Leadership

Leadership in the Early Church

In the waning days of the American Revolution (1776-1783), Episcopal Churches in the United States faced an identity crisis. They were the colonial offshoot of the Church of England, now severed from their parent church. In addition to being unable to use the Church of England’s liturgy due to its prayers for the King, the young churches were no longer under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. They were leaderless and in danger of losing their identity altogether among the many religions and denominations in their new country.

In 1782, the Rev. William White published a pamphlet proposing a solution to this problem. He suggested delegations of clergy and lay deputies from each of the states should gather in a representative body to create shared laws and doctrines. Furthermore, this unicameral legislature could elect bishops from among their number, allowing the American churches to establish an independent episcopacy.

Three years later, at the first General Convention, White’s vision became a reality with the meeting of clerical and lay deputies from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina in a convention. There, they ratified the Ecclesiastical Constitution that was drafted a year prior at a convention attended by delegates from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. Article II of this Constitution established the governing body as being composed of clerical and lay deputies, a House of Deputies; bishops would be members of the convention ex officio (Article V).

The House of Bishops

General Convention would have a unicameral legislature until 1789, the first Convention for which there were three consecrated bishops in the United States. These bishops were Samuel Seabury, consecrated November 14, 1784, in Scotland; William White, consecrated February 4, 1787, in England; and Samuel Provoost, consecrated February 4, 1787, in England. During the 1789 Convention, the bishops were separated from the clerical and lay deputies as a “house of revision.” Over the next nine years, the role of the House of Bishops would be refined until it became a separate, but equal, house with the House of Deputies.

Today’s House of Bishops is governed by Article I, Sections 2-3, of the Constitution and Canons. It is composed of the bishops of The Episcopal Church, both actively serving and resigned, from both domestic and foreign dioceses. While the House of Bishops participates equally with the House of Deputies in the legislative process, it is solely responsible for the election of the Presiding Bishop, the spiritual and corporate leader of The Episcopal Church, from its number, and whom the House of Deputies votes to confirm.

The House of Deputies

Throughout its history, the House of Deputies has aspired to be an effective and democratic voice for the church’s lay people and clergy. While it can claim its share of past mistakes and missed opportunities, it has adopted modern governance models and rules that serve to diminish institutional tendencies of over-centralization, hierarchical and clerical overreach, and exclusivity.

Since the election of the Rev. William White as the first President of the House of Deputies in 1785, the office has been occupied by some of the most influential figures in The Episcopal Church. For many years, it served as a stepping stone to the episcopate of a major diocese. That changed after the establishment of the National Council in 1919 and the elevated importance of the House in shaping the governance, mission and leadership of the Church’s mission and program.

The President of the House of Deputies was the only presiding officer of the House until a change in the Canons in 1964 provided for a Vice-President. That year, the Canons were also changed to provide for the election of the President for the next Triennium before the adjournment of Convention, so that the term runs from the adjournment of one Convention to the adjournment of the next, rather than the original method of opening each Convention with the election of the Presiding Officers on Day 1. A Canon revision in 1967 restricted the term of President or Vice-President to three consecutive terms. Most presidential elections have been decided by acclamation, with a majority voice vote.

The Presiding Bishop

The first “President” of the House of Bishops was Samuel Seabury by virtue of his seniority determined by consecration date. Three years later, in 1792, the House of Bishops changed to a rotating presidency, allowing Bishop Samuel Provoost to take the chair as the President or “Presiding Bishop,” the first time this phrase is used in the journals. The following General Convention, 1795, “President” was dropped from the House of Bishops leadership and William White, by virtue of being the next in rotation, stood as Presiding Bishop. White would retain this position until his death due to a series of rule changes. In 1799, White retained the presiding role when the next bishop in the rotation was unavailable; in 1801, the House resolved that White would remain the Presiding Bishop until the details of the 1792 rotation were clarified; and, in 1804, the role of the Presiding Bishop returned to the most senior bishop in the House, William White.

At the founding of “The Protestant Episcopal Missionary Society in the United States, for Foreign and Domestic Missions,” later called the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society or DFMS, in 1820, the Presiding Bishop was made the president of the Society. This role would not be written into the Constitution and Canons until 1901. Eighteen years later, in 1919, the Presiding Bishop would become an elected position and became an executive officer of the new National Council. Small changes to the role would continue through the 20th century, such as the requirement the bishop resign as diocesan upon election in 1945. Canon revisions in 1967 further altered the role.