The Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem covers fourteen counties in Pennsylvania to the north and west of Philadelphia.

The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel was formed in London in 1701, with the initial goal of funding missionary clergy in America.

Until the American Revolution brought an end the Society's activities in the United States, it provided support to the few itinerant Anglican clergy in rural Pennsylvania.

[8] St. Mary's in Reading, St. Gabriel's in Morlatton (now Douglassville) and St. James in Perkiomen (now Collegeville) were among the fifteen parishes represented at the conference.

This left the eastern part of the diocese, now based in Bethlehem, covering a territory that "the name lost much of its significance."

In October 2022, the diocesan conventions of Central Pennsylvania and Bethlehem initiated the process for exploring reunification.