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The Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church is was born in
the American colonies in 1789 after the revolutionary war separated
The Episcopal shield shown above is a symbol of the Episcopal Church. The red cross on a white field is the Saint George Cross, an indicator of our link to the Church of England, the mother church of the Anglican Communion. The miniature crosses in the blue quadrant symbolize the nine original American dioceses that met in Philadelphia in 1789 to adopt the constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The outline of the miniature crosses is in the form of Saint Andrew's Cross in tribute to the Scottish church's role in ordaining the first American bishop, Samuel Seabury, in 1784. The colors red, white and blue symbolize, respectfully, the sacrifice of Christ and Christian martyrs, the purity of the Christian faith, and the humanity of Christ received from the Virgin Mary. In duplicating the colors of the American flag, they also represent the Episcopal Church's standing as the United States branch of the Anglican Communion. More History of the Diocese of Virginia The Diocese of Virginia Home Page
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Anglican
Christians in the colonies from the Anglican Church in England. Today, the
Episcopal Church belongs to the Anglican Communion, a global community of 73
million Anglicans in 38 member provinces. The Episcopal Church itself, a
community of 2.5 million members, is composed of 113 dioceses in the Americas
and abroad. Saint Gabriel's Church belongs to the Diocese of Virginia. Our
diocese, the largest in the United States, is composed of 89,000 baptized
members and 400 clergy in 38 counties of central, northern and northwestern
Virginia. We serve the community through 195 congregations, six schools, two
diocesan retreat centers, and six diocesan homes. We are also home to the
largest Anglican seminary in the world, the Virginia Theological Seminary in
Alexandria.