Christian Episcopal Church
Encyclopedia
The Christian Episcopal Church (XnEC) is a Continuing Anglican jurisdiction consisting of parishes in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and with oversight of several parishes in the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...

. Its bishops are in Apostolic Succession
Apostolic Succession
Apostolic succession is a doctrine, held by some Christian denominations, which asserts that the chosen successors of the Twelve Apostles, from the first century to the present day, have inherited the spiritual, ecclesiastical and sacramental authority, power, and responsibility that were...

 through the Right Rev. A. Donald Davies
A. Donald Davies
The Rt. Rev. A. Donald Davies was the fourth Episcopal bishop of Dallas and subsequently the first Episcopal bishop of Fort Worth. He later founded the Episcopal Missionary Church, after which he became Archbishop and Primate of the Christian Episcopal Church .-References:...

 (Deceased). Davies was formerly the Bishop-in-charge of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe
Convocation of American Churches in Europe
The Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe is a jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America similar to a diocese which includes all of the Episcopal Church's congregations in continental Europe...

 and the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

Bishop Archibald Donald Davies had, in 1970, been consecrated the fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas. Fifteen bishops of the Episcopal Church assisted at the consecration of Bishop Davies, with John Elbridge Hines
John Elbridge Hines
John Elbridge Hines was a bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States. When he was elected the 22nd Presiding Bishop in 1965, at the age of 54, he was the youngest person to hold that office, which he held until 1974....

 as one of the principal consecrators. Bishop Hines had himself been consecrated the fifth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas in 1945, and was later elected the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.

In 1992, following years of controversy in the Episcopal Church in the USA and the Anglican Church of Canada
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...

 over what conservative members considered a steady drift towards both political and religious liberalism, the Episcopal Missionary Church
Episcopal Missionary Church
The Episcopal Missionary Church is a Continuing Anglican church body in the United States and a member of the Federation of Anglican Churches in the Americas...

 (EMC) was founded. Although this was fifteen years after the Congress of St. Louis
Congress of St. Louis
The 1977 Congress of St. Louis was an international gathering of nearly 2,000 Anglicans united in their rejection of theological changes introduced by the Anglican Church of Canada and by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America in its General Convention of 1976...

 at which Anglicans from the USA and Canada created the Continuing Anglican Movement
Continuing Anglican Movement
The term Continuing Anglican movement refers to a number of churches in various countries that have been formed outside of the Anglican Communion. These churches generally believe that "traditional" forms of Anglican faith and worship have been unacceptably revised or abandoned within some...

 in opposition to women's ordination, Prayer Book alterations, and more relaxed sexual standards approved in ECUSA and the ACC, the EMC is usually considered a Continuing Church. Bishop Davies was elected its first presiding bishop. He was also elected Archbishop and Primate of the several parishes constituting the Christian Episcopal Church of Canada.

A decade later, a split in the Episcopal Missionary Church's Diocese of the West produced the Christian Episcopal Church in the USA. Those who left the Diocese then appealed to Bishop Davies and joined with the churches in Canada. At one time, the XnEC in the United States counted parishes in Mississippi, South Carolina, California, Arizona, Texas and other states, but at present its parishes are one in Washington State and one in Florida. The current Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

 and Primate
Primate (religion)
Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority or ceremonial precedence ....

 is the Most Reverend Theodore C. Casimes.

Every bishop in the Christian Episcopal Church has had Archbishop Davies as his principal consecrator. All, therefore, can claim to have received valid episcopal orders through the bishops of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

, and the Scottish Episcopal Church
Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland....

, but also from the Episcopal Church in the USA.

External links

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