communion service under the aegis of the Evangelical Alliance in New York City. On November 10, 1873, he resigned his office of assistant bishop and on November 15 issued the call to other evangelical Episcopalians to join him in organizing a new Episcopal church for the "purpose of restoring the old paths of the fathers…"

Beliefs. At the organization of the new church, a declaration of principles was adopted and the Rev. Charles E. Cheney was elected bishop to serve with Cummins (Cheney was consecrated by Cummins on December 14, 1873). In May 1874, the Second General Council approved a Constitution and Canons for the church and a slightly amended version of The Book of Common Prayer. In 1875, the Third General Council adopted a set of Thirty-nine Articles as an explanatory supplement to the Church of England's Thirty-nine Articles of Religion.

Organization. Although Cummins died in 1876, the church had grown to seven jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada. Although substantial growth ceased after 1900, the Reformed Episcopal Church now comprises three synods (New York-Philadelphia, Chicago, and Charleston-Atlanta-Charlotte) and a Special Missionary Jurisdiction with churches in Arizona and California. It maintains a theological seminary in Philadelphia which offers a three-year curriculum and houses a library and archival resources.

The church is governed by a triennial general council, and elects a presiding bishop from among its serving bishops to be executive head of the church; however, most authority lies at the synodical and parish levels. It has maintained in its doctrine the principles of episcopacy (in historic succession from the apostles), Anglican liturgy, Reformed doctrine, and evangelical fellowship, and in its practice, it continues to recognize the validity of certain non-episcopal orders of evangelical ministry. The church was briefly a member of the Federal Council of Churches at its inception. It is currently a member of the National Association of Evangelicals. It has instituted dialogue in response to invitations from the Episcopal Church in 1920, 1931-41, and in 1987-88.

Membership: In 1995, the church reported 6,084 members in 102 congregations and missions, and 1,607 ministers.

Educational Facilities: The Theological Seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Cummins Memorial Theological Seminary, Summerville, South Carolina.

Periodicals: The Evangelical Episcopulian. Send orders to 3240 Adams Ct. N., Bensalem, PA 29020.

Sources:

The Book of Common Prayer. Philadelphia: Reformed Episcopal Publication Society, 1932.

Carter, Paul A. "The Reformed Episcopal Schism of 1873: An Ecumenical Perspective." Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church33, no. 3 (September 1964).

Cheney, Charles Edward. What Reformed Episcopalians Believe. N.p. Christian Education Committee, Reformed Episcopal Church, 1961.

Guelzo, Allen C. The First Thirty Years: A Historical Handbook for the Founding of the Reformed Episcopal Church, 1873-1903. Philadelphia: Reformed Episcopal Publication Society, 1986.

Platt, Warren C. "The Reformed Episcopal Church: The Origins and Early Development of its Theological Perspective." Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church 61 (1983).

★209 ★

Southern Episcopal Church

234 Willow Ln.
Nashville, TN 37211

The Southern Episcopal Church was formed in 1953 by 10 families of All Saints Episcopal Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Its constitution was ratified in 1965. The presiding bishop for its first quarter century was Rt. Rev. B. H. Webster. Webster died in 1991 and was succeeded by Bp. Huron C. Manning, Jr. He is assisted by fellow bishops William Green, Jr. and Henry L. Atwell. The church is governed by the National Convention composed of all bishops (House of Bishops) and the lay and clerical delegates. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer is standard for worship. The church sponsors an American Indian mission as well as foreign work in four countries, including a mission in India started in the mid-1980s. American parishes can be found in Alabama, the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: Holy Trinity College, Nashville, Tennessee.

Periodicals: The Southern Episcopalian.

★210 ★

Traditional Episcopal Church

3000 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd.
Clearwater, FL 33759

The Traditional Episcopal Church was founded in 1991 by Most Rev. Richard G. Melli, its presiding bishop. In the mid-1970s, Melli was a lay-reader at the St. Edward the Confessor Episcopal Church in Mt. Dora, Florida, a congregation of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. He also studied with the Diocesan Deacon Training Program. Following the formation of the Anglican Catholic Church, a conservative body of former Episcopal priests and lay people, he assisted in the founding of new congregations in central Florida. He was ordained a deacon in 1980 and the following year a priest by Bp. Frank Knutti.

Melli initially served as the diocesan administrative officer and soon was named canon. During these years the Anglican Catholic Church largely established itself as an Anglo-Catholic high church and developed some intolerance for the evangelical wing of the conservative continuing church movement. Following Bishop Knutti's death, Melli left the church and joined the Anglican Episcopal Church of North America under Bp. Walter Hollis Adams.

Melli found himself in charge of four parishes and a mission, an ordered community, the Order of Oblates of the Holy Spirit (founded in 1983), and Laud Hall Seminary, an in-house school to provide training for the church's clergy.

When Adams died and the AECNA moved into a period of instability, Melli and the parishes under his leadership began to seek another jurisdiction which was like them–nonpolitical, Christ-centered, spirit-filled, and serving God. They could find no jurisdiction to their liking within the Continuing Church movement and thus in 1991 they decided to form the Traditional Episcopal Church. To insure the validity of his orders, Melli sought consecration by bishops in three different lineages: Bps. Howard Russell (Anglican), Peters (Orthodox), and Roberto Toca (Old Catholic).

The church has experienced steady growth. Formed in succession was a Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic anchored on the St. Charles the Martyr parish in Annapolis, Maryland, and overseas dioceses in Colombia and India. A new Abbot of the Order of the Oblates of the Holy Spirit was consecrated as the fifth bishop sitting in the College of Bishops.

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: Anglican College of Chaplains, Palaka, Florida.

Laud Hall Seminary, Palaka, Florida.

Periodicals: The Traditional Episcopalian (on the Internet).

★211 ★

Traditional Protestant Episcopal Church

6 Derby Ln.
Fairhope, AL 36532

The Traditional Protestant Episcopal Church was founded in 1986 by Bp. Charles Edward Morley. Bishop Morley was raised a Roman Catholic but joined the American Episcopal Church in the 1970s. He was ordained in 1981 by C. Dale D. Doren of the United Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. and consecrated in 1984 by Bp. Richard C. Acker of the United Episcopal Church of America. Morley succeeded Acker as head of the United Episcopal Church.

Instead of continuing the United Episcopal Church, Morley founded a new church. It has one diocese, the Missionary Diocese of the Advent. Morley was consecrated sub conditione in 1989 by Abp. Francisco Pagtakhan of the Philippine Independent Catholic Church and Bp. Larry L. Shaver. As its name implies, the Traditional Protestant Episcopal Church is a conservative Anglican body. It adheres to the 39 Articles of Religion of the Episcopal Church and uses the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and the King James Version of the Bible. The church also affirms the inerrancy of the Bible. It is evangelical and low church (less liturgical) in its practice of Anglicanism and rejects Anglo-Catholic approaches to understanding the tradition. Associated with the church is Bp. Ed Whatley of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Membership: Not reported.

★212 ★

United Anglican Church

℅ The Most Rev. Gilbert McDowell, Archbishop
3000 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd.
Clearwater, FL 33759

The United Anglican Church (not to be confused with two other Anglican jurisdictions of the same name) was formed at the end of the twentieth century through the union of the Anglo-Catholic Church in the Americas (ACTA) and the Traditional Episcopal Church. The Traditional Episcopal Church was founded in 1991 by Mt. Rev. Richard G. Melli, its presiding bishop. In the mid-1970s, Melli was a lay-reader at the St. Edward the Confessor Episcopal Church in Mt. Dora, Florida, a congregation of the Episcopal Church. Following the formation of the Anglican Catholic Church, a conservative body of former Episcopal priests and lay people, he assisted in the founding of new congregations in central Florida. He was ordained a deacon in 1980 and the following year a priest by Bp. Frank Knutti.

Melli initially served as the dioceasan administrative officer and soon was named canon. During these years the Anglican Catholic Church largely established itself as an Anglo-Catholic high church and developed some intolerance for the evangelical wing of the conservative continuing church movement. Following Bishop Knutti's death, Melli left the church and joined the Anglican Episcopal Church of North America (AVENA) under Bp. Walter Hollis Adams. Melli found himself in charge of four parishes and a mission; an ordered community, the Order of Oblates of the Holy Spirit (founded in 1983); and Laud Hall Seminary, an in-house school to provide training for the church's clergy.

When Adams died and the AEVNA moved into a period of instability, Melli and the parishes under his leadership began to seek another jurisdiction that was like them–nonpolitical, Christ-centered, Spirit-filled, and serving God. They could find no jurisdiction to their liking within the Continuing Church movement and thus in 1991 decided to form the Traditional Episcopal Church. To insure the validity of his orders, Melli sought consecration by bishops in three different lineages: Bps. Howard Russell (Anglican), Peters (Orthodox), and Roberto Toca (Old Catholic).

Anglo-Catholic Church in the Americas was reactivated as a Province in February 1997, building upon the foundation of two earlier but disbanded Provinces: the Anglo-Catholic Church in America and of the Anglican Rite Jurisdiction in America (ARJA) of which they were the logical successors. The present bishops, the Rt. Rev. Jose Delgado and the Rt. Rev. Norman Strauss are in succession from the bishops consecrated in Denver in 1978 (in response to the Episcopal Church's adoption of the extension of the ordained ministry to women). Their consecration marked an important juncture in the Continuing Church movement. The two bishops also have orders from the Philippine Independent Catholic Church, whose bishops were directly involved in the beginning of ARJA.

As a "continuing church" organization, the United Anglican Church affirms the 39 Articles of Religion that present the traditional Anglican position and the Affirmation of St. Louis. The church limits the ordained ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons to those of the male gender. Worship is conducted out of the Book of Common Prayer of 1928, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and other approved liturgical texts, including the Anglican, American, and English Missals.

The church has three dioceses in the United States: the Province of the Southeast, based in Florida and headed by Mt. Rev. Gilbert McDowell; the Diocese of the Transfiguration based in New York and headed by the Rt. Rev. Norman Strauss; and the Diocese of the West based in the state of Washington and headed by Rt. Rev. Robert D. Parlotz. The primary foreign mission is done in the Caribbean by the Franciscan Brothers of Divine Providence, under the leadership of Jose Delgado, Bishop of Puerto Rico and the Americas. It includes several houses in Puerto Rico, and a companion order of Sisters in Tanzania (Africa). The friars work in the poorest areas of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. Education work is pursued through Laud Hall Seminary, formerly an institution of the Traditional Episcopal Church.

The Traditional Episcopal Church has moved toward union with the Anglican Church in America. Intercommunion has been approved and steps toward possible merger begun.

Membership: Not reported.

Periodicals: The Word (Newsletter), c/o Rt. Rev. Barry E. Yingling, 505 N. George St., York, PA 17404-2702.

Sources:

United Anglican Church. http://www.acta-anglican.org/index.htm. 1 February 2002.

★213 ★

United Episcopal Church (1945) Anglican/Celtic

PO Box 1931
Tucson, AZ 85702

History. The United Episcopal Church (1945) Anglican/Celtic (UEC) was formed in 1945 in Plainfield, Illinois, by Bishops Julius Massey, Albert Sorensen, and Hinton Pride. They envisioned a restored church of Anglican/Celtic heritage. St. Paul's Catherdral was designed and built in Plainfield. During the process of its early growth, several previously founded churches affiliated with the UEC, including the Norwegian Seaman's Mission in Chicago. In the mid-1950s, Bishop James E. Burns, who had previously founded several Anglican churches, brought his jurisdiction into the United Episcopal Church. Burns had originally been consecrated by William H. Schneider, who like Massey had been consecrated by Denver Scott Swain of the American Episcopal Church (1940s). Burns also persuaded the Rev. Orlando J. Woodward, pastor of the independent Bethany Presbyterian Church in Fort Orlethorpe, Georgia, to bring his congregation into the jurisdiction. Woodward had been ordained by Archbishop W. H. Francis Brothers of the Old Catholic Church in America, but had introduced the congregation he served to the Episcopal Prayer Book and led it to adopt the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. as its standard of doctrine.

After a period of growth, during which time Woodward served as presiding bishop (1961-1965), the church entered a period of decline. Woodward suffered a near-fatal illness, several of the priests retired, and bishops Massey and Sorensen died. It was during this time with the church nearly moribund that Bishop Burns consecrated Richard C. Acker, who founded the United Episcopal Church of America. However, in the 1980s, Woodward was able to resume his duties as presiding bishop and began reviving the UEC. New parishes were created and in 1988, with the assistance of Karl Pruter, head of Christ Catholic Church, Woodward consecrated Ted D. Kelly as coadjutor bishop with might of succession and bishop of the Southwest. In 1990 Archbishop Woodward died and was succeeded by Bishop Kelly. Rev. Fr. Michael R. Porter is the church's chancellor.

Beliefs. The UEC accepts the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion common to Anglicanism and uses the 1928 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. It considers the traditional teachings of the Anglican faith to be binding and not subject to alteration or debate. It also accepts as valid those practices and the liturgical worship as introduced into the ancient British Isles by the Celtic and Gallic monks and missionaries, and which, when integrated into the traditions of St. Augustine of Canterbury, produced the Anglican tradition. The church recognizes two greater sacraments, baptism and the Holy Eucharist, and five lesser ones: confirmation, confession, holy orders, marriage, and unction. It retains the spectrum of high (more liturgical), low (less formal), and broad church emphases in the expression of worship.

Organization. The church follows an episcopal polity. The governance is invested in the National Convention consisting of the all the bishops (the College of Bishops) and all the priests and lay delegates from each parish (the House of Delegates). The presiding bishop presides at the convention meetings. In 1987 Bishop Woodward and Father (now Bishop) Kelly founded the Missionary Order of St. Jude, dedicated to the assistance of the poor and needy. The church is opposed to the admission of women to the priesthood.

Membership: Not reported.

Educational Facilities: The School of Theology, Tucson, Arizona. The School of Clinical Counseling, Nashville, Tennessee.

Periodicals: The Celt.

★214 ★

United Episcopal Church of America

(Defunct)

The United Episcopal Church of America started in 1970 as an independent Anglican parish meeting in the home of Howard Love of Columbia, South Carolina. The congregation decided to affiliate with the American Episcopal Church (AEC) and called former Protestant Episcopal priest Richard C. Acker (d. 1985) to the pulpit. Acker was installed in 1971 by Archbishop Anthony F. M. Clavier, head of the American Episcopal Church. In 1973 the congregation withdrew from the AEC. Over the next few years Acker became acquainted with Bishop James E. Burns of the United Episcopal Church (1945) Anglican/Celtic. Burns' consecration of Acker in 1976 led to the formation of the United Episcopal Church of America over which Acker served as archbishop. Acker was succeeded as head of the church by Charles Edward Morley, whom he consecrated in 1984. Morley disbanded the church which was superceded in 1986 by the Traditional Protestant Episcopal Church.

★215 ★

United Episcopal Church of North America

614 Pebblestone Ct.
Statesville, NC 28677

In 1980 C. Dale David Doren, senior bishop of the Anglican Catholic Church and head of its mid-Atlantic diocese, resigned. He contended that the Anglican Catholic Church was becoming exclusively "high-church" or "Anglo-Catholic" in its stance. With only two congregations, he formed the United Episcopal Church of the U.S.A. (known since 1985 as the United Episcopal Church of North America.) It adheres to the traditional beliefs and practices of the Protestant Episcopal Church as exemplified in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion.

The UEC tends to the "low-church" end of the Anglican spectrum. Each parish is independent and holds title to properties and control over temporal affairs. The jurisdiction adopted the 1958 Protestant Episcopal Church Constitution and Canons (with specific changes in relation to church properties) as its own. The presiding bishop was given the title of archbishop, but the church vested little power in the office. In 1984 Archbishop Doren consecrated Albion W. Knight as a missionary bishop to assist him in leadership of the jurisdiction's affairs. In the 1980s Doren retired and was succeeded by Knight. Most recently, Knight has retired in favor of Bishop John Gramley.

The church's Internet site is at http://united-episcopal.org.

Membership: Not reported.

Periodicals: Glad Tidings. Send orders to Box 681, Shalimar, FL 32579.