Diocese and Wider
Church
The Episcopal
Diocese of Michigan
The Diocese of
Michigan has been a spiritual force in Southeastern Michigan
since Detroit was little more than a riverside village. Through
our Bishop and Diocese, St. Thomas, Trenton, is linked in
ministry and fellowship with our sister congregations in
Michigan, our National Church, and the worldwide Anglican
Communion. The Diocese supports our work here in Trenton, and in
turn we support the important ministry our Diocese offers in the
larger community.
You can find more
information at the web sites for the Diocese of Michigan and its
newspaper, The Record.
Diocese of
Michigan
http://edomi.org
The Record
http://www.the-record.org/
Episcopal Church
USA
Through our Bishop and Diocese, St. Thomas is an integral part of
the Episcopal Church USA. The National Church is a
spiritual household headed by our Primate, known as the Presiding
Bishop, and governed by General Convention. The National
Church speaks for Episcopalians at the national level. Part
of St. Thomas’ financial support for the Diocese of Michigan
is shared with the larger Church and helps underwrite a variety
of important ministry initiatives. For more information see
the National Church’s web site.
Episcopal Church
USA
A Brief History of the Episcopal Church
America's first
Anglican church was built at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. In
the years that followed, many more congregations were established
throughout the Colonies, all under the jurisdiction of the Bishop
of London. Then in 1789, following the Revolutionary War,
American Anglicans broke away from the Mother Church, wrote a
constitution for the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United
States of America, and approved the first American Book of Common
Prayer.
Perhaps because of
its British roots, many Americans regarded the new Episcopal
Church with suspicion. While these feelings lessened with time,
some believe that the Church never quite recovered from this
initial anti-British prejudice. Episcopalians today number only
about 2 million, making it one of the smaller Protestant
denominations.
The most serious
post-Revolutionary War problem was a shortage of clergy. Loyal
to the Crown, most Anglican clergy either returned to Britain or
fled to Canada. That left the new Church with almost no
ordained leadership. In keeping with ancient Catholic
practice, Anglicans believe that only bishops may ordain priests
and deacons. In order to solve the clergy problem, the new
Church needed some bishops! Accordingly, in 1784 the Rev.
Samuel Seabury, elected bishop by the clergy of Connecticut,
sailed to England seeking consecration. Rebuffed in London
on a legal technicality, Seabury was soon consecrated by the
Bishops of the (Episcopal) Church of Scotland and thus became
America's first Episcopal bishop. Once the legal roadblocks
had been removed, additional bishops were consecrated in England
in 1787 and 1790, and returned home to begin training a new
generation of clergy.
This acute shortage
of clergy forced the Episcopal Church to take the lead in the
field of theological education. In 1817 the General
Theological Seminary in New York City -- one of the nation's
first theological graduate schools -- was established to train
parish priests and missionaries. Interestingly, the school was
built on part of Clement Clarke Moore's farm, called Chelsea, in
lower Manhattan. It was at Chelsea that Moore is said to have
written his well-loved poem, “Twas the Night Before
Christmas; Or, A Visit from St. Nicholas”.
To coordinate its
missionary work, the Episcopal Church established the Domestic
and Foreign Missionary Society in 1821. Under the Society's
guidance the Church expanded both at home -- including here in
Michigan -- and abroad. Missionary dioceses were set up in
Alaska, Hawaii, Liberia, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti, Brazil, the
Philippines, China, and Japan. Some are now independent
national churches within the Anglican Communion. The
Society continues its work today. All Episcopalians are
automatically members, and thus missionaries!
Among the architects of the U.S. Constitution were many
Episcopalians. Their democratic ideals clearly influenced
the structure and life of the new American Church. For example,
in contrast with the Church of England, the Founders guaranteed
that the laity would exercise an important share in governing the
local church, the diocese, and even the National Church. While
the term episcopal refers to "government by bishops,"
the Founders provided that Episcopal bishops be elected by
conventions, not appointed. The work of governing the Church is
handled by General Convention, a bicameral legislature consisting
of a House of Bishops and a House of Deputies (that is, clergy
and lay delegates from each diocese). General Convention meets
every three years. An Executive Council acts for General
Convention between its meetings. From time to time General
Convention elects the Presiding Bishop, who supervises our
national ministry and serves as spiritual leader of the American
Church.
Episcopalians have
long taken a leading role in ecumenical activities. One
major result of this work is the recent agreement on shared
ministry between the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America. We have also been open to the
leading of the Holy Spirit in our understanding of ordained
ministry. In 1976 the Episcopal Church approved ordination
of women to the priesthood, and since then several women have
also been consecrated as bishops.