Talking Points Issued by the Episcopal Church…June 7th

from Stand Firm by Matt Kennedy:

Nothing to worry about at all. Everything's just fine. Just keep sending in your pledge money. The mood hit us and we just thought we'd send out this little informative note for no reason at all.

The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion

June 07, 2010

The following is another in a series of talking points prepared as a resource for The Episcopal Church.

The Episcopal Church is an autonomous church which is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, serving God and working together to spread through word and action the good news of God in Christ.

The Episcopal Church has over 7400 congregations in 109 dioceses plus three regional areas in 16 countries with 2.2 million members.

The Episcopal Church has members in the United States, as well as in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Honduras, Micronesia, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Venezuela, the Virgin Islands, and the Convocation of Churches in Europe.

The Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church is the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman to lead The Episcopal Church as well as any of the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion.

Since the end of the American Revolution (when American Episcopalians became independent from the Church of England), The Episcopal Church has been organized on three levels: with a General Convention on the national level, individual dioceses, and parishes.

General Convention, made up of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, has ultimate legislative authority. It authored (and continues to amend) the Church’s Constitution, establishes the Book of Common Prayer, sets out rules for the ratification of bishops, and through its canonical actions sets forth governance of the Church...