The Case of the Episcopal Churches in the United States Considered

To form an idea of the situation of the episcopal churches in the present crisis, we must observe the change their religious system has undergone in the late Revolution.
[The GENERAL term “episcopal” is usually applied, among us, to the churches professing the religious principles of the church of England. It is thought by the author to be sufficiently descriptive, because the other episcopal churches in America are known by names PECULIAR TO THEMSELVES.]

On whatever principles the independence of the United States may be supposed to rest; whether merely on establishments which have very probable appearances of being permanent, or on withdrawing the protection of the former sovereign, or (as the author of these sheets believes) on the inherent right of the community to resist and effectually to exclude unconstitutional and oppressive claims, there result from it the reciprocal duties of protection and [5/6] allegiance, enforced by the most powerful sanctions of natural and revealed religion.

It may reasonably be presumed, that, in general, the members of the episcopal churches are friendly to the principles, on which the present governments were formed; a fact particularly obvious in the southern states, where the episcopalians, who are a majority of the citizens, have engaged and persevered in the war, with as much ardour and constancy as their neighbours. Many even of those whose sentiments were at first unfavorable to the Revolution, now wish for its final establishment, as a most happy event; some from an earnest desire of peace, and others from the undistinguished oppressions and ravages of the British armies. Such persons accordingly acknowledge allegiance, and pay obedience to the sovereignty of the states.
Inconsistent with the duties resulting from this allegiance, would be their subjection to any spiritual jurisdiction connected with the temporal authority of a foreign state. Such a dependence is contrary to the fundamental principles of civil society, and therefore cannot be required by the scriptures; which, being accommodated to the civil policy of the world at large, neither interfered with the constitution of states as found established at the time of their promulgation, nor handed down to succeeding ages any injunctions of such a tendency.

To apply these observations to the case of the episcopal churches in the united states. They have been heretofore subject to the ecclesiastical authority of the Bishop of London. This authority was derived under a commission from the crown; which, though destitute of legal operation, found a general acquiescence on the part of the churches; being exercised no farther than to the necessary purposes of ordaining and licensing ministers. Hereby a connection was formed, between the spiritual authority in England and the episcopal churches [6/7] in America, the latter constituting a part of the Bishop of London's diocese.

To read the rest of Bishop William White's highly controversial pamphlet on ecclesiastical polity, click here.

Bishop Wiliam White was the first and fourth Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA (1789; 1795–1836) and the first Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania (1787–1836). In the pamphlet "The Case of The Episcopal Churches in the United States Considered" he laid out the foundational thinking for the polity of the emerging Episcopal Church. Among the innovations he proposed (and which came to be adopted) was the inclusion of lay people in the decision making bodies of the church.