This thorough, carefully researched history sets church events against the background of social changes. This third revised edition will be up-to-date through the events of the 2012 General Convention of the Episcopal Church.

Robert W. Prichard, has been teaching liturgy at Virginia Theological Seminary since 1979. While his primary publications have been in church history, he has contributed occasional articles to journals and collections about the liturgy. Prichard has been a General Convention deputy since 2006 and has twice served on the General Convention's Joint Committee on Liturgy and Music. At the convention of 2015, he served as one of the two secretaries of that body. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.