Category: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts
Categories: Religious Categories, Maintenance
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was initially formed in 1701 by the Church of England after the Bishop of London requested Thomas Bray to report on the state of the Church of England in the American Colonies. Bray reported the Church in America had "little spiritual vitality" and was "in a poor organizational condition". Because there is little to no information about the organization of the Church of England in North America prior to the formation of the Society, for convenience sake, this category and its subcategories have been extended back to 1607 when the first Church of England priest arrived in the British Colonies at Jamestown, Virginia.
Anglicanism in the Colonies remained under the Church of England through the Society until 1776 when Congress and the several states passed laws making the oaths of allegiance to the English king and prayers for the king and British Parliament required by the Church of England acts of treason. It took a few years to work out methods of ordination without oaths to the king, revision of the Book of Common Prayer and a constitution for the Episcopal Church (United States of America), the first province of the Anglican Communion outside of the Bristish Isles.
Beginning in 1710, when the Society expanded to the West Indies, it became responsible for supporting the religious needs of British citizens and conducting missionary activities on behalf of the Church of England in foreign areas beyond North America.
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