The Making and Re-Making of Episcopal Canon Law

From ACI

In order to current arguments about the structure of The Episcopal Church and its relationship to the other members of the Anglican Communion, it may be may be useful to reflect on earlier periods in which the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church have changed significantly. It could be argued that the three most important such periods in the history of The Episcopal Church in which such change took place were: the American Revolution, the early 20th century, and the 1960s. The first of these three periods was perhaps the most radical, an attempt to revise English canon law in light of American democratic ideals. The second of these periods of reform was perhaps the most sweeping; Episcopalians of the early 20th century attempted to replace a set of individual provisions with a comprehensive code of canon law. The third period of revision—during the 1960s—is an important realignment made in recognition of the increasing complexity of the Anglican Communion.

Constitution and Canons for a new Democracy

Later in this volume other authors will write about the precise details of the Constitution and Canons that were adopted by the Episcopal Church in the period from 1785 to 1789. At this point I do not want to enter into that very important conversation. What I would like to do is to step back and simply consider the importance of the fact that a set of constitutions and canons were adopted at all.

It is easy for contemporary Americans to overlook the degree to which William White (1748-1836), the first bishop of Pennsylvania and the longest serving Presiding Bishop (1789, 1795-1835), and his colleagues departed from the English model of church organization that they inherited. Americans, after all, declared their interest in preserving “the religious principles of the Church of England,” and they continued to use much of the same terminology as their English co-coreligionists.1 Nevertheless, they created a church quite unlike that of England.

More here-

http://www.anglicancommunioninstitute.com/2010/02/the-making-and-re-making-of-episcopal-canon-law/