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Explore || Who We Are & Why
The name "Anglican" means "of England," but the Anglican church exists worldwide. It began in sixth century England when Pope Gregory the Great sent Saint Augustine to Britain to bring a more disciplined Christian practice to the Celtic Christians.
The Anglican Tradition the Church of England evolved as part of the Roman church, but the Celtic influence was folded back into the Roman portion of the church in many ways, perhaps most notably by the monk Aidan.
The conflict of authority in England between church and state certainly dates back to the arrival of Augustine, and has simmered over in many centuries. The murder of Thomas a Becket was one of the more famous episodes of this conflict. The Magna Carta, signed by King John in 1215, contains 63 points; the very first point is a declaration that the English church is independent of its government.
The Anglican church, although it has apostolic succession like the Roman Catholic Church, is separate from the Roman church. The history of Christianity has produced numerous notable separations. In 1054 came the first major split from Roman administration of the church, when the Eastern Orthodox church and the western, Roman Catholic church split apart. The next major period of church separations happened in historical period known as "The Protestant Reformation".
Following the Reformation and the birth of Anglicanism as a unique "third way" (neither fully Protestant, nor fully Roman Catholic), the Anglican tradition of worship and polity was spread first by English colonization in the 16th century and following, and then by English-speaking missionaries. As the British Empire soon grew so large that the sun never set upon it (for it spanned the globe), so Anglicanism also spread widely.
Today the Anglican Communion is an affiliation of self-governing provinces who share a common history and many common beliefs. It spans 39 countries and includes more than 80,000,000 persons worldwide.
THE BIRTH OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH
The beginning of the sixteenth century showed significant discontent with the Roman church in many countries and among many peoples. Martin Luther's famous 95 Theses were nailed to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany in 1517. News of this challenge and others, including those of Zwingli and Calvin which led to the birth of the "Reform Tradition", had certainly reached England when, 20 years later, the Anglican branch of the Roman church formally challenged the authority of Rome.
Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and abbeys in 1536, establishing himself as head of the church in England, ostensibly following the pattern of Old Testament kings.
There is a public perception, especially in the United States, that Henry VIII created the Anglican church in anger over the Pope's refusal to grant his divorce, but the historical record indicates that Henry spent most of his reign challenging the authority of Rome, and that the divorce issue was just one of a series of acts that collectively split the English church from the Roman church in much the same way that the Orthodox church had split off five hundred years before.
DEFINING THE NEW CHURCH
The newly-separated Anglican church was given some formal structure in 1562 during the reign of Elizabeth I. That structure is not a management process or governing organization, however. What binds us together is not common administration but shared tradition and shared belief.
Our belief is written down in the Holy Bible and the Articles of Religion; our tradition is in part embodied in our Book of Common Prayer.
The first Book of Common Prayer was produced in 1549. In it the Latin liturgy was radically simplified and translated into English, and for the first time a single 'use' was enforced throughout England. It has been revised numerous times since then, the most significant revision being the first, in 1552. All revisions since then, before the modern era, were very conservative revisions.
The 1662 English Book of Common Prayer forms the historical basis for most Anglican liturgy around the world.
While several countries have their own prayer books, all borrow heavily from the English tradition rooted in Archbishop Thomas Cranmer's original work of 1549 and 1552.
LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION
The Worldwide Anglican Communion - Official Website
The Origin of the Anglican Tradition - Article
The Anglican Church - Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia Entry
Following the American Revolution, Church of England congregations in the former colonies reorganized themselves as an independent church - independent from the King of England as the head of its church. The new church took the name Episcopal to emphasize the historic ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons.
Being a product of its time in history, many of the creators of the new church were also the founders of America's new government. Two-thirds of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were Episcopalians and the services for the inauguration of George Washington were performed by the first Bishop of New York and rector of Trinity Church, Samuel Provoost.
Today, members of our church are known both as "Episcopalians" and "Anglicans." The Episcopal Church (TEC) is one of 38 autonomous national churches that are part of the Anglican Communion. With 70 million members in 64,000 congregations in 164 countries, the Anglican Communion is the third largest body of Christians in the world, after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox communions.
Episcopalians are the people who are members of the Episcopal Church. "Episcopalian" is the noun; "Episcopal" is the adjective. The word "Episcopal" comes from the Greek word "Episcopos" which means an "overseer" in the New Testament and which refers to "that which pertains to a bishop." Bishops are key leaders in The Episcopal Church, but God did not call them to do his mission work, alone.
The Episcopal Church has also been known as PECUSA (The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America), though it has been officially incorporated as The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Technically, every Episcopalian is a missionary.
LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION
The Episcopal Church - Official Website
History of the Episcopal Church - Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia
The Episcopal Diocese of Michigan was organized in 1832 by Episcopal parishes in the then territory of Michigan (which included present-day Wisconsin). From its beginning St. Paul’s Church in Detroit (the current Cathedral) served as the see of the diocese, and the early bishops served as rector of St. Paul’s.
When Michigan became a state the boundaries of the diocese were fixed as the boundaries of the state. As the church grew the bishops found it difficult to administer such a large area, and the parishes farther from Detroit desired a bishop closer to their own areas and more attuned to their local needs. To address these concerns the diocese eventually was divided three times. In 1875 the western half of the Lower Peninsula became the Diocese of Western Michigan. In 1895 the Upper Peninsula became the Diocese of Marquette (later renamed Diocese of Northern Michigan). Finally in 1995 the northeastern Lower Peninsula, Saginaw Valley, and Thumb areas became the Diocese of Eastern Michigan.
As a result, the current Diocese of Michigan includes only the Detroit Metropolitan Area and adjacent regions as far west as Lansing, Jackson, and Hillsdale.
In the nineteenth century the diocese was concerned with the strains of carrying the gospel to a region rapidly going through the development from frontier to a more settled state. As early as the 1840s the church began to develop urban missions in Detroit to African Americans (St. Matthew’s) and laborers (Mariners’ Church).
The 1850s saw the development of missions in the lumbering regions of the Saginaw Valley and the mining regions of the Upper Peninsula. The problem of supporting churches in poor farming areas was a constant concern.
The major emphasis of the diocese changed in the twentieth century with the rise of the automobile industry. Throughout the century the fortunes of the diocese were closely tied to the development and decline of the industry in the Detroit area. The rapid rise in Detroit’s wealth and power in the 1910s and 1920s were reflected in a diocese that became one of the largest and most influential in The Episcopal Church (TEC).
The suburbanization of the 1940s and 1950s led to a great emphasis on building and physical expansion in the diocese. The decline of Detroit in the 1970s and 1980s saw the diocese cutting back and closing parishes.
At the same time that external forces were buffeting the diocese, struggles within the church caused much controversy. Early in the 20th century, Bishop Williams led the diocese to confront the church’s responsibility to labor. Later Bishops Emrich and McGehee challenged the community with issues of civil rights, peace, and justice. Beginning in the 1950s the diocese debated the role of women, and later gays and lesbians, in the church. And in a church that defines itself chiefly by worship, the question of liturgical change also aroused some disagreement.
The bishop is the chief executive and pastor of the diocese. The chief administrative bodies of the diocese include the diocesan convention, which meets annually to set policy and approve the diocesan budget. During the year, the Diocesan Council meets on a regular basis as the representatives of the convention to carry out the work of the diocese between conventions working with the bishop.
Since 1920 the executive council (since 1995 called diocesan council) has met between conventions to continue its policy-making role. The standing committee provides advice and counsel for the bishop. Since 1875 the trustees of the diocese have managed the diocesan assets. The chancellor has since 1904 provided the bishop with legal counsel.
The parishes in the diocese have been divided into regional groupings called at various times convocations, archdeaconries, area councils, and currently deaneries, that have varied over the years in number, names, and responsibilities.