Concept
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 of the Episcopal Church is Michael Bruce Curry, the first African American bishop to serve in that position. As of 2021, the Episcopal Church had 1,678,157 members, of whom 1,520,388 were in the United States. it was the nation's 14th largest denomination. Pew Research estimated that 1.2 percent of the adult population in the United States, or 3 million people, self-identify as mainline Episcopalians. The church has recorded a regular decline in membership and Sunday attendance since the 1960s, particularly in the Northeast and Upper Midwest. The church was organized after the American Revolution, when it became separate from the Church of England, whose clergy are required to swear allegiance to the British monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. The Episcopal Church describes itself as "Protestant, yet Catholic" and asserts apostolic succession, tracing its bishops back to the apostles via holy orders. The 1979 Book of Common Prayer, a collection of rites, blessings, liturgies, and prayers used throughout the Anglican Communion, is central to Episcopal worship. A broad spectrum of theological views is represented within the Episcopal Church, including evangelical, Anglo-Catholic, and broad church views. Historically, the members of the Episcopal Church have played leadership roles in many aspects of American life, including politics, business, science, the arts, and education. About three-quarters of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were affiliated with the Episcopal Church, and over a quarter of all Presidents of the United States have been Episcopalians. Historically, Episcopalians were overrepresented among American scientific elite and Nobel Prize winners. Numbers of the most wealthy and affluent American families, such as Boston Brahmin, Old Philadelphians, Tidewater, and Lowcountry gentry or old money, are Episcopalians.
