The
Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) is an Anglican
churchA local church is a Christian religious organization that meets in a particular location. Many are formally organized, with constitutions and by-laws, maintain offices, are served by pastors or lay leaders, and, in nations where this is permissible, often seek seek non-profit corporate status...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and a founding member of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). In 2009, the Reformed Episcopal Church reported 13,600 members, but within the ACNA forms a denomination of approximately 100,000 members.
The REC has approximately 141 parishes and missions in the United States,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
,
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
,
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
,
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
,
CroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and
LiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
. The current
Presiding BishopThe Presiding Bishop is an ecclesiastical position in some denominations of Christianity.- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America :The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the chief ecumenical officer of the church, and the leader and caretaker for the bishops of the...
is the Most Reverend
Leonard W. RichesLeonard Wayne Riches is the current Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church and bishop of the Diocese of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic of his denomination. He received the Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University and the Master of Divinity and the Doctor of Divinity Honoris causa from...
.
The REC was founded in 1873 by Bishop
George David CumminsGeorge David Cummins was an American bishop and founder of the Reformed Episcopal Church.-Life and career:George David Cummins was born in Delaware on 11 December 1822. He graduated from Dickinson College in 1841, and entered the Methodist ministry.In 1845 Cummins took orders in the Protestant...
, formerly of the
Protestant Episcopal ChurchThe Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
. The church's services are celebrated according to the 1928 Book of Common Prayer or its own edition of the
Book of Common Prayer.
History
In the 19th century, as the
Oxford MovementThe Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
urged that the
Protestant Episcopal ChurchThe Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
and the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
return to Anglicanism's roots in pre-Reformation Catholic Christianity,
George David CumminsGeorge David Cummins was an American bishop and founder of the Reformed Episcopal Church.-Life and career:George David Cummins was born in Delaware on 11 December 1822. He graduated from Dickinson College in 1841, and entered the Methodist ministry.In 1845 Cummins took orders in the Protestant...
, the Assistant Bishop of the
Episcopal Diocese of KentuckyThe Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing the western half of the state of Kentucky. The diocese, which originally comprised all of Kentucky, consecrated its first bishop, the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Bosworth Smith, in 1832...
, became concerned about the preservation of
ProtestantProtestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
,
EvangelicalEvangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
, Reformed, and Confessional principles within the church.
The founding of the Reformed Episcopal Church followed an 1873 controversy about ecumenical activity. In October of that year, Bishop Cummins joined with Dean Smith of Canterbury,
William Augustus Muhlenberg, and some non-Anglican ministers at an ecumenical conference of the
Evangelical AllianceThe Evangelical Alliance is a London-based charitable organization founded in 1846. It has a claimed representation of over 1,000,000 evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom and is the oldest alliance of evangelical Christians in the world....
. During the conference, held in New York City, Cummins, Smith and the non-Episcopalian ministers presided at joint services of Holy Communion. The retired missionary bishop, William Tozer, who visiting in New York at the time, criticized Smith and implicitly Cummins for participating in a rite different from that in the Book of Common Prayer. Tozer's criticism appeared in a letter published by the New York
Tribune on 6 October 1873.
Bishop Cummins defended his actions in a letter published 10 days later, but after criticisms from
Anglo-CatholicThe terms Anglo-Catholic and Anglo-Catholicism describe people, beliefs and practices within Anglicanism that affirm the Catholic, rather than Protestant, heritage and identity of the Anglican churches....
clergy, he resigned his position on November 10. Three weeks later, joined by 21 Episcopalian clergy and lay people, he organized the first general council of the Reformed Episcopal Church in New York City on 2 December 1873. At this time, as recorded by his wife in her biography of him, Cummins and the other early members spent much time in writing their "35 Articles" which encapsulated the faith they wished to express in the REC.
In the United States
Within six months of its founding in 1873, the REC grew to comprise about 1,500 communicants. These were served by two bishops and 15 other ministers. In 1875, over 400 African-American Protestant Episcopal communicants in
South Carolina's Low CountryThe Lowcountry is a geographic and cultural region located along South Carolina's coast. The region includes the South Carolina Sea Islands...
joined the REC as a group.
In Canada
Within a year from the founding of the REC, like-minded Canadian Anglicans in
New BrunswickNew Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
and
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
seceded from that Church and formed Reformed Episcopal congregations. In October 1874, Edward Cridge, dean of the Anglican cathedral in
Victoria, British ColumbiaVictoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, withdrew with about 350 of his congregation and joined the Reformed Episcopal Church. Cridge was consecrated a bishop for the REC in 1876.
In England
In 1877, in response to a petition from REC sympathizers in England, the REC's Fifth General Council acted to establish the Reformed Episcopal Church in that country. Former Church of England minister Thomas Huband Gregg was consecrated a bishop to lead adherents there. By 1910 there were 28 ministers and 1,990 communicant members constituting the Reformed Episcopal Church in that country. In 1927, the Reformed Episcopal Church in England merged with the
Free Church of EnglandThe Free Church of England is an Anglican church which separated from the established Church of England in the course of the 19th century. The church was founded by evangelical clergy and congregations in response to the rise of Anglo-Catholicism. The first congregations were formed in 1844...
.
2009 split in Canada
In 2009, Bishop Michael Fedechko retired as Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of Central and Eastern Canada. In 2010, he organized the “Reformed Episcopal Church of Canada” and disassociated himself from the General Council of the Reformed Episcopal Church. All but one parish (St. George's Anglican Church) within the diocese left with Bishop Fedechko.
In response, the REC appointed Bishop Ordinary David Hicks of the Diocese of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to be the Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of Central and Eastern Canada. According to the Minutes of the 139th Council of the Diocese of Northeast and Mid-Atlantic (held on November 4-5, 2010), “
The effectiveness of the work of the church in Ontario has not diminished, as St. George's Church is larger in number than all of the clergy and laity, who have left with Bishop Fedechko, combined.”
In Spring 2011, Bishop Fedechko, as Bishop Primus, left the Reformed Episcopal Church of Canada and joined
Independent Anglican Church Canada SynodThe Independent Anglican Church is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition with churches in Canada and the United States of America. It is not affiliated with the Anglican Communion headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Most Rev. Peter Wayne Goodrich of Niagara Falls, Ontario,...
, together with his parish, Trinity Anglican Church in New Liskeard, Ontario, leaving one or two parishes in the Reformed Episcopal Church of Canada under the oversight of Bishop Ordinary Ivan Chan, with total attendance of less than 10 people (excluding clergy and families).
Current status
As of 2009, the Reformed Episcopal Church reports that it has 13,600 members. The Church has six
dioceseA diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and includes 141 parishes and missions. Congregations are also located in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
,
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
,
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
,
CubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
,
CroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
and
LiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
.
Leadership
The current
Presiding BishopThe Presiding Bishop is an ecclesiastical position in some denominations of Christianity.- Evangelical Lutheran Church in America :The Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the chief ecumenical officer of the church, and the leader and caretaker for the bishops of the...
of the Church is the Most Rev.
Leonard W. RichesLeonard Wayne Riches is the current Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church and bishop of the Diocese of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic of his denomination. He received the Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University and the Master of Divinity and the Doctor of Divinity Honoris causa from...
. The Diocese of Mid-America is led by Bishop Royal Grote, the Coadjutor of the Diocese is
Ray SuttonThe Rt. Rev. Ray R. Sutton is Bishop Coadjutor in the Diocese of Mid America of the Reformed Episcopal Church as well as Rector of the Church of the Holy Communion in Dallas, Texas, professor of scripture and theology at Cranmer Theological House in Houston, Texas and headmaster of Bent Tree...
, and an assisting Bishop in the diocese is
Sam SeamansThe Rt. Rev. Sam Seamans is an American Anglican bishop. He is assisting Bishop in the Reformed Episcopal Church and of the Anglican Church in North America. He is also Rector of St...
. The Rt. Rev. Alphonza Gadsden is the Bishop of the Diocese of the Southeast and the Rt. Rev'd William White is the Suffragan Bishop of that Diocese. The Rt. Rev. Richard Boyce is the Bishop of the Diocese of the West. The Rt. Rev. Daniel Morse is the Bishop of the Missionary Diocese of the Central States. The Rt. Rev. Charles Dorrington is the Bishop of the Diocese of Western Canada and Alaska. Bishop Dorrington also provides oversight for six churches and a variety of preaching stations in Cuba.
Formation of Anglican Church in North America
In 2009, the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) became a founding member of the
Anglican Church in North America (ACNA), a denomination seeking to create a new
Anglican CommunionThe Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
province distinct from the Episcopal Church. ACNA is in communion with the Anglican Churches of Uganda and Nigeria, with approximately 26 million members world-wide, representing approximately one-third of the faithful of the Anglican Communion.
Earlier developments
The Reformed Episcopal Church in North America has been in full communion with the
Free Church of EnglandThe Free Church of England is an Anglican church which separated from the established Church of England in the course of the 19th century. The church was founded by evangelical clergy and congregations in response to the rise of Anglo-Catholicism. The first congregations were formed in 1844...
since 1927, when Reformed Episcopal congregations and clergy in England merged with the FCE. Bishops of the two Churches take part in episcopal consecrations of the other, and there are periodic visits between them. On occasion REC clergy have served in FCE parishes and vice versa.
In 1998 the REC signed a concordat of intercommunion for the first time with an Anglo-Catholic communion, the
Anglican Province of AmericaThe Anglican Province of America is one of a number of "Continuing" Anglican churches in the United States. This church considers the Episcopal Church in the USA to be heretical, thus it maintains a church separate from that body in order to follow what it considers to be a truly Christian and...
(APA). A 2005 renewal of the agreement also established intercommunion with the Anglican Communion's
Church of NigeriaThe Church of Nigeria is the Anglican church in Nigeria. It is the second-largest province in the Anglican Communion, as measured by baptized membership, after the Church of England. It gives its current membership as "over 18 million", out of a total Nigerian population of 140 million.Since 2002...
..
An additional proposal would have led to an eventual merger between the APA and the REC, but the APA's decision not to join the new Anglican Church in North America in 2008 is an obstacle to the proposed merger.
Doctrine
Founding principles
The founders of the Reformed Episcopal Church professed a faith rooted in the
English ReformationThe English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
, regarding the
Holy ScriptureThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
as the Word of God, and accepting the authority of the
NiceneThe Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...
,
Apostles'The Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...
and
Athanasian CreedThe Athanasian Creed is a Christian statement of belief, focusing on Trinitarian doctrine and Christology. The Latin name of the creed, Quicumque vult, is taken from the opening words, "Whosoever wishes." The Athanasian Creed has been used by Christian churches since the sixth century...
s, the first four
ecumenical councilAn ecumenical council is a conference of ecclesiastical dignitaries and theological experts convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice....
s, the
Thirty-nine ArticlesThe Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion are the historically defining statements of doctrines of the Anglican church with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. First established in 1563, the articles served to define the doctrine of the nascent Church of England as it related to...
of Religion (in the form published in 1801 by the Protestant Episcopal Church), and the
Declaration of Principles of the Reformed Episcopal Church.
They emphasized the Protestant, Reformed, Evangelical and Reformational aspects in the history of the Church of England, making frequent allusions to
Archbishop CranmerThomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...
,
Bishop RidleyNicholas Ridley may refer to:* Henry Nicholas Ridley , English botanist* Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale , British politician* Nicholas Ridley , English clergyman...
,
Bishop Hugh LatimerHugh Latimer was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, Bishop of Worcester before the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555, under Queen Mary, he was burnt at the stake, becoming one of the three Oxford Martyrs of Anglicanism.-Life:Latimer was born into a...
,
Bishop John HooperJohn Hooper, Johan Hoper, was an English churchman, Anglican Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester. A Protestant Reformer, he was killed during the Marian Persecutions.-Biography:...
,
Archbishop Matthew ParkerMatthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....
,
Bishop John JewelJohn Jewel was an English bishop of Salisbury.-Life:He was the son of John Jewel of Buden, Devon, was educated under his uncle John Bellamy, rector of Hampton, and other private tutors until his matriculation at Merton College, Oxford, in July 1535.There he was taught by John Parkhurst,...
,
Archbishop Edmund GrindalEdmund Grindal was an English church leader who successively held the posts of Bishop of London, Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Elizabeth I of England.-Early life to the death of Edward VI:...
and other
Reformers in the Church of EnglandThe English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
. Early leaders of the Church, in lectures and sermons, warned against Ritualism as a denominational proclivity in the Episcopal Church.
Concluding the final day of the First General Convention of The Reformed Episcopal Church, December 2, 1873, the principles and ethos were summarized:
"One in heart and in faith with our fathers, who at the very beginning of this nation sought to mold and fashion the ecclesiastical polity which they had inherited from the Reformed Church of England, by a judicious and thorough revision of the Book of Common Prayer, we return to their positions and claim to be the old and true Protestant Episcopalians of the days immediately succeeding the American Revolution, and through these, our ancestors, we claim an unbroken historical connection through the Church of England, with the Church of Christ, from the earliest Christian community."
Declaration of Principles
The first general council of the REC approved this declaration on 2 December 1873:
1. The Reformed Episcopal Church, holding "the faith once delivered unto the saints", declares its belief in the Holy Scriptures of the OldThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
and New TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
s as the Word of God, as the sole rule of Faith and Practice; in the Creed "commonly called the Apostles' CreedThe Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...
;" in the Divine institution of the SacramentA sacrament is a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance and significance. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites.-General definitions and terms:...
s of BaptismIn Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
and the Lord's SupperThe Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
; and in the doctrines of grace substantially as they are set forth in the Thirty-Nine ArticlesThe Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion are the historically defining statements of doctrines of the Anglican church with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. First established in 1563, the articles served to define the doctrine of the nascent Church of England as it related to...
of Religion.
2. This Church recognizes and adheres to Episcopacy, not as of Divine right, but as a very ancient and desirable form of Church polityPolity is a form of government Aristotle developed in his search for a government that could be most easily incorporated and used by the largest amount of people groups, or states...
.
3. This Church, retaining a liturgy which shall not be imperative or repressive of freedom in prayer, accepts The Book of Common Prayer, as it was revised, proposed, and recommended for use by the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, A.D. 1785, reserving full liberty to alter, abridge, enlarge, and amend the same, as may seem most conducive to the edification of the people, "provided that the substance of the faith be kept entire."
4. This Church condemns and rejects the following erroneous and strange doctrines as contrary to God's Word: First, that the Church of Christ exists only in one order or form of ecclesiastical polity; Second, that Christian Ministers are "priests" in another sense than that in which all believers are a "royal priesthood"; Third, that the Lord's Table is an altar on which the oblationOblation, an offering , a term, particularly in ecclesiastical usage, for a solemn offering or presentation to God.-Bible usage:...
of the Body and Blood of Christ is offered anew to the Father; Fourth, that the Presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper is a presence in the elements of Bread and Wine; Fifth, that regeneration is inseparably connected with Baptism.
Doctrine on ministry
At its founding in 1873, the REC did not maintain three historic orders of ministry (bishop, priest, and deacon), but only two, with a
primitive and low form of episcopacy. The Bishop was a senior presbyter,
primus inter pares, chosen from brother-presbyters.
Bishops
In his letters, Bishop George Cummins wrote that the role of a bishop was an "office" of service not a "monarchialist order." Bishop Cummins wrote in a private letter on January 1, 1873 to a Protestant Episcopal clergyman, "I contend that the Episcopate is not of apostolic origin; that the Bishop is only
primus inter pares, and not in any way superior in
order to the Presbyter. We are
acting on this principle. We set apart a Bishop to his work by a joint laying on of hands of a Bishop and the presbyters. I act as a Bishop, not claiming
a jure divino right, or to be in any Apostolic Succession, but only as one chosen of his brethren to have the oversight. If
others look upon me as retaining the succession, that does not commit us to their understanding."
According to the Church's early founders, bishops were "presiding presbyters, not diocesan Prelates." The Rev. Mason Gallagher, one founding minister, argued that the true episcopate had come through the 1785 line of evangelicals. In his view, the Protestant Episcopal Church had changed its principles and thereby lost any claim to valid episcopacy when it adopted the 1789
Book of Common Prayer containing a "Scoto-Romish Communion service and a thoroughly Sacerdotal Institution Office", and when it created a House of Bishops with power to overrule the existing House of presbyters and laymen: "If there is such a thing as the Historic Episcopate, and it is of any value, the parties making this offer in the present case cannot deliver the goods."
Ministers
From its founding in 1873, the REC designated its clergy as presbyters, pastors, and ministers, but not as "priests", and the word "priest" was expunged from the REC's
Book of Common Prayer in favor of the word "minister." This usage reflected the terminology used in the Cranmerian 1552
Book of Common Prayer.
Acceptance of other Evangelical clergy
REC ministers, unlike ministers of the Protestant Episcopal Church, exchanged pulpits with fellow evangelical clergymen of non-episcopal traditions. They viewed the ministries of the Word and Sacraments in other evangelical denominations as equally valid. True churches of Christ existed outside episcopal church structures, they held, contrary to Tractarian and
High ChurchThe term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
teaching. Inter-evangelical collegiality was an important issue for the REC, because Bishop Cummins had been censured for participation with Presbyterian and Methodist ministers in an inter-faith communion service. This practice of the founders' praxis and belief has now been abandoned. The current praxis is to require reordination and regularization of orders if ordained outside Episcopal ordination.
At its first general council on December 2, 1873, the REC also reformed the transfer of clergy credentials from other denominations. In the Episcopal Church, such transfers had involved a process of application, examination, reception, and in some cases, conferral of holy orders, understood as a "regularization." In contrast, the REC allowed for examination in points of doctrine and discipline for validation of conformity yet without re-ordination.
Theological pluralism
Although the REC was founded as an evangelical and Reformed Anglican body, it now has Anglo-Catholics among its members and has entered into an intercommunion agreement with an Anglo-Catholic body, the APA. A 2006 document of the REC bishops, "True Unity by the Cross of Christ", grants wider flexibility to re-interpret the Thirty-nine Articles in an Anglo-Catholic manner while maintaining the perspective of the English Reformers. It uses the terms "priest", "altar", and "Real Presence", and speaks of the authority of tradition as well as that of Holy Scripture.
Reformed critics characterize these developments as rejecting the
35 Articles of Bishop Cummins, revising the force of the
Declaration of Principles, as well as departing from the Church's evangelical and Reformed heritage in order to accommodate Anglo-Catholicism.
The role of women in ministry
The Church does not ordain women as
bishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
s,
presbyterPresbyter in the New Testament refers to a leader in local Christian congregations, then a synonym of episkopos...
s, or
deaconDeacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
s. In 2002, the denomination approved a canon that provides for the "setting apart" of qualified women as
deaconessDeaconess is a non-clerical order in some Christian denominations which sees to the care of women in the community. That word comes from a Greek word diakonos as well as deacon, which means a servant or helper and occurs frequently in the Christian New Testament of the Bible. Deaconesses trace...
es, who were not to be considered as ordained female deacons.
Clergy transfers
Under the canons of the Reformed Episcopal Church, a non-REC minister entering into the REC ministry as a deacon or presbyter is to receive Holy Orders if he has not already been ordained by a bishop recognized by REC as in the historic succession. If previously ordained in a non-episcopal church, the applicant to the REC may need to be "regularized." The practical result, unlike the English Reformed Church, renders a view of non-episcopal ministers as "irregular," if valid at all.
1873 edition
The founding First General Council of the REC approved a
Book of Common Prayer for the Church, with a text based on the proposed 1785 BCP prepared by
William SmithWilliam Smith was the first provost of the University of Pennsylvania.thumb|300px|right|Dr William Smith's residence as it appeared circa 1919-Biography:...
and
William WhiteThe Most Reverend William White was the first and fourth Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA , the first Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania , and the second United States Senate Chaplain...
(later the first
Episcopal Bishop of PennsylvaniaThe Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America encompassing the counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester and Delaware in the state of Pennsylvania....
).
This text, published in 1786, had been offered to the
First General ConventionThe General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. With the exception of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate authority in the Episcopal Church. General Convention...
at Philadelphia held in 1785. Although initially authorized in some states, its changes met with considerable resistance, and the Episcopal Church adopted a different text in 1789 as its
Book of Common PrayerThe Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
.
In accord with prevailing Evangelical preferences and in opposition to Tractarianism, the 1873 REC Council made various changes in order "to eliminate from the Prayer-Book the germs of Romish error, which the compromises of the Elizabethan era have transmitted to us." The REC
Book replaced the word "priest" with "minister" throughout, dropped saints' days from the calendar, and struck from the Apostles' Creed the words "He descended into hell". From the service of Holy Communion expressions such as "holy mysteries" and "eating the flesh and drinking the blood" were removed. References to baptismal regeneration were modified in accordance with evangelical views, as were the services of Ordination and Marriage.
Later editions
Over the next century a few minor changes were made to the REC
Book of Common Prayer with the result that the 1963 BCP retained the particular REC distinctives noted above, in contrast to the 1662, 1789 and 1928 BCPs of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
The Reformed Episcopal Church began a process of historical revision, theological transformation and liturgical revision in the 1990s with the first revised BCP for trial use being produced in 1999. The 49th and 50th General Councils of the REC approved a revision of the
Book of Common Prayer, to be based on the 1662
Book, with elements drawn from several later Books (PECUSA 1928 and 1945, REC 1963, Australia 1978). The revised version was issued in 2003.
Parishes in the Reformed Episcopal Church predominantly conduct services with the 2003 REC BCP, although other liturgies can be used with the approval of the Bishop Ordinary. REC parishes also use the 1963 REC BCP, the 1928 Protestant Episcopal BCP, the 1962 Canadian BCP, and the Australian BCP.
Seminaries
The Reformed Episcopal Church has four seminaries, serving under 100 full time students.
Reformed Episcopal Seminary
The
Reformed Episcopal Seminary in
Blue Bell, PennsylvaniaBlue Bell is a census-designated place in Whitpain Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, its population was 6,067....
, founded in 1887, offers a Certificate in Bible and Theology, a Diploma in Divinity for undergraduates, and the
Master of DivinityIn the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America...
(MDiv), through courses in residence and online.
Cummins Seminary
Cummins Memorial Theological Seminary, located in
Summerville, South CarolinaSummerville is a town in the U.S. state of South Carolina situated mostly in Dorchester County with small portions in Berkeley, and Charleston counties. It is part of the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area as designated for statistical purposes by the U.S. Office...
, near
CharlestonCharleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, is named for Bishop
George CumminsGeorge David Cummins was an American bishop and founder of the Reformed Episcopal Church.-Life and career:George David Cummins was born in Delaware on 11 December 1822. He graduated from Dickinson College in 1841, and entered the Methodist ministry.In 1845 Cummins took orders in the Protestant...
, the founder of the Reformed Episcopal Church. The seminary was founded at the end of the nineteenth century as a rogative college, meaning it was located wherever the Bishop of the Southeast took up residence. In 1912, the Diocese of the Southeast purchased property for a permanent campus.
The seminary offered residential programs leading to the degrees
Bachelor of TheologyThe Bachelor of Theology is a three to five year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines. Candidates for this degree typically must complete course work in Greek or Hebrew, as well as systematic theology, biblical theology, ethics, homiletics and Christian ministry...
and
Master of DivinityIn the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America...
, and the Certificate in Theological Studies. The Seminary offers distance education through its External Studies Department.
Cranmer House
Cranmer Theological House was founded in 1994 in
Shreveport, LouisianaShreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
and is named for the
English reformerThe English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
,
Thomas CranmerThomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...
,
Archbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
. Now located in
Spring, TexasSpring, Texas is a census-designated place within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston in Harris County, Texas, United States, north of Downtown Houston. The population was 54,298 at the 2010 census...
, just north of Houston, Cranmer House offers residential and distance learning programs for people not seeking ordination, a certificate in Anglican Studies, a
Master of ArtsA Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in Religion (MAR),
Master of DivinityIn the academic study of theology, the Master of Divinity is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America...
(MDiv), and
Master of TheologyA Master of Theology is an advanced theological research degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries.-North America:In North America, the Master of Theology is considered by the Association of Theological Schools to be the minimum educational credential for teaching...
(ThM). A Deaconess Studies program was added to the 2009–2010 academic catalog.
Andrewes Hall
Cranmer Theological House also has a branch in
Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, founded in 2002 and called
Andrewes Hall, named for
Lancelot AndrewesLancelot Andrewes was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chichester, Ely and Winchester and oversaw the translation of the...
, and offering the same degrees as Cranmer. Andrewes Hall's dean is the Rev. Steven R. Rutt, ThD, with seven faculty.
See also
- List of bishops of the Reformed Episcopal Church
- Anglican Church in North America
- Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas
The Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas is an association of six Anglican jurisdictions with nearly 600 parishes in the New World. The Federation, which was founded in 2006 to enable a closer association of these and other jurisdictions, does not include any provinces of the Anglican...
- Anglican Province of America
The Anglican Province of America is one of a number of "Continuing" Anglican churches in the United States. This church considers the Episcopal Church in the USA to be heretical, thus it maintains a church separate from that body in order to follow what it considers to be a truly Christian and...
- Free Church of England
The Free Church of England is an Anglican church which separated from the established Church of England in the course of the 19th century. The church was founded by evangelical clergy and congregations in response to the rise of Anglo-Catholicism. The first congregations were formed in 1844...
External links
Opposition to recent denominational developments:
Seminaries: