This is part two in a series on denominational traditions. You can find the first part here: Reformed and Presbyterian. In this post, I will look at the Anglican and Episcopalian denominational tradition.
While this denomination is no longer as strong, visible, and united as it once was in the USA, it is rather important historically. Its ways are often a default in English-speaking countries, either directly or with modification. The word "Anglican" refers to what is English, and in particular the Church of England and other churches with the same formularies for doctrine, worship, and government. The word "Episcopal" refers to their church government by bishops and was used by the church in America after independence from Great Britain.
The historic formularies of the Anglican tradition are:
- The 39 Articles (1571). This is a basic Reformed confession of faith, based on the 42 Articles by Thomas Cranmer.
- The Book of Common Prayer (1662). The 1662 edition is the classic version, based on earlier versions by Cranmer, and later editions have been produced.
- The Ordinal (1662). This is the form for ordinations.
- The Two Books of Homilies (1547, 1563, 1571). This is a collection of sermons by Thomas Cranmer, Matthew Parker, and John Jewel. There are 12 sermons in the first book and 21 sermons in the second book.
Timeline
600s - The Church of England is founded with the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons through Celtic and Roman missionaries (although it could arguably be dated earlier since Christianity had become established among the Britons during the time of the Roman Empire).
1530s - Church of England becomes independent of Rome during the reign of Henry VIII.
1549 - The first Book of Common Prayer, published in English during the reign of Edward VI.
1550s - Mary Tudor attempts to bring England back to Rome, executing leading Protestants like bishops Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer.
1558 - Protestantism reestablished under Queen Elizabeth.
1607 - Church of England established in North America at Jamestown, although without a bishop in America until the 1780s.
1611 - The King James Version of the Bible is published.
1633 - William Laud becomes Archbishop of Canterbury, hostile toward Puritanism, and a trend away from Reformed doctrine is underway.
1640s - Government by bishops is abolished, Laud is executed, and the Westminster Assembly attempts a further reform of the Church of England, bringing it into greater unity with the Church of Scotland.
1662 - Government by bishops is restored and the classic version of the Book of Common Prayer is published following the restoration of the monarchy. The Act of Uniformity forces out many of the most Puritan-minded ministers from their pulpits. The Reformed presence becomes diluted in the church.
1730s-1770s - The Great Awakening and the ministry of Anglican ministers George Whitefield, John Wesley, and Charles Wesley.
1700s - In America, Anglicanism was different in the southern colonies than it was in the northern colonies. In the south, it was more “low church” in worship and government and patriot-sympathizing during the War of Independence. In the north, in reaction to the Congregationalists, it was more “high church” in worship and government, pressing for an American bishop, and more loyalist during the war.
1784-1789 - Following disestablishment, much of the Anglican church in the USA is reorganized as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA (some of it breaks away as the Methodist Episcopal Church). The Protestant Episcopal Church adopted its own version of the BCP in 1789, with other editions in 1928 and 1979. A modified version of the 39 Articles was adopted in 1801.
1800s - The Anglican Church spreads throughout the world as missionaries are sent out, especially to lands where the British empire extends. Three camps emerge in the church: low church (evangelical), broad church (latitudinarian), and high church (stressing ritual and episcopacy).
1833 - The "Tractarian" or Oxford Movement begins with the publishing of the first "Tracts for the Times." This movement by high church members of the Church of England stressed continuity with the medieval English church in beliefs and practices, reinterpreted the 39 Articles, and developed into Anglo-Catholicism. Some of its leaders, like John Henry Newman, later joined the Roman Catholic Church.
1867 - The Anglican Communion is established as a communion of national churches in the Anglican tradition (today it has 85 -110 million members), with their bishops meeting every ten years at Lambeth Conferences (advisory rather than legislative).
1873 - The Reformed Episcopal Church forms in the USA in response to the growing influence of the Oxford Movement in the Episcopal Church.
1976 - The Episcopal Church in the USA approved the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate and moved toward adopting a new BCP (1979). This prompted the creation of several small breakaway denominations.
2008 - GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference) was founded as a coalition of conservative Anglican churches at its first conference in Jerusalem in response to growing liberalism, and especially the acceptance of same-sex unions, in some parts of the Anglican Communion. A majority of the Anglican Communion also belongs to GAFCON, and GAFCON also includes a few churches not recognized as part of the Anglican Communion, such as the ACNA.
2009 - The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) forms in response to moves in the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church in the USA toward blessing same-sex unions. The Reformed Episcopal Church was a founding member of the ACNA and its four dioceses are dioceses of the ACNA. In both the ACNA and GAFCON, there is a commitment to Christian sexual ethics and creedal orthodoxy in the Anglican tradition, but there is diversity on things like women's ordination, with some jurisdictions opposing it and others practicing it.
2009 - The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) forms in response to moves in the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church in the USA toward blessing same-sex unions. The Reformed Episcopal Church was a founding member of the ACNA and its four dioceses are dioceses of the ACNA. In both the ACNA and GAFCON, there is a commitment to Christian sexual ethics and creedal orthodoxy in the Anglican tradition, but there is diversity on things like women's ordination, with some jurisdictions opposing it and others practicing it.
Original Distinctives:
- Reformed in doctrine.
- Episcopal in government.
- Uniform in worship according to the BCP (moderately Reformed in content).
- National churches independent of Rome.
- “Three streams” of protestant/evangelical, Anglo-Catholic, and holiness/charismatic.
- Emphasis on the creeds, tradition, and catholicity, but also hard to pin down and somewhat conflicted about its identity.
- Liberalism in the The Episcopal Church and much of the Church of England, but more conservative in the ACNA and the global south (e.g. Nigeria).
- Episcopal in government, with women’s ordination practiced in some jurisdictions but not others.
- Traditional worship in the BCP tradition (along a spectrum from low to high to Anglo-Catholic).
Some of them hold government by bishops to be essential and by divine right, while others hold it to simply be a good way to do church government. In their system, there are three orders of ministry: deacons, priests, and bishops.
Deacons are ordained to preach and to assist in worship as well as to help look out for the sick and poor. Ordination as a deacon is required for ordination to the priesthood.
Priests (presbyters) are ministers of the word and sacraments. Most priests are pastors of churches and might have a specific title such as rector, vicar, or curate. A rector is a pastor in charge of a parish. Historically, if the parish had more than one congregation, he might have vicars to pastor the other congregations. He might also have curates to assist him in his congregation. Another way the distinction is made is that the rector is the pastor of a self-supporting church, while a vicar is the pastor of a supported mission.
Bishops have the authority to ordain ministers and to oversee the churches and ministers in their regional diocese. An archbishop is a bishop who oversees multiple dioceses and their bishops. Some denominations like the ACNA also have councils, composed of both clergy and laity.
Additionally, there are lay officers called vestrymen, some of whom are churchwardens. The vestrymen function somewhat like ruling elders and deacons in the Presbyterian system.
What We Have in Common
Francis Makemie, known as the father of American Presbyterianism, wrote to Anglicans in Barbados in 1697, “And first, I shall inform you, what they [Presbyterians] believe and do, in Unity with the Church of England, whereby every serious and intelligent Reader, may readily perceive two things 1. That we are Protestant Brethren, and in Unity with them in the main, great and Substantial points of the Christian and Protestant Religion; and therefore deserve not to be treated, as many ignorantly do, and particularly in this island. 2. That of all Protestants that differ from them, we differ in the least and smallest matters.”
At least with confessional Anglicans, we have in common the reception of Scripture as the word of God and the complete rule of faith and life; the creeds, Ten Commandments, and Lord’s Prayer; the historic Protestant doctrines and a basically Reformed perspective, such as on the sacraments (including infant baptism); and the sabbath.
Where We Differ
Francis Makemie wrote to Anglicans in Barbados in 1697 that Presbyterians differed from the Church of England in “1. In Common Prayer and Ceremonies. 2. In your Canons. 3. In Your Government or Prelacy. 4. In your Discipline and Censures.”
With confessional and evangelical Anglicans, our differences are mostly details in liturgy and the form of church government. While we are not oppose to all use of written forms, we object to being tied to written forms and we want ministers to be able to use their gifts in prayer and preaching and to have some ability to adapt to the circumstances. Unlike Anglicans, we do not read Apocryphal books in worship (although we both agree that they are not canonical Scripture). We object to their additional ceremonies in baptism like the sign of the cross and to kneeling at the Lord’s Supper. We have parents present their children for baptism rather than godparents. Episcopal church government by bishops is not warranted by Scripture and destroys ministerial parity and can give rise to other evils, such as mixing of church and state.
But with other Episcopalians and Anglicans, we have more differences. Some are Arminian, some are charismatic, some practice paedocommunion, some are Anglo-Catholic, some are liberal, and some practice women’s ordination.
Additionally, there are lay officers called vestrymen, some of whom are churchwardens. The vestrymen function somewhat like ruling elders and deacons in the Presbyterian system.
What We Have in Common
Francis Makemie, known as the father of American Presbyterianism, wrote to Anglicans in Barbados in 1697, “And first, I shall inform you, what they [Presbyterians] believe and do, in Unity with the Church of England, whereby every serious and intelligent Reader, may readily perceive two things 1. That we are Protestant Brethren, and in Unity with them in the main, great and Substantial points of the Christian and Protestant Religion; and therefore deserve not to be treated, as many ignorantly do, and particularly in this island. 2. That of all Protestants that differ from them, we differ in the least and smallest matters.”
At least with confessional Anglicans, we have in common the reception of Scripture as the word of God and the complete rule of faith and life; the creeds, Ten Commandments, and Lord’s Prayer; the historic Protestant doctrines and a basically Reformed perspective, such as on the sacraments (including infant baptism); and the sabbath.
Where We Differ
Francis Makemie wrote to Anglicans in Barbados in 1697 that Presbyterians differed from the Church of England in “1. In Common Prayer and Ceremonies. 2. In your Canons. 3. In Your Government or Prelacy. 4. In your Discipline and Censures.”
With confessional and evangelical Anglicans, our differences are mostly details in liturgy and the form of church government. While we are not oppose to all use of written forms, we object to being tied to written forms and we want ministers to be able to use their gifts in prayer and preaching and to have some ability to adapt to the circumstances. Unlike Anglicans, we do not read Apocryphal books in worship (although we both agree that they are not canonical Scripture). We object to their additional ceremonies in baptism like the sign of the cross and to kneeling at the Lord’s Supper. We have parents present their children for baptism rather than godparents. Episcopal church government by bishops is not warranted by Scripture and destroys ministerial parity and can give rise to other evils, such as mixing of church and state.
But with other Episcopalians and Anglicans, we have more differences. Some are Arminian, some are charismatic, some practice paedocommunion, some are Anglo-Catholic, some are liberal, and some practice women’s ordination.
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