An Introduction to the Episcopal Church. Joseph B. Bernardin

      Chapter II

      The Church's Government

      The Church which our Lord founded has four notes or characteristics, which are summed up in the creedal phrase the “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” The first of these is unity. Our Lord founded only one Church and meant His followers to be one in Him. He is not responsible for the various sects into which Christianity is now divided. The second note is boliness. Holy originally meant to be set apart for the Diety, to be sacred. The Church was intended to be set apart from evil unto righteousness. Its members were to live lives distinguished from those without the Church by their likeness to the life of their Lord. The Church and its members belong to God. The third is catholicity or universality. Our Lord intended His Church to be for people of every kindred and clime, of every degree of wealth, social position, and education. It was not to be a local Jewish Palestinian club, but an organization to embrace the whole of the human family. The fourth of these is apostolicity. The Church was to be founded with the inner circle of his followers, the Apostles, as its first members and leaders, and it was they who were to proclaim His message to all people after His death.

      In the course of time the Church has unfortunately been divided into a large number of communions, which can be divided roughly into two group, popularly called “Catholic” and “Protestant.” The Catholic groups includes the Church of Rome, the Old Catholics, the Greek Orthodox Church, and various national Churches in the East. The Protestant group includes, first of all, the Lutheran Church which owes its origin to Martin Luther; and various Reformed Churches which owe their origin to John Calvin, among which are the Huguenots, the Dutch Reformed, and the Presbyterian Churches. In later times the Baptist, Congregational, Methodist and other Protestant Churches arose. However, the Church of England, of which the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States is the daughter, is both Catholic and Protestant.

      The essential features of a Catholic Church are, first, that it should have a three-fold ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons ordained by bishops who stand in line of succession from the apostles, generally called the apostolic succession or historic episcopate; secondly, that it should have the Catholic creeds, the so-called Apostles’ and Nicene; thirdly, that it should have the Bible; and fourthly, that is should have the sacraments ordained by our Lord, Baptism and the Holy Communion. These are the essential bases for the union of the Episcopal Church with any other Church, as outlined in the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1886—1888.

      The chief characteristics of a Protestant Church are, first of all, that from which the name comes—its protest, or witness to, or setting forth of the fundamental truths of the Gospel, and its protest against the unique authority of the Pope or Bishop of Rome over other bishops and clergy, his right to rule all Christians, and to arrogate to himself the power which has become his in the course of time; secondly, the use of the vernacular tongue in its worship; thirdly, the simplicity of its ceremonial; and fourthly, the freedom of the conscience of individual Christians in the matter of religious practice, although this last has been more an ideal than a fact.

      As can be seen, the Episcopal Church fulfills the conditions of both and has consequently been called the “Bridge Church.” Its general position has been that of a via media or golden mean between two extremes. It is a Church which strives to maintain in essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; and in all things charity. The legal title is a cumbrous but significant one: THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. It is a Protestant Church in that it both bears witness to the Gospel of God and protests against the Pope's claim to authority over other bishops. It is Episcopal in that it is governed by bishops; and it is confined (with a few exceptions) to the United States of America and its present or former possessions.

      An Episcopal Church is governed by bishops; a Presbyterian Church by presbyters or elders; and a Congregational Church by the congregation. The Episcopal Church, although governed by bishops, is also democratically ruled, for its final authority rests in the General Convention, which meets every three years. It consists of a House of Bishops and a House of Deputies. Each diocese of the Church is entitled to send four clerical and four lay delegates. Similarly, each diocese is governed by a diocesan convention which meets annually, and to which every parish is entitled to send a certain number of lay delegates, in addition to its clergy.

      As the Constitution of the Episcopal Church was drawn up in 1789 by many of the same men who helped to write the Constitution of the United States, there are many parallels between the two forms of government. General Convention is similar to the Congress; consisting of two houses, the House of Bishops corresponding to the Senate, and the House of Deputies to the House of Representatives. The Presiding Bishop corresponds to the President of the United States, and the Executive Council to the Cabinet. The dioceses correspond to the states, the diocesan conventions to the state legislatures, and the bishops to the governors. The administrative divisions of dioceses are like counties. Parishes are like cities, vestries like town councils, and rectors like mayors. All the members of the Church share directly or indirectly in its government through their election of representatives. In parishes the communicants elect the vestries, and usually, the delegates to diocesan conventions. The latter elect delegates to the General Convention.

      The Church is divided, first of all, into parishes presided over by rectors. They may have one or more ordained assistants (sometimes called curates), and also lay assistants, such as parish visitors, directors of religious education and organists. Sometimes within a parish there may be dependent congregations known as chapels or missions and presided over by vicars. Parishes are grouped together into dioceses presided over by bishops; dioceses into provinces presided over by archbishops; these in turn are joined together into patriarchates presided over by patriarchs. In the Episcopal Church there are no archbishops at the head of provinces and no patriarchates; but instead there is an elected administrative head of the Church, known as the Presiding Bishop, who is also President of the Executive Council, a body formed to supervise and stimulate the work of the Church. It also acts as the Board of Directors of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, whose constitution dates back to 1821. It is the legal body which holds the endowment funds of the Church.

      A large professional staff is maintained at the Church's headquarters (815 Second Avenue, New York, New York 10017) to assist the clergy and laity in carrying on the work of Christ in the five fields of service: the parish, the community, the diocese, the nation, and the world. In addition there is a bishop specially charged with the Church's work with the American armed forces at home and abroad.

      Some dioceses are subdivided into archdeaconries for missionary purposes, and these are in charge of archdeacons. Others are divided, or further subdivided, into rural deaneries or convocations in charge of a rural dean. In the Church a dean is the head of a cathedral, the principal church in a diocese located in the see city, in which the bishop has his throne or seat. The title “dean” is also given to the heads of theological seminaries.

      Parochial clergy, whether deacons or priests, are addressed in writing as “The Reverend John Doe”; archdeacons as “The Venerable John Doe”; deans of cathedrals as “The Very Reverend John Doe”; bishops as “The Right Reverend