Congress of St. Louis

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The 1977 Congress of St. Louis was a gathering of Anglicans who rejected the ordination of women to the priesthood. It was called in response to decisions made by the Episcopal Church to approve the ordination of women and to issue a heavily revised Book of Common Prayer. As a result of the desire to maintain the Apostolic tradition of male-only clergy and the exclusive use of historical Anglican liturgical forms, the Anglican Church in North America was founded. By 1978, four bishops had been consecrated, and then the church split into three separate churches, the Anglican Catholic Church, the Anglican Province of Christ the King, and the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada.