The Episcopal Church is the official name of the Province of the Anglican Communion in the United States. The Church was organized shortly after the American Revolution when it was forced to break with the Church of England on penalty of treason and became the first autonomous Anglican province outside the British Isles. Today it is divided into nine provinces and has dioceses outside the U.S. in Taiwan, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Europe. The Episcopal Diocese of the Virgin Islands encompasses both American and British territory.

The Episcopal Church considers itself a via media, or middle way, between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

The Episcopal Church was active in the Social Gospel movement of the late nineteenth century and since the 1960s and 1970s has played a leading role in the progressive and liberal movements in church and secular politics. For example, in its resolutions on secular issues the Episcopal Church has taken both sides on the abortion debate, opposed the death penalty, and supported affirmative action and the civil rights movement. In some dioceses, openly homosexual men and women can be ordained; in others, same-sex unions are celebrated.

In most dioceses, women are ordained to the priesthood and episcopate, as well as the diaconate. The current Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church is Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first female primate in the Anglican Communion.