In legislative matters, for purposes affecting the whole Church, the General Convention is supreme. This body, which meets triennially in different places, is composed of two houses, the House of Bishops, consisting of all bishops hav ing jurisdiction within the 'United States, and the House of Clerical Lay Deputies, composed of four clergymen and four laymen elected from each diocese; missionary jurisdictions are en titled, to send one clergyman and one lay delegate, who, however, have no votes. Legislation, to be effective, must be passed by a con•urrenee of both houses, and, in the lower house, of both orders. Each diocese, moreover, holds its own annual convention, composed in most instances of the clergy canonically resident within it and of lay delegates from each parish, sitting as one house and presided over by the bishop. The Gen eral Convention can make no alteration in the Constitution or the Prayer Book until it. has been laid over for three years. officially signified to every diocese, and then passed again at the subsequent Convention. The diocesan conven tions legislate for the internal affairs of each diocese, in harmony with the general canons. Each diocese has also a standing committee, usu ally composed of both clergy and laity, which has various administrative functions, and in the ease of a vacancy in the see nets as the 'ecclesias tical authority' of the diocese; the election of new bishops must be confirmed by a majority as well of the standing committees as of the other bishops of the whole Church.
There are 60 dioceses and 21 missionary juris dictions (which may be described as embryo dio ceses) within the limits of the United States; also one missionary jurisdiction in Africa, one in Cuba, two in China, and two in Japan, besides three bishoprics not strictly forming a part of the Episcopal Church, in Brazil. Haiti, and Mexico. There are also nine organized chaplain des on the Continent of Europe. which minister primarily to Americans. In 1901 there were 3825 organized parishes, exclusive of mission sta tions, with 5654 church edifices: the clergy num bered 5009, including 92 diocesan, coadjutor, and missionary bishops; the communicants were 737.095, and the Sunday schools numbered 46,673 teachers and 433,911 scholars. In the twelve months previous to this enumeration there were reported 59,566 baptisms. 45,093 con firmations, and contributions for all purposes amounting to $14,544,917.
As the Church has expanded, many new agen cies have arisen to foster and extend its exuber ant life. Chief among these are the numerous sisterhoods (q.v.) in which women are bound together for work and devotion, and the revived order of deaconesses (q.v.) ; the Domestic and
Foreign Missionary Society, to which every bap tized member of the Church is considered ipso facto to belong; the Brotherhood of Saint Andrew (q.v.), which enlists the active work of laymen, and the Church Clubs, also for laymen, of which there are over a score; the Daughters of the King (q.v.), for women ; the Church Temperance Society (q.v.) ; the Parochial Missions Society, and the American Church Sunday School Insti tute. Church hospitals. begun by Dr. Muh lenberg with Saint Luke's in New York and followed by the Episcopal Hospital in Phila delphia, have exemplified the humanitarian side of religion; while schools under religious influence, which owe their inception to the same far-seeing founder, have multiplied throughout the country. Colleges such as those at Hartford, Geneva, Racine. Sewanee. Gambier, and South Bethlehem, provide for higher education; and a number of theological seminaries train the future clergy. The principal organs of the Church in the press are The Churchman (New 'York), 7'he Church Standard ( Philadelphia.), and Thc Living Church (Chicago).
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Perry, History of the AmeriBibliography. Perry, History of the Ameri- can Episcopal ('hunch, 1587-1883, with mono graphs (2 vols., Boston. 1PS5) ; id., A Half Cen tury of Legislation, journal; of General Conven tion, 17S5-1835, with historical notvs and docu ments (3 vols., Alilwaukee, I574) ; Coleman, The Church in Amcrieu (New York, 1895) ; Tiffany, history of the Protestant Episcopal t'hurch (New York, 1895) ; McConnell, history of the American Episcopal Church (New York. 1890) ; Anderson, history of the Church of England in the Colonies (3 vols., 2d ed., London, 1856) ; White, Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church in. America (3d ed., New York, 1880) ; Digest of the L'reords of the Society for the Propagation of the Eospcl, 1701-1892 (London, 1893) ; Perry, Historical Collections Relating to the American, Episcopal Church (4 vols., covering Virginia, Pennsylvania, Massaehusetts. Mary land, and Delaware. Hartford, 1870) ; Hawks, Contributions to the Ecclesiastieal History of the United States of America (2 vols., covering Vir ginia and Maryland, New York, 1836-39) ; Bea rdsley, History of the Episcopal Church in. Connectirat from 1635-1865 (4 vols.. Boston. 1883) ; Burgess, Pages front the Ecclesiastical History of New England (Boston, 1862) : Wil son (edit.). Centennial History of the Protestant Episcopal ('hunch in the Diocese of Yew York (New York, 1886) ; Cross, The Anglican Epis copate and the American Colonies (New York, 1902).