The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion numbering about 77 million people in over 100 countries. The Anglican Church has often been described as a “bridge church” because it naturally relates well to Easter Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions alike. It preserves the ancient Catholic faith and sacraments and the historic ministry of bishops as its chief pastors. At the same time Anglicanism focuses as Protestant churches do on the centrality of Scripture as the core of God’s self-revelation to mankind. Anglicans see themselves as bringing the whole faith of the undivided early church forward into our time and place.