During the late 1700s, the Episcopal Church was initially established under the name The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. This remained the official name until 1964 when a constitutional amendment allowed for the shorter name The Episcopal Church. Throughout its history, some prominent members argued that the name did not accurately reflect the reformed nature of the church and proposed alternatives such as American Catholic Church. The term “episcopal” originates from the Latin word episcopus, meaning “bishop”, which in turn comes from the Ancient Greek roots epi (meaning “over”) and skopos (meaning “watcher”), emphasizing the role of a bishop as a religious overseer.
