Canon law of the Episcopal Church in the United States

The Anglican Communion does not have a centralised canon law of its own, unlike the canon law of the Catholic Church. Each of the autonomous member churches of the communion, however, does have a canonical system. Some, such as the Church of England, has an ancient, highly developed canon law while others, such as the Episcopal Church in the United States have more recently developed canonical systems originally based on the English canon law.

Unlike the system of canon law in the Church of England, which continues to be drawn from the canon law of the Western church, English ecclesiastical law did not remain in force in the Episcopal Church after the American Revolution. There are two parallel systems of canon law within the church operating on a national level, governed by the General Convention, and on a diocesan level, with each diocesan convention empowered to create constitutions and canons. Diocesan constitutions do not require the approval of the General Convention. The Episcopal Church is notable among Anglican churches for the extent to which the Constitution and Canons of the General Convention leave matters to regulation at the diocesan and parochial levels.

Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church in the United States links at Constitution and Canons page White and Dykman treatise on Canon Law in the Episcopal Church

List of Diocesan Constitutions and Canons Diocese State Constitution/Charter & CanonsAlabamaAlabamalinks at Policies pageAlaskaAlaskalinks at Constitutions & Canons page, under “Our Constitution and Canons” AlbanyNew Yorklinks at Albany Diocese Documents page ArizonaArizonalink at The Constitution & Canons page ArkansasArkansaslink at Canons & Policies page AtlantaGeorgialinks at Governance page BethlehemPennsylvanialinks at Constitution & Canons page CaliforniaCalifornialinks at Constitution & Canons page Central FloridaFloridalinks at Policy Handbook page under “Constitution and Canons” Central Gulf CoastFloridalink to canons at Governance page under “Canons of the Diocese” Central New YorkNew Yorklink at Governance & Administration page under “Constitution & Canons of the Diocese” Central Pennsylvania Pennsylvanialink at Constitution and Canons page ChicagoIllinoislink at Governance page under “Download the Canons of the Diocese” ColoradoColoradolink at Constitution & Canons page ConnecticutConnecticutlink at Governance page under “Constitution & Canons” DallasTexaslink at Constitution & Canons page under “EDOD Constitution and Canons” DelawareDelawarelink at Governing Documents page under “Constitution and Canons Diocese” East CarolinaNorth Carolinalink at Constitutions & Canons page East TennesseeTennesseelink at “Resources” tab, under “Constitution & Canons (DioET)” Eastern MichiganMichiganlink at Governance page under “Constitution and Canons” Eastern OregonOregonlink at Governance/Policy page under “The Constitution and Canons” Easton Marylandlink at Constitution and Canons page Eau ClaireWisconsin link at bottom of Home page under “Eau Claire Constitution and Canons” El Camino RealCalifornialink at Constitution & Canons page FloridaFloridalink at Forms page, under “Guidelines”, then “Diocesan Canons” Fond du Lac Wisconsin link at Constitution and Canons page, under “Diocesan Canons” GeorgiaGeorgia link at Resource Library page, under “Diocese of Georgia Constitution & Canons” Hawai’iHawai’i links at “Forms & Documents” page, under “Legal” Idaho Idaholink under “Policies and Canons”IndianapolisIndianalink under “Resources for Diocesan Leaders” IowaIowa links at Constitution & Canons page KansasKansas links at Diocesan Constitution and Canons page KentuckyKentuckylinks at Governance Documents page LexingtonKentucky link at DioLex Resources page, under “Resources for Clergy and Churches”, then “Diocesan Constitution and Canons” Long IslandNew Yorklink at Church Governance page, under “Canons of the Episcopal Diocese” Los AngelesCalifornialink at this Directory page, under “Constitution and Canons, Diocesan” LouisianaLouisiana links at Constitution & Canons page MaineMaine link at Constitution & Canons page MarylandMaryland link at Diocesan Constitution and Canons page MassachusettsMassachusetts link at Constitution and Canons page Michigan Michigan link at this page MilwaukeeWisconsin link at Constitution and Canons page MinnesotaMinnesotalink at Governing Structure page, under “Constitutions & Canons” MississippiMississippi link at Governance page MissouriMissouri link at Constitution and Canons page Montana Montanalink at this page, under “Diocese Canons and Constitution”NebraskaNebraska link at Diocese of Nebraska & Episcopal Church Canons page NevadaNevada links at Governance page New HampshireNew Hampshire link at Governance page New JerseyNew Jersey link at Constitution and Canons page New York New York link at this page under “Diocesan Constitution & Canons”NewarkNew Jersey link at Constitution and Canons of the Diocese page North CarolinaNorth Carolina link at Constitution and Canons page North Dakota North Dakotalink at Diocesan Council page, under "The-Constitution-and-Canons-Diocese-of-North-Dakota"North TexasTexas links at Constitution & Canons page Northern CaliforniaCalifornia links at Constitution and Canons page Northern IndianaIndiana link at Diocesan Governance page, in right-hand column under photo of bishop Northern Michigan Michiganlink to Constitution & Canons Northwest TexasTexas link at Diocesan Documents and Information page, under “Constitution and Canons” Northwestern PennsylvaniaPennsylvania link at Constitution and Canons page OhioOhiolink at Governance page OklahomaOklahoma link at Constitution and Canons page for canons; no apparent link to diocesan constitution OlympiaWashington link at “Constitution & Canons” OregonOregon link at Constitution and Canons page Pennsylvania Pennsylvanialink at this page, under “Constitution and Canons”PittsburghPennsylvania link at Documents & Forms page, under “Governance” Rhode IslandRhode Islandlink at Diocesan Constitution & Canons page Rio GrandeNew Mexico link at Documents page, under “DRG Constitution & Canons” RochesterNew York link at Parish Forms & Documents page, under “Parish Finance and Administration”, then “Governance”, then “Episcopal Diocese of Rochester Constitution & Canons” San DiegoCalifornialink at Governance page, under “Constitutions & Canons” San JoaquinCalifornia links at Governance page, under “Canons and Constitution” South CarolinaSouth Carolina links at Constitution & Canons page South DakotaSouth Dakotalink at “Diocesan Constitution & Canons” Southeast FloridaFlorida link at “Diocesan Constitution & Canons” Southern OhioOhio link at Resources page, under “Constitution and Canons of the Diocese” Southern VirginiaVirginia link at Governance page, under “Constitution & Canons” Southwest FloridaFlorida link at Constitution and Canons of the Church page, under “Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida” Southwestern VirginiaVirginia links at Constitution and Canons page SpokaneWashington link at Governance page, under “Constitution & Canons” SpringfieldIllinoislink in Diocesan Documents & Reports page TennesseeTennessee link at Constitution and Canons page TexasTexas link at Constitution & Canons page Upper South CarolinaSouth Carolinalink at Constitution & Canons page UtahUtah links at Governing Bodies page, at “For full descriptions of these diocesan offices, refer to the constitution and canons” VirginiaVirginia link at Constitution & Canons page WashingtonDistrict of Columbia link at Constitution and Canons page West Missouri Missouri link at Documents page, under “Constitution and Canons” West TennesseeTennessee link at Constitution & Canons pageWest TexasTexas link at Constitution & Canons page West VirginiaWest Virginialink at Constitution & Canons page Western KansasKansas link at Canons page Western LouisianaLouisianafor Canons for Constitution Western MassachusettsMassachusetts link at Resources, Policies & Forms page, in the “For Clergy” dropdown menu, then “Constitution & Canons” Western MichiganMichiganlink at Governance page, under “Constitution and Canons” Western New YorkNew York link at Constitution and Canons page Western North CarolinaNorth Carolinalink at Our Governance page, under "Constitutions and Canons of the Diocese"Wyoming Wyominglink at "Constitution & Canons" page

See also

Canon law of the Anglican Communion Ecclesiastical court

References

Sources

Further reading