Episcopalians, What makes us different?
February 24 & March 3 What makes the Episcopal Church different?
The question is sometimes asked, if all Christians believe in Jesus, then why does it matter what church you attend? Are there real differences in belief between Episcopalians and Catholics? Episcopalians and Baptists? What makes us different and how important are the differences, not only between the Episcopal church and other churches, but between different congregations in the Episcopal church?
In this course we will look at some of the distinguishing features of our Episcopal/Anglican heritage and discuss what it might mean to choose one path over another.
Maybe the place to begin is with the question, different from what?
What is your experience of or understanding of Christianity? As a cradle-Episcopalian, I sometimes assume the way we do things in this church is the standard, but that is not the case. We are actually different from most Christians in a number of ways.
First let’s talk about who we are. The Episcopal Church, which is the Anglican province in the United States, has about 2.3 million members. The Anglican Communion has some 82 million members, so we make up a little less than 3% of Anglicans. Anglicans are only about 4% of the worlds Christians who number around 2.2 billion. Other groups of Christians are Catholics (50%), Independents (20%), Protestants (16%), and Orthodox (10%). So the Episcopal Church constitutes about one tenth of one percent of all Christians.
Much of what makes us distinct is true also of Anglicans, so we will begin there. Some of the categories for consideration are:
Authority: What is the source of religious truth? On what do we base our actions? How do we decide what God would have us do?
For Catholics and Orthodox, 60% of Christianity, the primary answer would be “tradition.”
For most independents and many protestants the answer would be “scripture.”
For Anglicans the answer would include some combination of those first two answers and “reason.”
In the Episcopal Church, the mix varies among our members, but for much of the Episcopal Church “reason” seems to be on at least an equal footing with the other two. When questions of the relationship between cultural norms and traditional Christian practice have arisen, as in the ordination of women or the inclusion of gays, the Episcopal church has moved pretty rapidly to change its policy. That has been possible in part because of the high value put on the authority of reason in helping us find our way ahead. In changes regarding women’s ordination and inclusion of gays the scriptural support for new practices has had to be reasoned out of implications in writings that do not explicitly support the new way. There is virtually nothing in the tradition that would support the new practices, but “reason” has trumped the other two. That is fairly uncommon in other branches of Christianity.
Sacraments: To what extent are religious actions meaningful or effective in our lives? What happens when we are baptized? When we take communion? What about other sacraments like reconciliation or unction? What about priests? Are some of our contacts with God accomplished through the ministry of ordained persons? Why or why not?
The Catholic and Orthodox position would be that sacraments are real means by which God connects with humans and acts in their lives. The Catholic position remains that when the bread and wine are consecrated they become Christ’s actual blood and body. Something supernatural happens during the Eucharist to change the bread and wine. Most Christians take communion. Independents and many Protestants believe it is an important practice because Jesus started it, but they hear his words about the bread and wine being his body and blood as metaphor. It is done to commemorate the last supper and Jesus life, death and resurrection.
The Episcopal Church takes the Eucharist very seriously, making it the center of our weekly worship. The meaning of what is happening varies among Episcopalians and among areas of the country and among different area traditions. You can find Episcopalians who believe very much as Catholics do, that the bread and wine have a power and reality beyond their appearance that can affect our lives. You will also find just as many Episcopalians who would deny that the sacrament has any sort of power beyond its ability to recall Jesus’ nourishment of his disciples in faith and courage as he was leaving them.
What is unique about the Anglican/Episcopal Church is the wide variety of accepted understandings of what sacraments are. You will sometimes hear people speak of Episcopalians as being “Catholic” or “Low Church.” These terms speak to the differences among us regarding our understanding of sacraments. Some of us are taught that any crumb of consecrated bread that falls to the floor must be picked up and eaten immediately because it is no longer just bread. It has been made sacred. Others see the meaning more in the actions of blessing and gathering and receiving than in the elements themselves, and so are not as concerned about crumbs since the bread itself doesn’t carry the weight of the meaning of the communion.
Polity: Who’s in charge? Why?
Some of the possibilities here are a single leader, the Pope being the leader of half of the Christians in the world, congregations as independent bodies, which is true for many Christians, some sort of denominational body, or, as in our case, bishops elected by clergy and laity and ordained to lead in a geographic area.
Each Episcopal diocese is led by a bishop. The bishop has some absolute powers and the bishop also shares decision-making and leadership with other elected leaders in the diocese. The bishop and clergy are bound by laws called canons, which are enacted and revised by gatherings of clergy and laity who, propose them, debate and vote. As in all areas of Episcopal Church practice, our polity draws on tradition in the structure of bishops as leaders (Episcopal means having to do with bishops) and it draws from Protestant practice in the democratic process through which bishops are elected and laws are drawn.
Diversity: What are the faithful expected to believe? Where is that found? How is it learned? How well does this branch of Christianity tolerate ideas that are outside the norm?
If you want a clear statement of belief outlining what the Episcopal Church embraces in the way of belief, check the Catechism in the back of the Prayer Book. If you want to know what an Episcopalian believes, ask the Episcopalian you want to know about.
The Episcopal Church, like all Anglican Churches, finds its worship structure, forms and practices in a version of the prayer book written by Thomas Cranmer in the 16th century after England parted ways with the Roman Church. Belief is taught in classes for children and adults, but it is mainly taught through practice. Three lessons from scripture are generally read at services, one of those being from the Gospels. The Eucharistic prayer recites the story of salvation and each week we say the Nicene Creed, a set of basic beliefs agreed upon by the early Church in the fourth century. In all of these practices the faith is communicated and taught.
What has been true of the Episcopal Church for much of its history is that there is room in the Episcopal Church for people of widely varying beliefs. Episcopal bishops have often been in the news for having expressed unorthodox beliefs and yet those bishops continue to function and serve in the Church. Episcopal congregations vary from very high-church, tightly scripted traditional liturgical practice to modern-music centered, loosely organized very open and emotional worship. Thinking “outside the theological box” starts discussions in the Episcopal Church. In the Catholic Church clergy are often prohibited from writing or teaching because their views are not in line with the teachings of the Church. Similarly, many independent churches and some Protestants will push out those whose ideas do not fall within the norms of the congregation or denomination. There are those who say ruefully, we are the church where anything goes. Others celebrate us as the church where thoughts can be spoken and new ways of understanding our relationship with God are possible.
Holding such widely diverse views and beliefs within one Church is difficult as evidenced by the recent departure of some congregations from among us, but this branch of God’s Church has held together amazingly well these last almost five hundred years, and I expect that to continue for some time to come.
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