Episcopalian: What It Means, and Is the Episcopal Church Protestant? Yes, by Its Own Account

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An Episcopalian belongs to the Episcopal Church, a church governed by bishops. And yes, it is Protestant by its own account. It calls itself “a Protestant denomination,” and the full name in its constitution is the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The name comes from the Greek episkopos, an overseer or bishop.

Yet it has kept more of the older Church than most Protestant churches have, and one journey shows why. After the American Revolution, a priest named Samuel Seabury was chosen to be America’s first bishop. England would consecrate him only if he swore allegiance to the king, and he would not. So he went north to Aberdeen, where Scottish bishops laid hands on him. He left the crown behind and kept the bishops. That is the Episcopal Church in a single story: Protestant in its break with Rome, and still holding to bishops who, in its teaching, stand in an unbroken line from the apostles.

Alongside those bishops it keeps a set order of worship in the Book of Common Prayer, and a constitution that places it, as the American member of the Anglican Communion, “within the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” Both sides are real, and some Episcopalians reject the Protestant label, which is why people keep asking the question.

To see what Protestants teach beside what Anglicans and Episcopalians teach on 55 questions, open our free tool, Compare Christian Denominations.

“Episcopal” describes a church led by bishops, and an Episcopalian is one of its members. The Greek word behind it, episkopos, means an overseer, someone charged with seeing that things are done rightly. The King James Version translates it “bishop” in some verses and “overseers” in others. When Paul writes to the Christians at Philippi, he greets them “with the bishops and deacons” (Philippians 1:1).

The church explains its own name from its history. After the American Revolution it could no longer stay part of the Church of England, so it was named for what set it apart: it was the Protestant church “distinguished from the others by retaining an organizational structure from the early church.” Its territory is divided into dioceses, each with a bishop “as its chief pastor and administrative head.” And unlike the bishops of many churches, Episcopal bishops are elected, by the clergy and lay members of the diocese they will serve.

Other churches carry the word too. The Scottish Episcopal Church is the Anglican church in Scotland, a member of the Anglican Communion with seven bishops. Seabury, the first American bishop, was consecrated in Aberdeen, and that journey binds the two churches together still. In 2017 the Episcopal Church’s presiding bishop, Michael Curry, said that “our very name, the Episcopal Church, comes from the Scottish Episcopal Church.” In Hong Kong the Anglican church calls itself “The Hong Kong Anglican Church (Episcopal).” In all three names, “Episcopal” marks a church with bishops, and an Anglican one.

What does an Episcopal upbringing involve?

Yes: by its history, by the full name in its constitution, and by its own account. “The Episcopal Church is a Protestant denomination and shares many qualities in common with other Protestant churches,” its national website says. It adds that because its roots reach through the Church of England “back to the origins of Christianity in the West,” it also keeps “some characteristics of ancient and medieval Christianity, particularly in our art, architecture, and style of worship.”

You can see the Protestant side plainly in the Articles of Religion, which the church’s General Convention adopted in 1801. They teach that “we are justified by Faith only,” that “Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation,” that services must not be held “in a tongue not understanded of the people,” and that bishops, priests and deacons may “marry at their own discretion.” Today the American Prayer Book prints the Articles among its “Historical Documents of the Church.” They are not what a priest signs at ordination. A new priest declares the Scriptures to “contain all things necessary to salvation” and promises “to conform to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of The Episcopal Church.”

The catholic side is just as plain. The Prayer Book holds that bishops, priests and deacons have been “characteristic of Christ’s holy Catholic Church” since the time of the New Testament, and that this church intends “to maintain and continue these three orders.” Its bishops stand in apostolic succession, the belief that “bishops are the successors to the apostles.” Episcopalians call this balance the via media, “the middle way” between Roman Catholicism and Puritanism, as the church’s own dictionary puts it. Is the Anglican Church Protestant? answers the same question for the Church of England and the wider Communion.

Not every Episcopalian is happy with the Protestant label. Anglo-Catholics, the movement within Anglicanism “emphasizing its Roman Catholic roots,” have long objected to it. At a Catholic Congress in Albany in 1927, the Philadelphia rector Charles Jarvis Harriman granted that his church was Protestant in disowning papal authority and in worshipping in the people’s own language. But if the word meant “what the vast majority of the Protestants seem to mean, then we are not Protestant,” he said, and he backed a proposal to drop it from the official name. The church has since moved away from the word without changing its legal name. In 1967 the General Convention adopted “The Episcopal Church” as “an approved alternate for the official name.” The 1928 Prayer Book was printed “According to the Use of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America”; the 1979 book is printed “According to the use of The Episcopal Church.”

The Episcopal Church is not Roman Catholic. It is in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury, not with the Pope, and its priests may marry. Episcopal vs Catholic sets out those differences.

It began as the Church of England in the American colonies. The church was planted at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, and until 1785 the colonial parishes were overseen by the bishop of London. There was no bishop in America at all. When the Revolution came, most Anglican clergy stayed loyal to the British crown, and many left for Canada and England.

Independence left the American Anglicans without a bishop, and without one nobody could ordain new clergy or confirm the young. Samuel Seabury was elected bishop of Connecticut in March 1783 and went to England, where the bishops required the oath to the king. He would not take it. He went north to Scotland instead, and on 14 November 1784, at Aberdeen, three bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church consecrated him, on condition that he promote the Scottish Prayer Book’s Communion service at home. Three years later, in 1787, the Church of England consecrated two more Americans, Samuel Provoost and William White.

The first General Convention met in 1785, with clergy and lay representatives from six states. In Philadelphia in October 1789 the General Convention adopted the church’s constitution and its first Book of Common Prayer. The preface to that book said the American church was “far from intending to depart from the Church of England in any essential point of doctrine, discipline, or worship; or further than local circumstances require.” The shorter name came much later, when the 1967 General Convention added “otherwise known as The Episcopal Church” to the constitution.

Later decisions are part of what the church is known for today, and they have divided Christians. Its General Convention approved the ordination of women in 1976. In 1989 Barbara Harris became the first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion. In 2003 the church approved the election of Gene Robinson, its first openly gay bishop. In July 2015 the General Convention removed the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman from its canons and authorized, for trial use, marriage rites for same-sex and opposite-sex couples.

Question	Episcopal Church	Other Protestant churches
Who leads?	Bishops in apostolic succession, with clergy and lay deputies in convention	Bishops (United Methodist, ELCA Lutheran); elders in councils (Presbyterian); the congregation (Baptist)
How many sacraments?	Two of the Gospel, plus five sacramental rites	Two; Baptists call them ordinances
The Lord’s Supper	Christ’s Body and Blood, received by faith	Truly present (Lutheran); real but spiritual (Reformed); a memorial (Southern Baptist)
Who is baptized?	Infants and adults	Infants too (Presbyterian); believers only (Baptist)
Worship	Set liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer	From set liturgy to free worship
Authority	Scripture, “the rule and ultimate standard of faith,” read with tradition and reason	Scripture, the “supreme standard” (Baptist) or “supreme judge” (Westminster)
Women’s ordination	Approved in 1976	Varies by church

How Protestants and Anglicans and Episcopalians answer

Each answer is quoted from the church’s own documents or from one of our articles.

Losing salvation

Protestant (in general)

They, whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.

From Westminster Confession of Faith 17.1 (Reformed; text on opc.org)

Anglican and Episcopal

After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and by the grace of God we may arise again, and amend our lives.

From Thirty-nine Articles, Article XVI (Church of England)

Baptism

Protestant (in general)

Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto Christ, but also the infants of one, or both, believing parents, are to be baptized.

From Westminster Confession of Faith 28.4 (Reformed; text on opc.org)

Anglican and Episcopal

The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ.

From Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (Church of England), Article XXVII

Communion

Protestant (in general)

Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements, in this sacrament, do then also, inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally but spiritually, receive, and feed upon, Christ crucified, and all benefits of his death

From Westminster Confession of Faith 29.7 (Reformed; text on opc.org)

Anglican and Episcopal

The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another; but rather is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ's death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ.

From Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (Church of England), Article XXVIII

Sacraments

Protestant (in general)

There be only two sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in the Gospel; that is to say, baptism, and the Supper of the Lord: neither of which may be dispensed by any, but by a minister of the Word lawfully ordained.

From Westminster Confession of Faith 27.4 (Reformed; text on opc.org)

Anglican and Episcopal

There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord.

From Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (Church of England), Article XXV

Women ministers

Protestant (in general)

We recognize that there are different views sincerely held by those who seek to be faithful and obedient to Scripture. Some interpret apostolic teaching to imply that women should not teach or preach, or that they may do so but not in sole authority over men.

From Cape Town Commitment (Lausanne Movement, 2010), part II-F, 3B

Anglican and Episcopal

The General Synod of the Church of England has today given its final approval for women to become bishops in the Church of England.

From Church of England press release, 14 July 2014: Church of England to have women bishops

Confession

Protestant (in general)

Moreover, the prodigal son and the publican in the Gospel, when compared with the Pharisee, present us with the most suitable pattern of how our sins are to be confessed to God.

From Second Helvetic Confession (1566), chapter 14 (CCEL text)

Anglican and Episcopal

The Reconciliation of a Penitent is available for all who desire it. It is not restricted to times of sickness. Confessions may be heard anytime and anywhere.

From Book of Common Prayer 1979 (Episcopal Church), Reconciliation of a Penitent: Concerning the Rite

After death

Protestant (in general)

The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.

From Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q. 37 (text on opc.org)

Anglican and Episcopal

We pray for them, because we still hold them in our love, and because we trust that in God’s presence those who have chosen to serve him will grow in his love, until they see him as he is.

From Episcopal Church, Book of Common Prayer 1979, Catechism (The Christian Hope)

Abortion

Protestant (in general)

The NAE actively, ardently and unwaveringly opposes abortion on demand. However, we do not dismiss those who advocate for legal access to abortion as unconcerned for human life or unworthy of our respect and attention.

From National Association of Evangelicals, resolution 'Abortion' (2010)

Anglican and Episcopal

While we acknowledge that in this country it is the legal right of every woman to have a medically safe abortion, as Christians we believe strongly that if this right is exercised, it should be used only in extreme situations. We emphatically oppose abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection, or any reason of mere convenience.

From Episcopal Church, General Convention 1994, Resolution A054

See all 55 answers for these two churches

The right-hand column covers many churches, and they differ among themselves. If you want to check a line, it follows the Lutheran Augsburg Confession, the Westminster Confession of the Presbyterians, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Baptist Faith and Message, the United Methodist Book of Discipline, the Lutheran-Episcopal agreement Called to Common Mission, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s own account of its government.

Two, with five more rites the church counts as sacramental. The catechism in the 1979 Prayer Book asks, “What are the two great sacraments of the Gospel?” and answers that they “are Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist.” It then names “confirmation, ordination, holy matrimony, reconciliation of a penitent, and unction” as “other sacramental rites.” They are “means of grace,” but not necessary for all people in the way baptism and the Eucharist are. Article XXV of the Articles of Religion draws the same line: “There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel,” and the other five, “commonly called Sacraments,” are “not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel.”

So Episcopalians do not hold seven sacraments in the Catholic sense, though the five rites are a normal part of church life; the church’s website says the journey of faith “commonly includes these sacramental markers.” On Communion the catechism says that the inward grace “is the Body and Blood of Christ given to his people, and received by faith.” It does not say how.

The Bible as the foundation, the creeds, and the two sacraments. In 1886 the American bishops named four things they believed any reunited church would need, and two years later the Anglican bishops meeting at Lambeth adopted them: the Holy Scriptures as “the rule and ultimate standard of faith,” the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and “the Historic Episcopate, locally adapted.” The first three are common ground with most Protestant churches. The fourth is where Protestants differ among themselves. Presbyterian and Baptist churches have no bishops. United Methodist bishops “are elected from the elders,” and the Moravian Church counts bishops among its three orders of ministry. Under Called to Common Mission, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America agreed that its bishops would be installed “with this church’s intention to enter the ministry of the historic episcopate.”

The faith all these churches share is the subject of Christianity: What Christians Have Believed for 2,000 Years, a free course of short lessons.

Some Protestant churches have gone further and entered full communion with the Episcopal Church. Each recognizes the other as “holding the essentials of the Christian faith,” their members worship together, and clergy may be exchanged. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America entered full communion on 6 January 2001, after 30 years of talking, and the Moravian Church in America followed in 2011. The Episcopal Church’s other full-communion partners include the Church of Sweden and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht.

Bishops or elders. “Presbyterian” comes from the Greek word for elder, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) lodges authority “not in individuals but in groups,” councils of ministers and elected members known as ruling elders. The Episcopal Church gives bishops a distinct office over a diocese, with clergy and lay people voting beside them in convention.

Both read the same passages. Paul tells Titus to “ordain elders in every city,” and two verses later says, “For a bishop must be blameless” (Titus 1:5, 7). At Miletus Paul “called the elders of the church” of Ephesus and told them that the Holy Ghost “hath made you overseers” (Acts 20:17, 28). In Acts the same men are called elders and overseers. Presbyterian government rests on elders meeting in councils. The Episcopal Prayer Book holds that three orders have marked the Church “since the time of the New Testament,” with bishops carrying on “the apostolic work of leading, supervising, and uniting the Church.” The two churches have been in formal dialogue since 2000, and Presbyterians and Protestants covers the Presbyterian side.

The Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Anglican church in Japan, answers in its own terms rather than with a plain yes. Its Diocese of Chubu says that after separating from Rome the Anglican Communion “held Protestant characteristics with the highest authority of the Bible alone in faith,” but “also took in Catholicism through the Holy Eucharist as the main focus of the ritual and their historical episcopacy.” Some, it adds, call it a “bridge church” connecting Catholic and Protestant churches.

The Japanese church grew partly from the American one. In 1859 the Episcopal missionary Channing Moore Williams began work in Nagasaki, and missions from America, England and Canada followed. The church was organized as one body in 1887. According to its Diocese of Chubu, the name “Sei Ko Kai” literally means “Holy Catholic Church,” and the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, the Anglican church in Hong Kong and Macau, carries the same name. So the church that began with Seabury’s journey to Aberdeen sent missionaries across the Pacific, and they helped plant a church that calls itself, simply, holy and catholic. It is a long way from Philippi, where Paul first greeted “the bishops and deacons” (Philippians 1:1), and it is the same greeting.

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• What the Church of England is
• Anglican vs Catholic
• Anglican vs Presbyterian beliefs
• Lutheran vs Protestant
• Lutheran vs Anglican beliefs

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