Episcopal Questions – Episcopal Answers Session 1 January 6, 2019

Who are Episcopalians? Great diversity, and yet people of a common prayer, common heritage: One Lord, one faith, one baptism

1. New Testament Roots Antioch: St. Paul’s base of operations in the mission to the Gentiles. The Christian movement is transformed from a renewal movement within Judaism to a universal mission From the Mediterranean Basin to British Isles. By 325 Council of Nicea, there were Christians in Britain and significant level of organization 2. The Church in England i. Augustine: missionary monk from Rome, sent by Pope Gregory the Great; established his missionary base in Kent at Canterbury. Celtic Christianity vs. Roman (Latin) Christianity. ii. 1534 Henry VIII breaks with Rome • The king’s great matter: the need for annulment from Katherine • Henry’s theological interests • Other factors: resentment over foreign interference in the realm via the Pope; revenue assessments that put money in Rome’s coffers • Henry severed the ties that bound England to Rome: closed monasteries; allowed priests to marry; worship in English

3. The English Reformation i. 1517 Martin Luther’s Ninety Five Thesis and the Reformations in Europe ii. How did Reformation affect the CE? • Henry remained “very much a Catholic in his self-understanding” (p. 6); the question was authority: who would call the shots in England -- king or pope? • But others around Henry were profoundly influenced by Reformation:

Thomas Cranmer

1549 The Book of Common Prayer • English rather than Latin • contained everything that worshippers needed • Simplification: Morning and Evening prayer • retained bishops and priests, bridged the gap with laity by giving access to same resources • drew on Catholic liturgies as well as Lutheran and Reformed His approach to the reading and interpretation of scripture

Thomas Cromwell iii. Mary Tudor: returned England to its Catholic roots

4. The Middle Way 1558 Elizabeth and the Elizabethan settlement

5. The Church in America i. The CE in the Colonies ii 1789 Following independence, these churches had to reinvent themselves • William Smith • William White: former chaplain to Continental Congress, friend of Adams, Franklin: developed constitution for the church; Bishop of PA and first presiding bishop • see p. 8: “contain the constituent principles of the Church of England and yet be independent of foreign jurisdiction of influence.” “from a daughter to a sister church”; continuation of the doctrine and worship of the Church of England “as near as may be.” • Note the name: Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America • authority: not king, queen, or archbishop or pope but General Convention 1785 Christ Church, Philadelphia • Samuel Seabury: first bishop to be consecrated in former colonies. But valid consecration required three bishops, so they appealed to Scottish Episcopal Church

6. Continuity and Development

7. Snapshots of the World Wide Anglican Communion