Glossary of Terms
Episcopal Ad Project
This ministry was started at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Minneapolis, in 1978. The Rev. Dr. George Harvey Martin, the rector, asked for help from advertising professionals to write ads which would invite people into the Episcopal Church. Martin asked for help from Tom McElligott, Jr., the son of an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of […]
Episcopal Church Annual, The
An annual directory of the Episcopal Church. It contains the names and addresses of all parishes and diocesan offices, bishops, priests and deacons, seminaries, publications, conference centers, social agencies, religious orders, and other agencies. It also contains national church statistics and information on all the provinces in the Anglican Communion. Its historical predecessors go back […]
Episcopal Church Center
The national headquarters for the Episcopal Church, located in New York City. It includes the executive offices of the Presiding Bishop. It is the place where the fiduciary responsibilities for the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society are carried out; a focal point for the work of General Convention; a center for ecumenical and interfaith engagement; […]
Episcopal Church Flag and Seal
On Oct. 16, 1940, the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies adopted an official flag for the Episcopal Church. This was the 251st anniversary of the day the General Convention ratified the Constitution and Canons and adopted the BCP. It was designed by William M. Baldwin (d. 1942), a member of the Cathedral […]
Episcopal Church News
(Jan27, 1952-Aug. 18, 1957). This journal continued The Southern Churchman, which began publication in 1835. The first volume of Episcopal Churchnews was published on Jan. 27, 1952. It was weekly until Sept. 20, 1953, when it became bi-weekly. It carried the motto "Catholic for every Truth of God, Protestant against every error of man." It […]
Episcopal Church Seal
See Episcopal Church Flag and Seal.
Episcopal Church, The
A conference of three clergy and twenty-four lay delegates met at Chestertown, Kent County, Maryland, on Nov. 9, 1780, and resolved that "the Church formerly known in the Province as the Church of England should now be called the Protestant Episcopal Church." On Aug. 13, 1783, the Maryland clergy met at Annapolis and adopted the […]
Episcopal Clerical Directory
A compilation of clergy biographies was first published in 1898. Over the years it was variously called Lloyd's Clerical Directory, The American Church Directory, and Stowe's Clerical Directory. In 1956 the name was changed to The Clergy Directory. In 1972 it was changed to The Episcopal Clergy Directory. Since 1974 the title has been Episcopal […]
Episcopal Divinity School (EDS)
EDS was established at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 6, 1974, by the merger of the Philadelphia Divinity School and the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, with the encouragement of the Episcopal Church's Board for Theological Education. The faculty and student body are mostly Christians, but other faith communities are represented as well. The mission of EDS […]
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.
Glossary definitions provided courtesy of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY,(All Rights reserved) from “An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians,” Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors.