Glossary of Terms

Episcopal Evangelical Journal, The

It is published by the Fellowship of Witness, the American branch of the Evangelical Fellowship of the Anglican Communion. The first issue appeared in July 1994.

Episcopal High School, Alexandria, Virginia

In 1831 the widow of William Holland Wilmer opened a school adjacent to Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. The school was in a house called Howard, and it was known as the Howard School for Boys. It closed in 1834. At the 1837 Convention of the Diocese of Virginia, it was proposed that a […]

Episcopal Lay-Leadership Directory

Conceived as the lay ministry companion volume to the Episcopal Clerical Directory, this resource contained detailed biographical information about lay leaders in the Episcopal Church. First published in 1980 by Church Publishing Incorporated, it was produced every two years until 1998, the last of the series in its biographical format. As its replacement, a more […]

Episcopal Life

This monthly journal is an official publication of the Episcopal Church “that seeks faithfully and fully to support the whole life of the Church and its mission, encouraging all people in their commitment to Jesus Christ.” It began publication in Apr. 1990, and replaced The Episcopalian. It is primarily a news journal. See Episcopalian, The.

Episcopal Recorder, The

This weekly publication was a leading periodical standing for low church evangelical principles. It began publication on June 22, 1822, in Philadelphia, under the name The Church Record. With the Apr. 5, 1823, issue the name was changed to The Philadelphia Recorder. On Apr. 2, 1831, the name was changed to The Episcopal Recorder. It […]

Episcopal Ring

A ring worn by a bishop as a sign of the bishop's office. It is worn on the third finger of the right hand. It is one of the traditional symbols of episcopal office. It may be given to a newly ordained bishop after the presentation of the Bible and the formula “Receive the Holy […]

Episcopal Services

Services in which a bishop presides. A bishop presides at Confirmation/Reception/Reaffirmation (BCP, p. 413), and a bishop may preside or officiate at any service. A section of the BCP is designated Episcopal Services. This section includes Ordination of a Bishop (p. 512), a Priest (p. 525), or a Deacon (p. 537), with the Litany for […]

Episcopal Theological School (ETS)

Predecessor to Episcopal Divinity School. The school was founded at Cambridge, Massachusetts, by a group of prominent Boston businessmen in 1867 to be a place of preparation for holy orders and an Episcopal presence at Harvard University. It provided a place of worship for Episcopal undergraduates. All Harvard undergraduates were required to attend Sunday worship […]

Episcopal Theological School at Claremont (Bloy House)

A diocesan seminary which was originally begun in 1958 as an extension program through the Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) in the Diocese of Los Angeles. CDSP intended the school to serve students who were not able to study at their Berkeley campus. In 1962 CDSP could no longer maintain the Los Angeles […]

Episcopal Theological Seminary in Kentucky

Former diocesan seminary. It was founded in 1834 at Lexington by Bishop Benjamin Bosworth Smith to educate clergy for the western frontier. The school was granted a charter on Feb. 24, 1834. It went into a quick decline because of financial troubles in 1837 and controversy between the diocese and Bishop Smith. After 1840, for […]

Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Caribbean, San Juan, Puerto Rico

The seminary was founded in 1961, and its chapel was dedicated on Jan. 11, 1962, by Presiding Bishop Arthur Lichtenberger. The seminary trained more than seventy persons for ministry. It closed in 1976.

Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest (ETSS)

The idea for a seminary in Austin, Texas, was initiated in 1945. The Rt. Rev. Clinton S. Quinn, Bishop of Texas, approached the Board of Trustees of the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary about training Episcopal students at the Presbyterian seminary in a cooperative program. Nothing came of this first effort. However, in 1951 three Episcopal […]

Episcopal Visitation

A bishop's official pastoral visit to a congregation of the diocese. Canon law requires every diocesan bishop to visit every congregation in his or her diocese at least once every three years. The canonical purposes of a visitation are for the bishop to examine the condition of the congregation, oversee the clergy, preach, confirm, preside […]

Episcopal Visitors

The 1988 General Convention passed the legislation which created Episcopal Visitors. This legislation was to deal pastorally with those bishops, priests, deacons, and lay persons who were unable to accept women bishops. It allowed the Presiding Bishop to designate members of the House of Bishops to act as Episcopal Visitors. They were to provide episcopal […]

Episcopal Watchman

This journal was published at Hartford, Connecticut, from Mar. 26, 1827, until Nov. 2, 1833, when it was absorbed by the Churchman. Its motto was “the Gospel of Christ in the Church of Christ.” It was founded and at first edited and published by George Washington Doane and William Croswell (1804-1851).

Episcopalian

A member of the Episcopal Church. The term is used as a noun, not as an adjective. The term can be applied to a member of any church under the leadership of bishops. See Episcopal.

Episcopalian Harmony, The

A collection of hymns that was approved by General Convention and published in 1811 by John Cole in Baltimore. It was reprinted in 1817. The layout of text and music employed by Cole in this collection was adopted in Episcopal chant collections for the next several decades.

Episcopalian, The

Predecessor to Episcopal Life. This monthly journal began publication in Apr. 1960, and continued Forth and The Spirit of Missions. The first issue stated that it was published by the Church Magazine Advisory Board by authority of the General Convention. It continued the numbering of The Spirit of Missions, which meant that the Apr. 1960 […]

Episcopate, Episcopacy, Episcopos

Church governance under the leadership of bishops. The term is from the Greek for "overseer." The Prayer Book service for the ordination of a bishop states that a bishop "is called to be one with the apostles in proclaiming Christ's resurrection and interpreting the Gospel, and to testify to Christ's sovereignty as Lord of lords […]

Episcopi Vaganti

“Wandering bishops” who acquired episcopal orders in an irregular or surreptitious manner. They are unaffiliated with any historic Christian body or jurisdiction. Their episcopal acts have questionable validity. See Jurisdiction (episcopal); see Independent Bishops.

An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church

Glossary of Terms