History of the Anglican Church and Protestant Episcopal Church in America

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, people, and historical developments of the Anglican Church and its transition to the Protestant Episcopal Church in North America.

Anglican Church

The official state church of England, also known as the Church of England, which sought to control American religious life in colonial society.

Anglican Reformation

The religious movement in England that began when King Henry VIII requested a papal annulment from Catherine of Aragon, leading him to declare in 1529 that the Church of England was separate from the Roman Catholic Church.

Book of Common Prayer

A prayer book created by Church of England leaders to unite worshippers through common prayer despite ongoing theological differences.

Puritan Church

The most famous community of English religious dissenters who fled to New England to escape persecution and the official influence of the Anglican Church.

Virginia Attendance Fine

A colonial penalty requiring members of the Church of England in Virginia to attend services at least once every four weeks or pay five shillings or 50 pounds of tobacco.

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts

An organization founded in London in 1701 that spurred 18th-century church growth by sending over 300 missionaries to the American colonies by 1783.

John Wesley

A famous missionary sent by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel who preached in Georgia from 1735 to 1737 and later affiliated with the Methodist Church.

George Whitefield

A missionary whose seven preaching journeys beginning in 1737 sparked the Great Awakening, eventually leading him to affiliate with the Methodist Church.

Great Awakening

A major religious movement in the American colonies sparked in 1737 by the seven preaching journeys of George Whitefield.

Protestant Episcopal Church

The name adopted by Anglican clergy and laity in the United States after the American Revolution to distance themselves from the British state.

Reverend William White

An Anglican leader who authored an essay in 1782 establishing three principles for the Protestant Episcopal Church: independence from government influence, governance by clergy, and democratic participation by the laity.

Samuel Seabury

A clergyman secretly elected by 10 Connecticut clergymen in 1783 who traveled to Scotland to be consecrated as the first American Episcopal bishop.

Book of Common Prayer (of 1789)

The distinct prayer book adopted by the Protestant Episcopal Church at its 1789 general convention alongside its formal church constitution.