Episcopal Church

The Episcopal Church began because Henry VIII wanted a divorce, right? Not really. There was more going on in the 16th century than Henry’s marital problems, some of it political and some of it theological.

Through prior centuries of war and turmoil the Church in Rome worked to preserve European civilization. It enforced rules of conduct, appointed rulers, and controlled the economy. A monk named Martin Luther and others protested what they saw as the Church’s excesses and interference with people’s faith. King Henry didn’t like Luther’s reform movement but he wanted more control of the Church in England. He, like many political leaders of his time, wanted his people’s undivided loyalty, and he had other uses for the English money that supported the church in Rome.

Henry broke from Rome, and England suffered as Roman Catholics and Protestants battled for control of the church and the government. Henry’s daughter, Queen Elizbeth I, devised religious and political arrangements, including the third version of The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) in 1559, that left the English church with both Roman Catholic and Protestant characteristics.

Walking this middle way between the traditions makes us a sacramental church that promotes thoughtful debate about what God is calling us to do and be as followers of Christ. While the words of the BCP were first heard in what is now the United States on San Francisco Bay in 1579 (when explorer Sir Francis Drake prayed after putting ashore), what is now the Episcopal Church grew up in colonial settlements on the East Coast. After the revolution, its members forged a church with no formal loyalties to England.

So The Episcopal Church began with a question. Could a church change its loyalties in this world and still be loyal to Jesus? The reformation’s answer was yes. It showed that we learn more about God when we ask our questions and listen for the answers in prayer and in the words of others in our communities. We began in disagreement and our history tells us that the church survives disagreements when it stays focused on the importance of coming together to give thanks to God and to do God’s reconciling work.

(This text is by Mary Frances Schjonberg, national correspondent for Episcopal Life Media.)

In the Anglican Communion

A global community of 77 million Anglicans in 37 member provinces

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Most Rev. & Rt. Hon. Rowan Williams

Lambeth Palace,

London, SE1 7JU

England

In the United States

A community of 2.5 million members in 100 Dioceses

Established 1789

Presiding Bishop

The Most Rev. Katharine Jeffers Schori

Episcopal Church Center

815 Second Ave.,

New York, N.Y. 10017

1-(800)334-7626

Episcopal seat: The Washington National Cathedral, Mount Saint Alban, Washington, D.C. 220016

In the Diocese of Western North Carolina

A community of 17,000 members in 62 parishes in W.N.C. Established in 1895

Bishop

The Rt. Rev. Porter Taylor

Bishop Henry Center

900-B CenterPark Drive, Asheville, North Carolina, 28805

828-225-6656

FAX 828-225-6657

Episcopal seat: Cathedral of All Souls, Corner of Hendersonville Road and Angel Street, Asheville, North Carolina, 28803

Website: http://www.diocesewnc.org