Although not governed by the Anglican Church in Great Britain, the Protestant Episcopalian Church of the United States of America has remained in the Anglican communion, which has allowed the church to enjoy a richly multicultural outlook. More than half of all Anglicans are non-white, and the world church has worked to ordain local clergy of whom Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a notable example.

In spite of their origins in the Church of England, Episcopalians had a rocky start on American shores. Most colonial settlements were started by the Puritans (Congregationalists), Baptists and Quakers, with Episcopalians settling primarily in Virginia and the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia. The Church of England largely ignored the spiritual needs of its colonial members, refusing to permit an American bishop and the establishment of a colonial church organization. Over half of those who signed the Declaration of Independence were Episcopalians, but the church suffered during and after the Revolutionary War because many of the clergy were British loyalists.

During the nineteenth century, Episcopalians remained largely on the East Coast, unlike Methodists and Baptists who followed waves of settlers into the interior of the country. The Episcopal Church ordained women as deaconesses, starting in 1855, but did not officially sanction the ordination of women as priests and bishops until 1976. Both ordained men and women may be married. The Episcopal Church made few attempts to include minorities in integrated congregations or in the church’s hierarchy but in the 1950s African American men were enrolled in Episcopal seminaries. A black woman, Barbara Harris, was consecrated as the first female bishop in 1989. Although Episcopalians of all races now worship together, conservative members have resisted female clergy and some Episcopalians have converted to the more traditionally patriarchal Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic faiths. Conversely roughly half of all US Episcopalians were not raised in that faith. Controversy over the ordination of homosexual clergy and the marriage of gay parishioners has also caused internal turmoil for the church. While some congregations forbid openly gay clergy others accept celibate gay clergy, while a few congregations welcome gay clergy who live in committed partnerships.

Three pillars sustain Episcopalianism: tradition, faith and reason. Sunday and weekday services link Episcopalianism to the beginnings of Christianity, despite the church’s sixteenth-century break from Roman Catholicism and papal authority Religious services, rites and doctrines are published in The Book of Common Prayer, which was updated in 1979. Episcopalians may develop new services, such as rites for healing, and incorporate rites from other Anglican communion prayer books. Some disagreements are solved by having two or more forms of services and prayers, from which individual parishes may choose. The Bible is not considered the literal word of God, and Episcopalians are encouraged to use reason in their interpretation of the Bible.

Despite its small numbers (only 2.5 million Americans consider themselves Episcopalian), the church has often taken on the responsibilities of a national church, as evidenced by the seventy-five-year effort to construct the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Open to persons of all faiths, the cathedral was where Martin Luther King. Jr, preached his last Sunday sermon.