M
mark_a
Guest
I gotta say I absolutely love your posts. They are packed with useful information and reasonable thoughts.Depends on what sense the terms are used. Most generally, episcopal only refers to a church polity; it’s governed by bishops (episcopi) but I will assume that you are not thinking of that.
More likely, you’re looking at a church that has split from the Episcopal Church in America, over doctrinal differences. Historically, Anglican used to refer to the Church of England alone. As other national Anglican jurisdictions developed and became self governing, most retained the term “Anglican” in their names (Anglican Church of Canada, of South Africa, of Australia, etc). But a couple of such Churches did not. The Anglican church in Scotland, associated with the Worldwide Anglican Communion (those Churches which arose from the CoE, are now self-governing, and are in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury, 38 such ) is the Episcopal Church of Scotland, and in America, the equivalent Church is the Episcopal Church.
In this country, as groups of Episcopalians broke from the Episcopal Church, over doctrinal issues, they often took the word Anglican as part of their names (though not always). Thus, the Anglican Church in America, or the Anglican Catholic Church. And even those which did not, often will refer to themselves as Anglican, to be sure the differentitation from the Episcopal Church is made. My jurisdiction and parish do that.
So, my bet, if you are in America, you’re going to attend a church that is Anglican in hertitage, but not part of the Episcopal Church.
GKC