C of E in America Here’s how it started. Although there were occasional Church of England services in America before 1600, the official birthday of Anglicanism in America, the Episcopal Church, is generally agreed to be June 16, 1607. This is the day Captain John Smith and 104 others celebrated the Lord’s Supper with their Church of England priest-chaplain, Robert Hunt, commemorating their safe arrival to Jamestown, Virginia. Jamestown was the first permanent English colony in America, some thirteen years before the pilgrims landed in Plymouth. Anglicans were America’s original forefathers! The expression of faith they brought with them was that of the 16th century Protestant Reformation. The word “Episcopal” is the English equivalent of the Greek word for “bishop.” With this kind of emphasis it might be assumed that bishops played an important role in the early years of Anglicanism in America. Surprisingly, they were not in the picture at all! For almost two hundred years the Episcopal Church did not have a resident bishop to perform confirmations, ordain clergy, consecrate new churches, or form hierarchical diocesan structures. The Book of Common Prayer (i.e. a common theology) was the glue that kept the church together during its formative years. Many Puritans, some of them Anglicans, were perfectly happy with this arrangement because they believed that bishops from the Church of England would try to sway politics in England’s favor in the colonies.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 10:06:23 +0000
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