Episcopal Church (United States) in the context of "Homosexuality and the Anglican Communion"

Catherine of Alexandria, also spelled Katherine, was, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. According to her hagiography, she was both a princess and a noted scholar who became a Christian around age 14, converted hundreds of people to Christianity, and was martyred around age 18.

The Eastern Orthodox Church venerates her as a great martyr and celebrates her feast day on 24 or 25 November, depending on the regional tradition. In Catholicism, Catherine is traditionally revered as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, and she is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on 25 November. Her feast was removed from the General Roman Calendar in 1969 but restored in 2002 as an optional memorial. In the Episcopal Church, St. Catherine is commemorated on 24 November, together with the martyrs Barbara of Nicomedia and Margaret of Antioch, while in the Church of England her feast day is 25 November.

The Charismatic movement in Christianity is a movement within established or mainstream denominations to adopt beliefs and practices of Charismatic Christianity, with an emphasis on baptism with the Holy Spirit, and the use of spiritual gifts (charismata). It has affected most denominations in the United States, and has spread widely across the world.

The movement is deemed to have begun in 1960 in Anglicanism (through the Episcopal Church USA) and spread to other mainstream Protestant denominations, including other American Protestants by both Lutherans and Presbyterians by 1962, and to Roman Catholicism by 1967. Methodists became involved in the charismatic movement in the 1970s.

Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and poet from Frederick, Maryland, best known as the author of the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry", which was set to a popular British tune and eventually became the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner". In 1814 Key observed the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812. He was inspired upon seeing an American flag flying over the fort at dawn: his poem was published within a week with the suggested tune of the popular song "To Anacreon in Heaven". The song with Key's lyrics became known as "The Star-Spangled Banner" and slowly gained in popularity as an unofficial anthem, finally achieving official status as the national anthem more than a century later under President Herbert Hoover.

Key was a lawyer in Maryland and Washington, D.C., for four decades and worked on important cases, including the Burr conspiracy trial, and he argued numerous times before the Supreme Court. He was nominated for District Attorney for the District of Columbia by President Andrew Jackson, where he served from 1833 to 1841. He was a devout Episcopalian.

Ash Wednesday is a holy day of prayer and fasting in many Western Christian denominations. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and marks the first day of Lent: the seven weeks of prayer, fasting and almsgiving before the arrival of Easter.

Ash Wednesday is observed by Christians of the Catholic, Lutheran, Moravian, Anglican (Episcopalian), and United Protestant denominations, as well as by some churches in the Reformed, (including certain Congregationalist, Continental Reformed, and Presbyterian churches), Baptist, Methodist and Nazarene traditions.

Principal Feasts are a type of observance in some churches of the Anglican Communion, including the Church of England, the Episcopal Church (United States), and the Anglican Church of Canada. All Principal Feasts are also Principal Holy Days, sharing equal status with those Principal Holy Days which are not Principal Feasts. They are considered to be the most significant type of observance, the others being Festivals, Lesser Festivals, and Commemorations. As with all Principal Holy Days, their observance is obligatory. The Anglican Principal Feasts and Principal Holy Days are somewhat comparable to Roman Catholic Solemnities and Holy days of obligation.

The Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania is a diocese of the Episcopal Church of the United States, encompassing the counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, Chester, and Delaware in the state of Pennsylvania. In 2014, the diocese reported average Sunday attendance of 13,188; in 2024, it reported 8,202.

The diocese had 36,641 members in 2020 in 134 congregations. In March 2016, Daniel G. P. Gutierrez was elected Bishop Diocesan; he was consecrated and assumed office on July 16, 2016. Upon becoming bishop in 2016, Gutiérrez implemented a strategy of experimentation and adaptation.

The Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, is an Episcopal parish church in the progressive Anglo-Catholic tradition. It is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania and is located in the Philadelphia Main Line.

Good Shepherd offers a robust program of high church Anglican worship, using the Book of Common Prayer (1979). The church welcomes all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or socioeconomic status.

The Calendar of the Church Year is the liturgical calendar of the United States Episcopal Church. It is found in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and in Lesser Feasts and Fasts, with additions made at recent General Conventions.

The veneration of saints in Anglicanism is a continuation of an ancient tradition from the early Church which honors important and influential people of the Christian faith. The usage of the term saint is similar to Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Episcopalians believe in the communion of saints in prayer and as such the Episcopal liturgical calendar accommodates feasts for saints.

Trinity Church is a historic parish in the Episcopal Diocese of New York. The church is located at 89 Broadway opposite Wall Street, in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Known for its centuries of history, prominent location, distinguished architecture and bountiful endowment, Trinity's congregation is said to be "high church", its activities based on the traditions of the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion in missionary outreach, and fellowship. In addition to its main church, Trinity parish maintains two chapels: St. Paul's Chapel, also in Lower Manhattan, and the Chapel of St. Cornelius the Centurion on Governors Island. The Church of the Intercession, the Trinity Chapel Complex and many other of Manhattan's Episcopal congregations were once part of Trinity parish. Columbia University was founded on the church's grounds as King's College in 1754.

The current church building is the third to be constructed for the parish, and was designed by Richard Upjohn in the Gothic Revival style. Trinity's first church was a single-story rectangular structure with tall steeple facing the Hudson River, which was constructed in 1698 and destroyed in the Great New York City Fire of 1776. After using St. Paul's Chapel, the parish's second church was built in the present location facing Wall Street and was consecrated in 1790. The third and current church was erected from 1839 to 1846 and was the tallest building in the United States until 1869, as well as the tallest in New York City until 1890. In 1876–1877 a reredos and altar were erected in memory of William Backhouse Astor Sr., to the designs of architect Frederick Clarke Withers, who extended the rear.