The United Episcopal Church of North America (UECNA) is a traditional Anglican church body within the Continuing Anglican movement, a collection of churches that separated from the mainstream Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada during the late 20th century.
While the UECNA maintains Anglican theology, worship, and episcopal governance, it is not a member of the Anglican Communion centered on the Archbishop of Canterbury. Instead, it sees itself as preserving historic Anglican faith and practice in its traditional form.
The roots of the UECNA lie in the theological controversies that developed within the Episcopal Church during the 1960s and 1970s. Many clergy and laypeople believed their denomination was moving away from historic Anglican doctrine through liturgical revisions, shifts in moral and social teaching, and growing theological liberalism. These concerns culminated in the 1977 Congress of St. Louis, a gathering that launched what became known as the Continuing Anglican movement.
One of the leading figures in this movement was Charles D. D. Doren, who became one of the first bishops consecrated for the new Anglican movement in North America. Differences eventually emerged within the newly formed Anglican Catholic Church, particularly over governance and the church's direction. As a result, several congregations sympathetic to Doren's views withdrew and organized a separate jurisdiction. In October 1981, a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, formally established the United Episcopal Church of North America, and Doren became its first bishop and later its first archbishop.
The UECNA therefore developed not directly from the Episcopal Church itself, but from the early Continuing Anglican movement that arose in response to changes within the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada.
Like most Anglican churches, the UECNA follows an episcopal polity, meaning bishops govern it in apostolic succession. The church maintains the traditional threefold ministry of bishops, priests (presbyters), and deacons.
Bishops oversee dioceses, while the national church is led by a Presiding Bishop or Archbishop. The UECNA also operates through a constitution and a body of canons that regulate church governance, clergy discipline, and ecclesiastical administration. Its governing framework is modeled largely. on the earlier Episcopal Church constitutional structure while incorporating its own revisions and distinctives.
The denomination is relatively small as compared with mainstream Anglican bodies, and consists of dioceses, parishes, missions, and affiliated congregations across the United States and Canada.
The theology of the UECNA is firmly rooted in classical Anglicanism. The church states that Holy Scripture is the inspired Word of God and the ultimate authority for faith and practice. It accepts the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed as authoritative summaries of Christian belief and looks to the teachings of the early Church Fathers and Ecumenical Councils as guides to orthodox doctrine.
The church also upholds the historic Anglican confessional standards, including the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, the historic formularies of the English Reformation, and traditional Anglican prayer books and liturgies.
The UECNA emphasizes both its Catholic and Reformation heritage. In this sense, it seeks to preserve the early Church's ancient faith while affirming the theological principles of the English Reformation.
A defining characteristic of the UECNA is its commitment to traditional Anglican worship. The church primarily uses the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer, the 1962 Canadian Book of Common Prayer, and the Church of England's 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
The church recognizes Baptism and Holy Communion as the two dominical sacraments directly instituted by Christ. It also acknowledges Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, Holy Orders, Penance, and Unction as sacramental rites within the life of the Church, reflecting traditional Anglican teaching.
Several features distinguish the UECNA from both the Episcopal Church and some other Anglican bodies. The UECNA identifies with the Continuing Anglican movement rather than the official Anglican Communion, and rejects newer liturgical revisions such as the Episcopal Church's 1979 prayer book, instead continuing to use older Anglican prayer books it regards as more faithful expressions of classical Anglican theology. The UECNA teaches that the offices of bishop, priest, and deacon are reserved for qualified men, which sets it apart from many Anglican churches that ordain women to some or all levels of ministry. The church maintains traditional positions on issues like the authority of Scripture, abortion, marriage, and sexual ethics, viewing these positions as consistent with historic Anglican teaching.
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