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The educational agency of the Executive Council has had a variety of titles and roles within the organizational structure of the Church over the years. From 1947 to 1968, it was known as the Department of Christian Education. In 1968, major elements of Council’s educational program were combined with divisions of the Home Department and other bodies as the “Services to Dioceses section” of Council; in subsequent years it seems to have been renamed the “Program Group on Education,” until about 1975, when it became the Office of Religious Education.

An Education Officer, David Perry, was appointed in 1973. Other aspects of the Church’s educational program were handled by ad hoc committees during this period, such as the Program Advisory Committee on Higher Education. Another major restructuring in 1976 eliminated ad hoc committees in favor of a system of standing committees and subcommittees. In 1979, a further wave of consolidation brought the staff and work together under the cluster title of Education for Mission and Ministry.

The Education for Mission and Ministry Unit was listed in The Church Annual up until 1991, with David Perry as its Executive Director. In 1992,the name was changed to Education, Evangelism, and Ministry Development, with David Perry still listed as Executive Director. It is unclear how and why the named changed and if the program functions also changed.

Originally authorized by the General Convention in 1871 to coordinate the work formerly conducted by a large number of isolated women’s missionary societies, The Woman’s Auxiliary to the Board of Missions initially served in an advisory role, however, the Auxiliary evolved into a planning and promotion group. The first General Meeting of the Auxiliary was held in 1874, when the women resolved to meet concurrently with General Convention and came to be known as the Triennial Meetings of the Woman’s Auxiliary.

During the 1956-1958 triennium women’s work in the Church was reorganized. The Auxiliary transitioned into a division of National Council and was renamed the General Division of Women’s Work. Rejecting the auxiliary status, diocesan organizations began to name themselves the Episcopal Church Women. Symbolic of the turbulent social climate of the late 1960s and 1970s, the Church initiated structural reorganizations aimed at integrating women into the Church on every level. As part of these changes, the General Division of Women’s Work was dissolved in 1968.

Subsequent Triennial Meetings were organized by various ad hoc committees until the 1985 gathering, at which time bylaws were adopted forming the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) at the national level. This organization reclaimed its right as the successor body to the Woman’s Auxiliary and assumed responsibility for coordinating the women’s activities in the Church and for organizing the Triennial gatherings.

A resolution was filed at the June 1986 meeting of Executive Council confirming that the newly formed Episcopal Church Women “is the same or successor organization to the Woman’s Auxiliary, the General Division of Women’s Work, the Committee for Women, the Triennial Program and Planning Committee, and the Triennial Committee.”

When the Church Pension Fund was established by the General Convention in 1913, no provision was made to include deaconesses. To rectify this, deaconesses formed their own not-for-profit corporation and began to raise funds.

On September 30, 1927, the Retiring Fund for Deaconesses (RFD) of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America was formally incorporated to provide financial assistance to retired and disabled deaconesses who were unable to provide for themselves.

Forty-five years later, on September 27, 1972, the RFD voted to change its name to The Retiring Fund for Women in the Diaconate in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America to reflect the ordination of women to the diaconate after the General Convention of 1970. It began operating under this name in 1973.

The RFD has since changed names twice more, both times to acknowledge an expanded membership. In 1998 it changed its name to The Fund for the Diaconate of The Episcopal Church in the United States of America, following a 1990 vote to admit male deacons. In 2018 it changed its name to The Fund for the Diaconate of the Episcopal Church, emphasizing its availability to all deacons of The Episcopal Church and continues to operate under that name.

At the 1973 General Convention, the Joint Commission on Church Music (JCCM) was renewed as the Standing Commission on Church Music (SCCM). The newly formed Standing Commission now served the Church in all matters pertaining to music, including serving as a link between associations of professional Church musicians and diocesan music commissions, assisting individual dioceses with courses and conferences on Church music, and collecting and collating material for future revisions of the Church Hymnal. It was also charged with reviewing The Hymnal 1940 and preparing recommendations to the next General Convention for a revision, which was ultimately approved in 1982 and published in 1985.

At the 1997 General Convention, the Committee on Structure recommended that the Standing Liturgical Commission and the Standing Commission on Church Music be merged into a single commission on worship, incorporating the current work of the two existing bodies, thus becoming the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music.

The Episcopal Service for Youth was formed in 1911 as The Church Mission of Help (CMH). Its original purpose was to promote family life by assisting unwed mothers to remain with their families and make it possible for them to take care of their children for at least the first two years. The scope of its case work grew through the 1920s to include preventative care for at-risk children. By 1930, it had not only expanded its scope, but also added 13 more societies to its mission field.

The Episcopal Church continued to support CMH, but in the face of declining diocesan funding, the General Convention cut its appropriation by half in 1934. As a result, the bylaws of the organization were radically amended along with a substantial reduction in staff. In 1945, after much discussion, the name of the organization was changed to The Episcopal Service for Youth to better reflect its purpose and better appeal to the young people whom it served. In 1960, much of the society's work was assumed by the Department of Christian Social Relations. The Episcopal Service for Youth continued primarily as a scholarship organization until its dissolution in 1976.

From 1789 until 1919 (except for the brief period from 1792-1804), the senior bishop by date of consecration was automatically the Presiding Bishop (PB). In 1919 the PB was made president of the National Council which serves as the Board of Directors of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Service. Duties established at that time included presiding over meetings of the House of Bishops, acting as the executive head of all programs and mission departments, having authority to appoint interim officials and officers, and maintaining oversight of bishops. In 1964 the office was granted authority to appoint the President and Chair of the Executive Council.

In 1967, the duties of PB were brought together under one canon (Canon 2) and stipulated that the term of office be 12 years or until the PB reaches 65 years of age. It also named the PB as chief pastor and gave the office the responsibility for representing the church in its corporate capacity as well as responsibilities involving initiating and developing policy.

The Standing Commission on Structure studied the office further and reported in 1976 concerning the method of electing a PB. They concluded that the PB should continue to be elected by the House of Bishops and approved by the House of Deputies, rather than a joint session of the two houses. The General Convention gave the PB joint authority with the President of the House of deputies to appoint the General Convention Executive Secretary (this position was changed to Executive Officer in 1982).

The Presiding Bishop is the Chief Pastor and Primate of The Episcopal Church, which includes the United States and dioceses or congregations in Europe, Asia and Latin America that maintain continuing ties to the American province of the Anglican Communion. The Presiding Bishop is responsible for initiating new work, developing Church policy and strategy, leading the staff of the DFMS, and representing the Episcopal Church in major public engagements, the Anglican Communion, and ecumenical relationships. In addition, the PB acts as chairperson of Executive Council, President of the DFMS, and is presiding officer of the House of Bishops.

Prior to the establishment of the Standing Liturgical Commission, liturgical matters were handled by a number of temporary committees and joint commissions. Its most immediate predecessor was the Joint Commission on the Revision and Enrichment of the Prayer Book, established by the 1913 General Convention to revise the Book of Common Prayer.

On the publication of the 1928 edition, the General Convention of 1928 voted to discharge the joint commission and establish in its place the Standing Liturgical Commission for the preservation and study of matters relating to the Book of Common Prayer as well as the development of other liturgical materials. The Standing Liturgical Commission carried out this mandate until the 1997 General Convention, when it was merged with the Standing Commission on Church Music to form the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music.

The House of Deputies met in General Convention in 1789 when the lay and clerical deputies established the order, governance, and first public statements of The Episcopal Church. The lay and clerical deputies elected Bishop William White its president, and among other early acts, provided for the keeping and publication of the journals and other papers of the Convention. The House of Deputies has been called the "senior house" for its early organization and its swift undertaking of the task of Church unity and oversight of the corporal affairs of the new body. It established what is today the oldest continuing body of The Episcopal Church, the State of the Church Committee, which annually implements the parochial and diocesan reports that render a reliable statistical profile of the population and health of The Episcopal Church. The House of Deputies operates between General Convention sessions through its special appointed bodies and the joint committees, commissions, boards and agencies. The ministry of the President and presiding officer of the House embodies the mutual ministry leadership of lay and clerical members of the Church in matters of governance, polity, and mission.

Authorized by the 65th General Convention in September 1976, Venture in Mission (VIM) was a large scale fund-raising program resolved to provide mission development funding for the national church. VIM was put into motion by early 1979, and ultimately received the participation of 90 domestic and overseas dioceses. The 1979 and 1982 General Conventions continued the program with resolutions of commendation and appreciation. The original goal was to raise $100 million. By 1985 that goal had surpassed $170 million. The funds were dispersed to various diocesan programs that included community-based ministries for marginalized populations, education, lay and ordained ministry development, urban and rural work, health services, community development, the recruitment of black clergy, training in Hispanic ministries, and overseas missions projects in Costa Rica, Tokyo, Tanzania, and Uganda. The program formally concluded at the end of 1988, although disbursements from existing accounts continued for some years after.

St. Paul's Within-the-Walls in Rome, Italy, was originally established in 1859 as Grace Church. The name was changed to St. Paul’s in 1871 after the city of Rome ceased to be governed by the Vatican and the building of non-Roman Catholic churches was allowed within the walls of the city. In 1872, ground was broken on a new church, with construction completed in 1880.

A major restorative project of the church began in 1975 and was completed in the 1980s. With its mosaics and Italian Gothic architecture, St. Paul's is in harmony with its Roman setting. Since the end of the Second Vatican Council, St. Paul's has embraced the Roman Catholic Church's call for ecumenism and commissioned doors to commemorate the historic event. St. Paul’s houses the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center which provides ministry to political refugees and forced migrants who travel through Rome.

While St. Paul’s is a member of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, it maintains its own Board of Trustees. Together, the three boards (which also includes the St. James Episcopal Church in Florence, Italy) manage endowments for the churches in the convocation.

The Society of St. Margaret is a religious order of the Anglican Church with related but independent chapters on several continents. The order began in 1856 at East Grinstead, England under the guidance of by John Henry Neale. Houses followed in London at St. Saviour’s Priory in 1870 and St. Margaret’s House in Boston, Massachusetts in 1873.

The Sisters who arrived in Boston in 1873 were invited to help minister to the sick at Boston’s Children’s Hospital, a ministry that ended in 1917. The order's mission evolved into hospital care, health and wellness of women and children, education in pursuit of community, and a supportive religious enclave for independent women seeking a spiritual life and motivation. The Boston chapter purchased their first permanent site in Louisburg Square in 1881 and began to generate mission houses throughout the East and in Canada. St. Monica’s infirmary (Joy Street) and later St. Monica’s Home in Roxbury continued in operation until 1988 as a ministry to the elderly. The other nearby institution, in Duxbury, Massachusetts, was a summer camp program for girls and summer residence for the Sisters. The Duxbury property became the permanent House for the Society with the closing of the Roxbury convent in 2011.

Other houses and missions that were established are Montreal (1885), Toronto (at Bracebridge, closed in 1944), Philadelphia (1884), New Hartford (near Utica, NY, n.d.), New York (Oliver St., closed 1956), Newark (St. Barnabas’ Hospital, closed 1923, and House of Prayer, 1939), and Lexington, Kentucky (St. Agnes House, 1975). Most notably, the Sisters established a mission in Port au Prince, Haiti, in 1927, where they opened a school for children with disabilities, founded a home for elderly women, and established an orchestra, among other ministries. The Society continues its ministries in Boston, New York City, and Port-au-Prince to this day.