Episcopal Church

Intro

The Episcopal Church is the Anglican church based in the United States and several other jurisdictions, formed after the American Revolution when Anglicans in the new republic separated institutionally from the Church of England. It identifies itself as part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, preserves episcopal governance and apostolic succession, and has developed a broad internal range of evangelical, Anglo-Catholic, and broad-church traditions.

Structure

The Episcopal Church is a churchwide body with 106 dioceses grouped into nine provinces. Its presiding bishop serves as the church's primate, but the church is also governed synodically through General Convention, which brings bishops, clergy, and lay deputies together.

That governance pattern means authority is shared between national bodies and diocesan life. Provinces coordinate regional work, dioceses oversee congregations and clergy, and the House of Bishops and House of Deputies together make churchwide law and policy.

Unit	Leadership	Function
General Convention	House of Bishops and House of Deputies	Highest governing body of the church
Presiding Bishop	Sean W. Rowe	Primate and chief pastor of the church
Provinces	9 provinces	Regional groupings for coordination rather than separate national churches
Dioceses	Diocesan bishops	Primary territorial jurisdictions; 106 listed by Wikipedia
Parishes and missions	Rectors, priests-in-charge, and local lay leaders	Congregational level of worship and pastoral life

Source(s)

Source: Image from Wikimedia Commons. Reused here under the license stated on the Commons file page.

Source: Intro adapted from the Wikipedia article "Episcopal Church (United States)". Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Source: Structure section adapted from the "Structure" section of the Wikipedia article "Episcopal Church (United States)". Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Title image uses the Episcopal Church shield from Wikimedia Commons. Reused here under the license stated on the Commons file page.