The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1915-05-07
BRIEF SKETCH OF
EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Of UNITED STATES
SOMETHING OF THE HISTORY
AND POLICY OF THIS GREAT
ORGANIZATION
POWERS OF The CONVENTION
Real Legislature Takes Place in the
Tri-AnnuaI Meeting Which is Com
posed of Two Distinct Bodies
State Convention Here Wednesday.
Contributed

The Eighty-third convention of thu
Episcopal church in Tennessee which
/ is to assemble in st. Peters church
on Wednesday makes opportune some
reference to this denomination O
Christians, and particularly to Ger
tain historical associations which
center in Columbia Upon this lat
ter phase of the subject the writer
hopes to give some comment in an
other number of The Herald.
The Protestant Episcopal church
more than others, is truly national
for it knows no sentiment or geo
graphical alignments. 1t exists wher
ever the flag of the Union flies. Its
communicate membership is in ex'
cess of a million but it is an intregal
part of the broader Anglican com.
munion which is credited with a
membership of more than thirty mil
lion English speaking Christians.
Historical and other reasons could
readily be cited to show why this
church has been handicapped in its
growth in the United States, and yet,
it has had no inconsiderable part In
the social, political, intellectual and
religious life of the country, In the
beginning two-thirds of the signers
of the Declaration were Episcopal
ians, as were the virtual founders of
the Republic. Washington, first
president and Jefferson Davis, an
only president, were devout com.
municants and Robert Lee will ever
be typical of the finest Towering Of
Christian faith.
The instructed Episcopalian feels
deeply the dominant claim that his
spiritual mother has upon his heart
and intellect, but in no denomina-
ton has there been evidenced truer
passion for unity, and that the in
the last analysis, petty causes
which divide the Christian fold and
weaken the common cause should be
put aside, forgotten, ignored. To this
end the Episcopal church has ex
pressed through her best and wisest
representatives, Willingness TO
make in love the utmost concession.
AS a matter of information, it may
be stated that the church adheres
to the idea of a three-fold ministry,
that is of bishops, priests and dea-
cons the last named being the lowest
grade and the rank to which any
minister must be first ordained. The
word Bishop means simply over
seer" and indicates a prime function
of the office. Priest is a contracted
form of presbyter, the English of
which is elder. Deacon, translated in
English, is servant" one who
serves. The number of bishops in
the Episcopal church in the United
States and in foreign fields is about
100. These govern the various do
ceses or missionary districts into
which the whole field is geographi-
cally divided Tennessee, for instance,
is diocese coterminOus with the
state, while New York is divided into
i've dioceses, and each has its res
pective bishop.
Every three years there is gener-
al convention of the whole church.
Legislation is affected through the
two bodies sitting simultaneously,
the house of bishops and the house
of deputies The latter house is COM
posed equally of clerical and lay del
egates, four of each being sent by ev-
cry diocese.
1t is the general convention which
passes upon all the important mat
tiers touching the welfare or policy of
the church. It's sessions last for sew
eral weeks
The annual convention of diocese
is of course a smaller affair, but
many things of business routine are
gone over and larger questions may
be proposed for the consideration of
the whole church.
Formerly these conventions were
for a whole week but in the hurry of
modern times we manage to get
through in two or three days. While
business is the keynote yet the inspi-
rational and social features always
prove attractive to the delegates and
are appreciated by the congregations
which usually gather to see what is
going on. R. NJ. w. B.