The Open Episcopal Church (OEC) is a

liberal Christian Liberal Christianity, also known as Liberal Theology and historically as Christian Modernism (see Catholic modernism and Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy), is a movement that interprets Christian teaching by taking into consideration ...

denomination. It has bishops in England and Wales and clergy throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. It has over 29,000 members. The church was the first in Britain to ordain a woman as bishop and to perform religious wedding ceremonies for gay couples. The OEC is a member of the International Council of Community Churches, which in turn is a member of The

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

and Churches Uniting in Christ.

History

Founding of the Society for Independent Christian Ministry

In 1994 Jonathan Blake, who had been a priest in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

for over 12 years, effected a Deed of Relinquishment, severing his denominational ties. As an independent priest he offered sacramental ministry to all. In 1997 he wrote about these experiences in his book, ''For God's Sake Don't Go To Church''.For God's Sake Don't Go To Church Published by Arthur James. The same year he nailed 95 theses to the door of Canterbury Cathedral, for which he was arrested but not charged. A lesbian from the north of England arranged to meet Blake after reading his book. She felt a call to the ministry but had been rebuffed by the church over her sexuality and was interested in independent ministry. Following the meeting Blake placed an advert in the ''

Church Times The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays. History The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...

'' inviting all those interested in such a ministry to a conference the following March. Over 100 people contacted him, among them Richard Palmer, who had been consecrated as a bishop of the

Liberal Catholic Church The name Liberal Catholic Church (LCC) is used by a number of separate Christian churches throughout the world which are open to esoteric beliefs and hold many ideas in common. Although the term ''Liberal Catholic'' might suggest otherwise, it ...

in 1997, but had resigned in April 1999. Blake wrote the Founding Principles of the Society for Independent Christian Ministry (SICM), which was inaugurated by a group of Christians reciting the Lord’s Prayer in the Sanctum of the Holy Circle TrustThe Holy Circle Trust. Charity Number 1066062 near Ryarsh in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

at sunrise on 1 January 2000. In February 2001, Blake conducted the first gay wedding blessing on

Richard and Judy Richard and Judy is the name informally given to Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, a British married couple who are both television presenters and columnists. They presented the daytime television programme '' This Morning'' from 1988 until 2 ...

's prime time TV programme '' This Morning''.

Founding of the Open Episcopal Church

By the time SICM met for the third time in Bournemouth, Palmer required those who had been ordained simply in Dartford to be ordained ''sub conditione'' at this gathering in a full rite of ordination. Blake realized that a new denomination had to be founded and set about writing the necessary canons. At

Hazlewood Castle Hazlewood Castle is a country residence, now a hotel, in North Yorkshire, England, by the A1 and A64 between Aberford and Tadcaster. It is one of the oldest fortified houses to survive in the whole of Yorkshire. The site overlooked the batt ...

, Michael Wilson was consecrated a bishop by Palmer and Blake. The three bishops issued the "Hazlewood Declaration" on 10 November 2001, which facilitated the creation of the Open Episcopal Church. The church viewed itself as being in succession from the

Old Catholic Church The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivide ...

, which had been established in England in 1908 by

Arnold Mathew Arnold Harris Mathew, self-styled of Thomastown (7 August 1852 – 19 December 1919), was the founder and first bishop of the Old Roman Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and a noted author on ecclesiastical subjects. Mathew had been bot ...

from See of Utrecht and continued through the

. The first congress of the church was held at the All Saints Pastoral Centre in June 2004. The church's college of bishops met at Weston Manor in Oxfordshire in January 2005 and Wilson, an evangelical, resigned from the Church. The second congress was held at

Whaley Hall William Whaley Hall (September 6, 1941 – March 7, 2015) was an American football offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Philadelphia Bulldogs in the Continental Football League ...

at Whaley Bridge in mid 2005. In October, Roger Whatley was consecrated a bishop in the Chapel of the Ammerdown Conference Centre.

Development

The church has had three archbishops: Richard Palmer, who left the church along with Roger Whatley after the allotted five-years of Palmer's tenure as archbishop ended; Elizabeth Stuart, who left the church in 2006 and was appointed the Archbishop of the Province of Great Britain and Ireland of the more traditionalist

Liberal Catholic Church International The Liberal Catholic Church International (LCCI) is a Christian denomination with headquarters in Casa Grande, Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th ...

; and Jonathan Blake, OEC's founder, who was the church's sole remaining bishop after Stuart left. In 2008 the Open Episcopal Church became a member of the International Council of Community Churches and through them, a member of the

and Churches Uniting in Christ. ICCCC.
/ref> The church received national and international attention due to the wedding blessing Blake conducted for

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

figures

Jade Goody Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody (5 June 1981 – 22 March 2009) was an English television personality. She came to public prominence in 2002 when she appeared on the third series of the Channel 4 reality show '' Big Brother''. She went on to s ...

and

Jack Tweed ''Celebrity Big Brother 2007'', also known as ''Celebrity Big Brother 5'', was the fifth series of the British reality television series ''Celebrity Big Brother''. The show followed a total of fourteen celebrity contestants, known as housemates ...

,Damian Thompson's blog
/ref> through interviews broadcast after Jade Goody's death, through the prayer released before Jade Goody's funeral, through Blake's response to

Michael Parkinson Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...

's criticism of Goody,Sky News - criticism of Jade
/ref> through the launch of Post the Host (an outreach provision to distribute the consecrated Hosts by post),
Post the HostGuardian article on Post the HostGuardian comment on Post the HostWashington re Post the HostReligious News Service blogThompson
/ref> and through David Gillham leading the prayers in the Scottish Parliament.
/ref> Following Jade Goody's wedding, Christopher Woods, Chaplain and Director of Studies in Theology at Christ's College, Cambridge, called upon the Church of England to speak out against Blake and the OEC. The Church of England declined to comment.Revd Woods criticism
/ref> The church consecrated the first woman as a bishop for Wales in 2007. The bishop of Scotland, David Gillham, ordained Helen Hamilton at St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney in 2010; Gillham later fell into dispute with the church and left. Hamilton was subsequently consecrated as the first woman bishop for Scotland in June 2012. She made an episcopal visit to Londonderry. In 2013 the church consecrated a female bishop for Northumberland. Blake contributed to the book ''A Strange Vocation: Independent Bishops Tell Their Stories'' in 2009,A strange Vocation - Independent bishops tell their stories Published by Apocryphile Press and contributed liturgical material to Geoffrey Duncan's anthology ''Courage to Love''Courage to Love Published by The Pilgrim Press and Leanne Tigert and Maren Tirabassi's compilation ''All Whom God Has Joined''.All Whom God has Joined Published by The Pilgrim Press In 2014 Blake's book ''That Old Devil Called God Again: The Scourge of Religion'' was published. The church has clerics from Anglican, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Lutheran and Franciscan backgrounds and has grown internationally into America, Egypt, Brazil and Thailand. The church promotes its KITE Awards for young people making a positive difference in the community.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official site
Christian ecumenical organizations Practical theology Religious pluralism LGBT churches in the United States LGBT churches in the United Kingdom