A History of the Episcopal Church

by Robert W. Prichard

This insightful, all-encompassing chronicle spanning 400 years traces the fascinating rise of the Episcopal Church, founded in an age of fragmentation and molded by the powerful movements of American the Great Awakening; the American Revolution; the Civil War; two World Wars and the Depression; and the social upheavals of the post World War II years. This revised edition of the now-classic text on the Episcopal Church brings the story up-to-date with a new chapter on the 1990’s. This new chapter pays special attention to the Church’s renewal efforts, Presiding Bishop Browning’s time in office, the issue of homosexuality, changing leadership dynamics, liturgical change, and Lambeth 1998.

Genres: Religion, Church History, History, Christianity, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Reference

343 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provided a great overview of the history of the Episcopal Church. Was very readable, and offers a great starting to point to examining other historical events of the church (if that’s something one is interested in). The last chapter was particularly interesting, dealing primarily with changes in the church as congregations shrink and also liberalize.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a timely update. Prichard does a good job with the history of the church generally and with the events of the late 1990's and early 2000's. While I have a more polemic and, perhaps, personal perspective, he does a good job of reporting recent history from an historian’s perspective. This has always been a standard text on the subject, and is even more relevant now than it has ever been.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been researching the history of the Episcopal church i was baptized and confirmed in. I realized I knew very little about the history of the Episcopal church as a whole despite key people being depicted in the stained glass windows of our Narthex (depicted on the front cover of each edition of this book). The windows on the cover grabbed my attention, and i decided to buy this edition. I was and still am amazed at how intertwined the early history of the United States and the Episcopal church are. I loved reading about how the first Episcopal Bishop in the US got ordained, and everything that followed. I found this to be a great launching point for my own understanding of church history, and to begin to appreciate the depth of our history. The author writes in a very approachable style I highly recommend this to others interested in the history of the Episcopal church.

Oh, and no, the author has not ever been to my church to see the windows depicted on the cover of his book he acquired a photo of them from Willard Studios where the windows were made according to my Priest who took a class taught by the author and asked him about the cover of his book.

Great read just the same.

[Mike Bright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a history of the Anglican Church in the United States (our version being the Episcopal Church). The chapters come in roughly 40 year chunks (the first couple are longer periods). Prichard reviews what was happening in various aspects of church and cultural life at that time. He is deliberate in giving credit to women and minorities who had roles in developing the church. The writing is targeted to historians, and sometimes has some odd tables and charts which seemed of limited value to me. There are abundant references for further reading. However, the book is accessible to a general audience. I learned a lot and appreciated the abundant credit to individuals with various roles in influencing the development of the church.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great broad overview of the Episcopal church. While spanning over 500 years essentially, it does lose track of the specifics, but that is to be expected when you cover such a broad range of years. It also fails to dive deeper into the groups that split from the Episcopal church over theological interruptions.

It is a good read if you are looking for a very broad history but probably want something more specific when researching certain years in the history of the church.

[Ephrem Arcement · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice introduction to the history of the Episcopal Church...informative without being cumbersome and preoccupied with detail. This latest edition navigates judiciously through the culture wars of the recent years.

[Fr. Thomas Reeves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Largely very good, and fairly written. Perhaps a bit biased toward the current trajectory of the leadership of the Episcopal Church.

[Tynan Brooks]

I came away from this with a greater appreciation of our church's particulars as well as a deeper sense of its failures across time.

[Caroline Mathews · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a case of total immersion...read all day yesterday and way into the night. I'm so glad that I took the time out to study, think, and apply this knowledge to those parts of the history that I already knew. A rainy day (and night) well-spent.

Prichard knows his church history but appears, in many places, to be addressing other Episcopalians and not the general public. He doesn't exude much "bedside manner" - what I call historian's charisma.

It was nice to have the bibliography (notes) at the end of the chapters...so many names, dates, and events. All-in-all, although this was more information than I needed, I enjoyed the book and the experience of reading it straight through. But please, no test.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Focused on names and dates more than theological history. The author attributes the decline in membership to not responding quickly enough to social issues yet fails to explain why regions that restrained doctrinal and theological orthodoxy continued to grow. Desperately needs a new section for the last 15 years

[Br. Thanasi (Thomas) Stama · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history going from 1600's until 1990. The 1700's was a scary time for the Episcopal Church in the American Colonies. No bishops. Moves to deny the Holy Trinity. Understand more how The Wesley brothers both Anglican priests ended up spawning a separate church (Methodists) out of Anglicans.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive history of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Prichard provides essential issues and details, and relates the history of the Episcopal Church to a late 20th century understanding of the history of the US.

[Adafrog · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was, while not a quick read, a fairly easy read. The various issues, people, and events in the history were well written. In fact, especially at the end, it felt more like a narrative I wanted to finish than a history book.

[Dave Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book great overview of the history of the Episcopal Church in the U. S., as well as its relationship to larger Anglican Communion. As a survey, it doesn't go into a great deal of depth, but it does cover 400 years of history in a very readable way.

[Jabbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good and detailed history of the Church by a great professor.

[Toby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it. It gave a quick overview of the history and issues to church has had to deal with.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Required reading for Anglican Studies. It is helpful, although not the most current text book version of the history of the Episcopal Church.

[Frostik Dar · Rating 4 out of 5]

another seminary textbook -- mine is the 1991 version, and i truly hope that Morehouse changed the cheesy typeface for their newer edition. excellent survey, nonetheless, and surprisingly balanced.

[Christopher Pokorny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prichard offers an easy to read engagement of Anglican/Episcopal history in The United States.

[Aidan Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good general history of the Epsicopal Church. Was it engrossing? No. Do I now have a basic understanding of the church's history in America? Yes.

[Harry Allagree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 3rd edition of Prichard's History of the Episcopal Church, originally published in 1991, and covers the development of the Episcopal Church in America from 1585 to 2014. Though generally familiar with Episcopal Church history, especially from about 1977 on (when I became one of the 19% who migrated to the Episcopal Church from the Roman Catholic tradition), the last volume of a history on the subject which I read, c. 1981, was A History of the American Episcopal Church, by William W. Manross. (That had been published in 1935, two years before I was born! Somehow I'd acquired the signed copy,"Clarence R. Haden, Fall, 1936", of the book which had belonged to the Bishop under whose jurisdiction I entered when I first moved to the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California: which was 4 Bishops ago!)

Prichard's is an easily readible, well-documented account. He very clearly relates the history against the background of what was happening in the surrounding culture & society of the United States, and gives an insight into why & how the Church was shaped as it was, and why it is as it is today, at least up to 2014. Having finished the book, it occurred to me how much more has happened in just the past three years!

The last two chapters, covering the period 1965 to the present, was for me a sort of "stroll down memory lane". It helped me understand what I'd personally lived through, especially since I was a diocesan deputy to the Church's General Convention during the years 1985-1991, some very exciting times! I have to say that Prichard helped clarify a lot about what was playing out in the background of events particuarly during that time & since.

[Jonathan Frazier]

283.73

[Jon R. Jordan]

Necessary for those preparing to take Ordination Exams; interesting for those interested in early American Christianity.