The Episcopal Church over the Years by Peter Schaaphok

Part Three

In the summer of 1782 a pamphlet appeared with the title The Case of the Episcopal Churches in the United States Considered. It was written by a young clergyman from Philadelphia who during the course of his long life would probably have more influence on the birth and development of PECUSA than any other individual. His name was William White. He was the rector of the united parishes of Christ Church and St. Peter’s in Philadelphia and had served as chaplain to the Continental Congress.

As was mentioned in our last chapter the American Revolution had made orphans of American Episcopalians who had supported the rebellion. Their connection to the Crown and the mother church had been severed and this in turn precluded any continuation of the episcopacy in the United States. In an effort to get around this dilemma White proposed in his essay that the American church be temporarily organized on a quasi-Presbyterian basis. He also laid out an administrative structure that would serve as the basis for the present organization of the Episcopal Church.

One of White’s suggestions for propagating new clergy was to follow the early Christian tradition of having three priests lay hands on candidates for the ministry. This was too much for the high churchmen of New England and in 1783 a number of Connecticut clergy met in Woodbury, Connecticut to find a solution more in keeping with Episcopal tradition. They chose Samuel Seabury as their bishop elect and sent him to England to be consecrated. However, upon arrival there he found that the English bishops believed they did not have the authority to elevate foreign priests to the bishopric. Undaunted by this setback Seabury traveled to Scotland where he was ultimately consecrated by three nonjuring bishops (the successors of the 17th Century bishops who had refused give up their allegiance to James II in favor of William & Mary).

When Seabury returned to Connecticut he proceeded to ordain a number of new clergymen from throughout the former colonies. However, when a General Convention gathered in Philadelphia in 1785 Seabury refused to attend because of another of White’s proposals: lay participation in the government of the church.

Seabury’s failure to cooperate notwithstanding, the delegates at Philadelphia drafted a constitution and a revision of the English Prayer Book. They also considered the problem of creating more American bishops. By the time of the 1786 Convention the British Parliament had acted to allow English Bishops to consecrate new American Bishops without requiring the Royal Oath of Allegiance. Thus William White and Samuel Provoost of New York were chosen by the Convention to travel to England to seek consecration.

Despite many differences, clerical and lay delegates met again in Philadelphia for the 1789 Convention. It was here that we can truly say that PECUSA was born. Many matters of church government were resolved and a new American Book of Common Prayer was adopted. This book, while very close to the 1662 English BCP, exhibited various improvements in wording and also the adoption of a full Eucharistic prayer taken from the Scottish Rite of 1764. While this has often been attributed to Samuel Seabury’s influence because of a promise he had made to the Scottish Bishops who had consecrated him, it appears that movement towards adopting elements of the Scottish rite was mainly the work Scottish clergymen living in America.

In 1792 Thomas Claggett became the first American to be consecrated a bishop by American Bishops. A true American episcopacy had come into being.

However, the early years of PECUSA did not portend great things. It’s Church of England pedigree caused many patriots to question its validity as an American church. It had also lost many members to the Methodist movement. In 1792 there were fewer than 200 Episcopal clergy in the United States.

Continue to Part Four