| Evangelical Episcopal Communion | |
| Abbreviation: | EEC |
| Main Classification: | Western Christian |
| Orientation: | Convergence |
| Polity: | Episcopal |
| Leader Title1: | Presiding Bishop and Patriarch |
| Leader Name1: | Russell McClanahan |
| Area: | International |
| Separated From: | Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches |
| Congregations: | 5,100+ |
| Website: | eec1.org |
The Evangelical Episcopal Communion (EEC) is a Christian denomination within the Convergence Movement, formerly part of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches. The denomination was founded by Archbishop Russell McClanahan, who has served as presiding bishop and patriarch.[1]
As a part of the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, Russell McClanahan was consecrated into the episcopacy in 1995, within Fredericksburg, Virginia.[2] By 1999, McClanahan was elected to the archiepiscopacy for the communion's Province of St. Peter. He also became the third presiding bishop for the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches in 2003.
In 2015, McClanahan and the Province of St. Peter unanimously separated citing philosophical and functional changes regarding provincial authority within the communion. Following, the Province of St. Peter; Province of India under Archbishop Reinhard Shakar; and Province of South Africa under Archbishop Lazarus Selahle operated as the "Evangelical Episcopal Communion." By October 2019, the Evangelical Episcopal Communion reunited with the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches.[3]
As of 2021, the Evangelical Episcopal Communion separated again from the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches.
According to the EEC's website, as of 2023, the denomination is organized into the following provinces: the Province of St. Peter; Family Life International Fellowship; and Missio Mosaic. The largest of the provinces is the Province of St. Peter, claiming to have planted more than 5,000 churches.[4] Missio Mosaic has listed 9 churches and ministries altogether as parish churches, network churches, and ministries.[5] Though strengthening ties with the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, Archbishop Reinhard Shakar's Indian province claimed more than 100 churches in May 2023.[6] Prior to Archbishop Lazarus Selahle's death as head of the Province of South Africa and All Africa Bishops Council, his province claimed 12 bishops.[7]
As a part of the Convergence Movement, the Evangelical Episcopal Communion adheres to the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral.[8] The EEC rejects same-sex marriages and abortions.[9]