DRAFT OF A CHAPTER

 

ANGLICANS OR EPISCOPALIANS

Charles P. Poole, Jr.

March  2004; revised June 5, 2006

 

CONTENTS

 

                               1.   Introduction

                               2.  The Anglican Communion

                               3.  The Episcopal Church

                               4.  Book of Common Prayer

                               5.  Agreements and Disagreements

 

1. INTRODUCTION

 

          When I started to investigate the Episcopal Church I was very confused about the meanings of and relationships between the two terms: Anglican and Episcopalian,  Apparently some of these churches call themselves Anglican and others call themselves Episcopal, with no special significance involved in the choice of terminology.  The term Anglican calls attention to the British origin of the denomination and its relationship with the See of Canterbury, while Episcopal calls attention to their claim to have valid priestly orders and Apostolic Succession. 

 

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2. THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION

 

          The Anglican Communion, sometimes called The Anglican Church,  is a worldwide association of churches which have a relationship to the See of Canterbury.  Such related churches generally have the terms Anglican or Episcopalian in their names. There are four kinds of relationships that a church can have with the Anglican Communion:  a) Being a part of it, in full communion with the See of Canterbury, and constituting one of its 38 provinces. The Episcopal Church in the USA is in this category.  b) Also in "full communion”, but not culturally or denominationally Anglican.  There are 11 churches in this category.   c) Churches that “have intercommunion” with the Anglican Church, but are not close enough for “full communion.” Finally d)  there are churches that are, by policy, not in communion with the See of Canterbury.  There are 74 of them, many of which have broken away because of some doctrinal disagreement. 

 

          The 2006 World Almanac and Book of Facts, in listing the 2004 population statistics in millions of the various Christian religions of the world includes Anglicans in a separate category: Catholics (1,106), Protestants (370), Orthodox (217), Anglicans (79), and other (417).  The Visitors section of the US Episcopal Church website ecusa.anglicans.org   says that Anglicans are “Walking a middle way between Roman Catholicism and Protestant traditions.”  They and the Orthodox churches emphasize the necessity of having a valid apostolic succession of bishops.  In the June 27th 2006 Reflection of Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury “The Challenge and Hope of Being an Anglican Today” he says ”We do have a distinctive historical tradition - a reformed commitment to the absolute priority of the bible, a catholic loyalty to the sacraments and the threefold ministry of bishops, priests and deacons, and a habit of cultural sensitivity and intellectual flexibility that does not seek to close down unexpected questions too quickly.”  Anglicanism has served as a via media for many decades, and the Archbishop is worried about its ability to surmount the present crisis involving what the Primate of Nigeria terms ‘revisionists’ theology.  This will be discussed further below. 

 

 

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3. THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

 

          What Americans refer to as the Episcopal Church is a province of the Anglican Communion called by them the Episcopal Church in the USA (ECUSA).  It is established in all 50 states with a total of 110 dioceses, 11 of which are outside the USA.  Its website www.ecusa.anglican.org emphasizes ministries and organizational matters, rather than beliefs,  so we will discuss their beliefs in the context of the Book of Common Prayer.  Some Anglicans feel that they are bound together by common prayer more than by common belief.  

       

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4. BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER

 

          Before writing this section I perused the 1928 and the 1990 editions of The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) , which has the long subtitle “and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies, Together with The Psalter or Psalms of David, According to the Episcopal Church.”   In starts with the ratification and preface of 1789.  It continues with the calendar of the church year, the Great Litany, various collects, liturgies for special days, baptism, Holy Eucharist, pastoral offices and episcopal services, the Psalter, prayers and thanksgivings, outline of the faith or catechism, church historical documents including Articles of Religion, and lectionaries.  I will comment on some of these sections. 

 

          The calendar of the church year in the 1928 BCP lists one or two feasts per month, feasts that are also on the Roman Calendar. The 1990 edition lists many additional feasts that are on the Roman Calendar, and many feasts that are specific for the Episcopal Church.  Their new Sunday Lectionary in the recent editions of the BCP is based on a three-year cycle (years A, B, C) and the daily lectionary is based on a two-year cycle (years 1 and 2), as are their Catholic counterparts.  Most of the Sunday readings that I checked were the same as in the Catholic Lectionary, except that readings from deutercanonical (apocryphal) books were replaced by selections from the Hebrew (Masoretic) Old Testament books. 

 

          The BCP is closer to the Catholic position on the sacraments than those of  their Lutheran and Presbyterian counterparts, as discussed in other draft chapters on this website.  In the Outline of the Faith there are the comments “The Apocrypha is a collection of additional books written by people of the Old Covenant, and used in the Christian Church . . . The Church is described as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic . . . The ministry of a priest is to represent Christ and his Church, to share with the bishop in the overseeing of the Church; to proclaim the Gospel; to administer the sacraments; and to bless and declare pardon in the name of God . . . The sacraments are outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.”  Aside from baptism and the Holy Eucharist, “Other sacramental rites which evolved in the Church include confirmation, ordination, holy matrimony, reconciliation, and unction . . . Although they are a means of grace, they are not necessary for all persons in the same way that Baptism and the Eucharist are . . .  Reconciliation of a Penitent, or Penance, is the rite in which those who repent of their sins may confess them to God in the presence of a priest, and receive the assurance of pardon and the grace of absolution.”  All these statements are close to Catholic positions.  The 1928 BCP only includes a very short Catechism which omits most of these subjects. 

 

          Statement XXVIII of the Articles of Religion (1801) which says,  “The bread which we break is a partaking of the body of Christ, and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ,”  indicates a belief in the Real Presence.  Statement XXII  reads: “The Romish doctrines concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshiping and Adorations, as well of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.”  The 1886 Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral stated, “Christian unity . . . can only be restored by the return of all Christian communions to the principles of unity exemplified by the undivided Catholic Church during the first ages of its existence.”   It further affirmed,  “As inherent parts of this sacred deposit, and therefore as essential for the restoration of unity . . .  we account the following:  1. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the revealed Word of God;  2. The Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian Faith;  3. The two sacraments, - Baptism and the Supper of the Lord, - ministered with unfailing use of Christ’s words of institution and of the elements ordered by Him;   4. The Historic Episcopate, locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God into the unity of His Church.” 

 

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5. AGREEMENTS AND DISAGREEMENTS

 

          There are many statements in the Book of Common Prayer that are quite close to corresponding Catholic positions.  Examples are acceptance of the Creeds,  of the Real Presence in the Eucharist,  of the importance and utility of sacraments other than Baptism and the Eucharist, and of the historic episcopate.  This is balanced by the explicit rejection of the “Romish doctrines” enumerated above in Statement XXII of the BCP Articles of Religion, doctrines which were reaffirmed for Catholicism at the Council of Trent.  These practices come in various categories of significance.  Relics are of ancient origin in the Church,  purgatory is important, indulgences have very little impact on contemporary Catholicism, images or icons are important elements of the Eastern and Orthodox branches of Christianity, and devotion to the Virgin Mary and other saints is very important to many present day Catholics. 

 

          Unfortunately the 2003 consecration of a practicing homosexual bishop for New Hampshire, and the 2006 selection of a woman as the Presiding Bishop to be “its leader, chief pastor and preacher” by the Episcopal Church in the US,   makes it no longer realistic to contemplate a reunion with Catholicism.  The Pastoral Letter resulting from the 13th  Lambeth Conference held in 1998 mentioned, “A Resolution, passed by great majority, that ‘this conference, in view of the teaching of Scripture upholds the faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman in lifelong union, and believes that abstinence is right for those who are not called to marriage’.  In the same resolution we also affirmed that we would "commit ourselves to listen to the experience of homosexual persons, and we wish to assure them that they are loved by God and that all baptized, believing, and faithful persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are full members of the Body of Christ."  (italics from original). 

 

          Archbishop Rowan Williams reacted to this by sending to the Primates the June 27th 2006  Reflection mentioned above.  He recognizes that “There is no way in which the Anglican Communion can remain unchanged by what is happening.”  He admits that on “the question of whether the Christian Church has the freedom . . . to bless homosexual partnerships, as a clear expression of God’s will . . . only a small minority would answer yes.”  He concludes that “The next Lambeth Conference (scheduled for 2008) ought to address this matter directly and fully as part of its agenda.”  He also mentioned the need for “manageable diversity” whereby churches which ordain women priests and bishops and those which do not do so have “an equal place within the Anglican spectrum.”                                

 

          Perhaps the reader will permit me to add a couple of editorial observations.  To be meaningful the concept of "manageable diversity" must be delimited by the ancient motto In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas, or in necessary things unity, in doubtful things freedom, and in all things love or charity.  The above resolution of the 13th Lambeth Conference concerning “faithfulness in marriage between a man and a woman” is certainly a res necessaria;  the traditional, biblical, characterization of homosexual acts as morally wrong to the same extent as heterosexual acts outside the marriage bond, from a Traditional Christian and a Catholic perspective, are also res necessariae.    It is hoped that the 2008th  Lambeth Conference will be in accord with affirming marriage as a bond between a man and a woman. .

 

 

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