The Southern Episcopal Church was founded in Nashville, Tennessee in 1962 by a physician, the Rt. Rev. Burnice Hoyle Webster, and a number of former members of the Episcopal Church USA. He became its first presiding bishop. The SEC is now considering itself a Continuing Anglican church, but its members point out that the founding of their church preceded the start of the Continuing Anglican Movement by almost two decades. The Southern Episcopal Church was established in reaction to the liberal political and theological trends of the 1960's within ECUSA. At particular issue was the sending of some of the funds that had been contributed to the denomination at headquarters by member parishes and dioceses being forwarded on to terrorist political groups in the USA, Puerto Rico, and Africa. The Southern Episcopal Church did not consider that it was forming a new denomination but rather serving as a church home for Episcopalians who wished to maintain their Anglican faith and traditions while reaching out to other like-minded individuals. The precise size of the Church is unknown, but it is thought to consist of fewer than a half-dozen parishes, with 28 clergy, 15 bishops and three parishes grouped into several US Dioceses and Missionary Districts. The current presiding bishop is the Rt. Rev. Huron Manning, rector of All Saints' Church, Nashville. There is one seminary, Holy Trinity College and Seminary, which offers classes by external studies.[1]
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References
- Anglicans Online! Not "In Communion" Lists Southern Episcopal Church and other churches that have left the Anglican Communion, along with many similar churches that have had no connection to the Anglican Communion.
- Adherents.com and Adherents.com reporting estimates of the denomination's size from different sources. Estimates are not current.
