CONSTITUTIONS AND CANONS- USED COL

• Title: Constitution and Canons for the Government of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America: Adopted in General Conventions 1789–1958

• Publisher / Printer: Printed for the Convention, 1958 (composition, printing, and binding executed by W. B. Conkey Company, a division of Rand McNally & Company).

• Binding: Original black pebbled faux-leather / textured cloth with gilt titling on the front board.

• Subject: Ecclesiological governance, canon law, administrative protocols, and liturgical rules for the Episcopal Church in the United States.

Interesting Facts

• Mirroring the U.S. Constitution: When the Protestant Episcopal Church organized after the American Revolution (separating formally from the Church of England), its founders deliberately structured its governance after the newly formed United States federal government. In fact, many of the same American statesmen (such as William White and John Jay) helped shape both. Like the U.S. Congress, the General Convention operates via a bicameral legislature consisting of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies (clergy and lay representatives).

• The 1958 Convention: These volumes are updated and reprinted following each triennial General Convention to incorporate newly amended canons. The 1958 59th General Convention was held in Miami Beach, Florida, notable in church history for navigating early civil rights debates and establishing significant reforms regarding diocesan boundaries and liturgical commissions.

• The Printer (W. B. Conkey): W. B. Conkey of Hammond, Indiana, was one of the largest book-manufacturing plants in the world in the early 20th century. Acquired by Rand McNally in 1949, they produced durable reference volumes, bibles, and institutional legal texts built to withstand decades of desk reference.