Free Protestant Episcopal Church

The Free Protestant Episcopal Church - FPEC, now called The Anglican Free Communion, was formed in England, on November 2, 1897, from the merger of three smaller churches. Others were to join later.

The ordination of bishops from within the apostolic succession was of major importance to this group, as also was having the church recognized as a lawfully constituted Religious denomination. The latter event occurred, at least tacitly, when an archdeacon from the group was exempted from World War I conscription in 1917 due to his clergy status, which would not have been permitted had the group not been considered a lawfully constituted denomination.

Formation of the Church, 1897

In 1890 Bishop Leon Chechemian, who had been a priest (vardapet) in the Armenian Catholic Church and later emigrated to England where he was consecrated as a Bishop, created the Free Protestant Church of England. In 1897 his church united with two other churches; the Ancient British Church and the Nazarene Episcopal Church, thus creating the Free Protestant Episcopal Church of England, an Anglican church independent of the Church of England. Dr Chechemian was appointed the first Primus of the newly-formed FPEC.

History

The church had traditionally been quite small. There are various reasons for this, but one of them seems to be that clergy had tended to pass through it as a church in which to be ordained by bishops from the historic apostolic succession before moving on to other, larger church bodies. More recently, the communion has evolved and grown, at present having twenty five (25) provinces in different USA states and countries.

Leadership of the Church moved to the United States in 1978 but returned to the United Kingdom in 2015.

Links with Mar Georgius, 1956 - 1960

From 1956 to 1960, the FPEC was formally affiliated to the movement then led by Hugh George de Willmott Newman (Mar Georgius). Formal links ceased in October 1960.

Schism, circa 1978 - 2011

The FPEC has known internal dissension, some based on theological disputes and some on personalities. After a schism (circa 1978) in the communion, one of the factions led by Dr. Horst Block was renamed "The International Free Protestant Episcopal Church (TIFPEC)". On 12 February 2008 Dr. Block died and Bishop Peter Leers succeeded him as the Primus of TIFPEC. In February 2011 Leers dissolved that schismatic jurisdiction, ending the division.

The original organization (FPEC) survived. Dr. Edwin Duane Follick was Primus at the time of the 2011 reconciliation, and thus he became Primus of the re-united body.

Names

During the Bishops' Synod of 2012, in Bolivia, the organization adopted the new name "The Anglican Free Communion".

Other names that have been used during the church's history include "Episcopal Apostolic Church of England" and "Ecumenical Church Foundation".

Present times

Currently, after the solution of the schism, the Anglican Free Communion has been restructuring and advancing worldwide, continuing its centennial history now covering many nations and many USA states. The Free Protestant Episcopal Church (The Anglican Free Communion) is present in England, Spain, U.S.A., Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, El Salvador, Panama, Colombia, Peru, Tanzania, Gabon, Kenia, Cameroon, Liberia, Burundi, Pakistan, India, Mexico, Venezuela, Uganda, Madagascar, Colombia, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Description

The Free Protestant Episcopal Church (The Anglican Free Communion) is one of the oldest Anglican Communions in existence and is constituted by a large group of Anglicans of all varieties of churchmanship from Anglo-Catholic (High Church), Evangelical (Low Church), Latitudinarian (Broad Church), Charismatic and Liberal.

All of the Provinces of the Communion are autonomous, comprising self-governing churches and families of churches around the world.

As at 2016, Richard Arthur Palmer is the Primus. Richard Arthur Palmer was consecrated in the Liberal Catholic Church in 1997. He has subsequently been involved in the Reformed Liberal Catholic Church (Old Catholic), the Society for Independent Christian Ministry, the Open Episcopal Church and the United Episcopal Church. He was one of the founders of the Open Episcopal Church and for a five-year term he was its primate.

The Free Protestant Episcopal Church is a communion of free Anglican churches around the world, living an Anglican reconciliation and unity.

Apostolic succession

The church claims valid apostolic succession derived from the Armenian Catholic Church, the Syrian Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Church of England (through the Reformed Episcopal Church of the United States of America). These lines were in the jurisdictions that united in 1897 to found the Free Protestant Episcopal Church.

It is doubtful whether the line of succession from the Armenian Catholic Church is carries an un-broken episcopal succession. Leon Chechemian was a vardapet in the Armenian Catholic Church but evidence that he was ever a bishop in that church is lacking. For more detail, visit the wikipage of Leon Chechemain.

Succession of primuses

NOTE: For a full list of patriarchs of the Ancient British Church and Celtic Orthodox Church, refer to the wikipage of the Celtic Orthodox Church.

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