Episcopal Church in the United States of America
The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...
currently has 111
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
s. When the church was founded in 1785, it only had nine.
These were:
#
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts is one of the nine original dioceses of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
History
Massachusetts was founded by Puritans who did not accept such aspects of the Church of England as bisho ...
#
Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut
The Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut (also known as The Episcopal Church in Connecticut) is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing the entire state of Connecticut. It is one of the nine original dioceses ...
Episcopal Diocese of Virginia
The Diocese of Virginia is the largest diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing 38 counties in the northern and central parts of the state of Virginia. The diocese was organized in 1785 and is one of the Episco ...
#
Episcopal Diocese of New York
The Episcopal Diocese of New York is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing three New York City boroughs and seven New York state counties.
#
Episcopal Diocese of Maryland
The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland forms part of Province 3 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Having been divided twice, it no longer includes all of Maryland and now consists of the central, northern, and western Maryland c ...
#
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
The Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey forms part of Province II of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It is made up of the southern and central New Jersey counties of Union, Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon, Mercer, Monmouth ...
#
Episcopal Diocese of Delaware
The Episcopal Church in Delaware, formerly known as the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware, is one of 108 dioceses making up the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. It consists of 33 congregations or parishes in an area the same as the St ...
#
Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina
The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina (EDOSC), known as The Episcopal Church in South Carolina from January 2013 until September 2019, is a diocese of the Episcopal Church. The diocese covers an area of 24 counties in the eastern part of the ...
They are represented by the nine white crosses arranged in a St. Andrew's Cross on a blue field ( canton) on the Church arms and flag. The rest of the flag is a red St. George’s Cross on a white field reminiscent of the former national flag of the old
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
On 1 ...
before the first Act of Union in 1706/1707 uniting England and
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.
In 2012, due to disputes over theology and authority, the standing committee of the Diocese of South Carolina voted to withdraw the entire diocese from The Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. and become an autonomous Anglican diocese, joining the
Anglican Church in North America
The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cuba ...
in June 2017. The Episcopal Church maintained that an Episcopal diocese cannot withdraw itself from the national church. There is therefore a dispute over which South Carolina diocese is the successor to the diocese that was one of the original nine. The South Carolina entity which currently operates as a still constituent part of the ECUSA uses the name "
Episcopal Church in South Carolina
The Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina (EDOSC), known as The Episcopal Church in South Carolina from January 2013 until September 2019, is a diocese of the Episcopal Church. The diocese covers an area of 24 counties in the eastern part of the ...
"; the diocese which withdrew is called the "
Anglican Diocese of South Carolina
The Anglican Diocese of South Carolina (ADOSC) is a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). The diocese covers an area of 24 counties in the eastern part of the state of South Carolina. In 2019, it had 20,195 baptized members a ...
".
See also
*
List of Episcopal bishops
This list consists of the bishops in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, an independent province of the Anglican Communion. This shows the historical succession of the episcopate within this church.
Key to chart
The number refe ...