Traders, merchants and soldiers brought the Christian faith to Britain shortly after it became part of the Roman Empire in the Middle of the 1st Century AD. Sixteen hundred years later, during what we call the Reformation, The Church of England emerged as a unique institution. It retained its "catholic" heritage enshrined in the Creeds, the decision of the General Councils, its liturgy and saxraments, and in the Threefold of bishops, priests and deacons in the Apostolic Succession. It "reformed" itself by separating from the Roman Church, eliminating some nonessential and non-biblical practices, and restored much of the practices, and restored much of the practice of the earliest Christians, insisting upon the authority of Holy Scripture as the rule and guide of faith.
There is public perception, especially in the United States, that Henry VIII created the Anglican church in anger of the Pope's refusal to grant his divorce, but the historical record indicates that Henry spent most of his reign challenging the authority of Rome, and that the divorce issue was just one of a series of acts that collectively split the English churchfrom the Roman church in much the same way that the Orthodox church had split off five hundred years before.
The newly-separated Anglican Church was given formal structure in 1562 during the reign of Elizabeth I. What binds us together is not common administration but shared tradition and shared belief. Our belief is written down in the Holy Bible and the Articles of Religion; our tradition is in part embodied in the Book of Common Prayer. The first Book of Common Prayer was produced in 1549 in which the Latin liturgy was simplifed and translated into English. It has been revised numerous times since then with the most significant revision in 1552. Members of the Church of England came to America in the Sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In many of the original colonies, the Church of England was the established or offical Church. After the Revolution, American Anglicans established an autonomous branch of the Church, which became known as the Episcopal Church. Recently, during the last twenty-five or so years, that body has abandoned many of the traditions of the historic Anglican Faith and practice. It is this tradition that many former Episcopalians and other faithful Anglicans are seeking to preserve and proclaim.
In 1968, a meeting of such faithful Episcopalians, clergy and laity was held in Mobile, Alabama. From that meeting emerged the American Episcopal Church. Meetings were held in 1978, 1981 and 1991, and Bishops were consecrated through the Anglican Apostolic Succession to provide for the continuation of the ministry as instituted by Christ. In 1991, a special Synod was held in which the "American Episcopal Church" and most of the "Anglican Catholic Church" became a united body to form the Anglican Church in America.
St. Peter's Anglican Church
St. Peter's Anglican Church was formed in 1995 as a mission of the Diocese of the Eastern United States. Originally located in Canton, North Carolina, the first Vicar was the Rev. James Lipsey who continued in this position until his health failed in 2005.
On July 1, 2005, Fr. Gary A. Marshall was appointed Vicar of St. Peter's by the Right Rev. Louis Campese, Bishop of the DEUS. Since that time, the mission has relocated to Waynesville in the historic "frog level" district. We are fortunate to be in a building designated as a "National Historic Landmark", and once renovations to the building were completed, the dedication service was held on April 30, 2006.
