The archive of the Apostolic Episcopal Church consists mainly of the documentary records of its ministry and administration, together with the journal and book publications of its clergy. Despite the effects of several fires during the 1940s and 1950s, including one at Christ’s Church-by-the-Sea that destroyed much that was held there, key documents have been replaced from other archives and an ongoing programme exists to continue this process.

The archive contains a considerable amount of documentary material concerning the history of the smaller communions during the twentieth-century. There is also a good deal of material relating to the Liberal Catholic Church. It is possible for scholars to access material for research purposes by arrangement with the Secretariat.

A small sample of historic documents and related materials is provided on this page, as a supplement to the official history of the AEC.

Mar Georgius of the Apostolic Episcopal Church and Catholicate of the West with members of the Catholicate of the West at the Abbey of Christ the King, Barnet, c. 1949. The priests in the front row are (L to R) Fr. Michael Waller, Fr. John Thorpe, Fr. Stephen Ball and Fr. Alastair Brodie [Photographic credit: Bishop John Cuffe/Orthodox Catholic Church]

Historical documents

Historical listings in the Yearbook of American Churches
for the AEC and some related churches

Earliest years

Source of Orders of the AEC (1938)
This document, prepared by Archbishop Brooks, shows the origins of the Holy Orders of the AEC in the historic Churches of the East.

Certified Copies of Ecclesial Letters of Archbishop Arthur Wolfort Brooks
This document includes notarized copies of the instruments of election and episcopal consecration of Archbishop Brooks.

Incorporation of the AEC in the State of New York, USA, 1932
The papers of the original AEC corporation.

1940s

Archive of the Ancient Christian Fellowship Review

The Ancient Christian Fellowship (The Old Catholic Church of America) was a denomination in succession to the work of Archbishop Joseph René Vilatte led by Archbishop Wallace de Ortega Maxey (Mar David I), which merged with the AEC in 1946 to become the AEC’s Province of the West. Archbishop Maxey was also one of the two Patriarchs and Supreme Hierarchs in the Catholicate of the West. In 1949, by which time Archbishop Maxey had succeeded as AEC Primate, the Ancient Christian Fellowship was established separately from the AEC with the character of an ecclesiastical, religious and chivalric order. Archbishop Maxey continued to lead this body until 1978 when he installed Archbishop Robert Ramm as his successor.

• Volume 1, section 3
• Volume 1, section 4
• Volume 1, section 5
• Volume 1, section 6
• Volume 1, sections 7,8 and 9
• Volume 2, section 1

1970s onwards

Obituaries of Archbishop Perry Nikolaus Cedarholm
Archbishop Cedarholm (1890-1979) was Primate of the Svea Synod of the AEC, based in Sweden.

Archive of The Tover of St Cassian
This was originally the journal of the OCR and then became that of the AEC also.

• Volume 2, no 3
• Volume 3, no 1
• Volume 3, no 2
• Volume 3, no 3
• Volume 4, no 1
• Volume 4, no 2
• Volume 5, no 1
• Volume 5, no 2
• Volume 6, no 1
• Volume 8, no 1
• Volume 9, no 1
• Volume 10, no 1

Liturgy

The authorised Liturgies of the AEC include:

>>The Liturgy of Marqos

Commemorative works

>>Images of Godly Living by Archbishop Francis Spataro