Anglicanism--Exactly WHAT do they believe?

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Hi,

If this is in the wrong forum, my sincerest apologies. This site is massive, and I’m still trying to assimilate the reams of information that are scrolling before my eyes.😉

My stepmother, and my husband got into a fairly “lively” discussion about the roots of the Anglican Church, as opposed to the roots of the Catholic Church. I should mention that my husband and I were the RCIA Directors for a conservative Catholic Parish for 10 years, so we weren’t completely out of our element, but I realized as I listened to them talk, that we knew little about the beliefs of the Anglican Church. I’ve read rather extensively about the English Reformation, and the well-publicized split from Rome…and of course, the unfortunate demise of the wives of Henry VIII, and King Henry himself. Still, I’m very unclear about how the Church of England as it stood in the 1530’s eventually evolved into the Anglican Church.

Furthermore, I’ve read that the Anglicans claim a history that dates back to the 3rd or 4th century (I believe)…, and I’d like to know how they are able to modulate this with the English Reformation, and the modern Anglican Church.

I’m sorry if my questions are…a little murky. I’m having trouble expressing myself (a rarity, trust me). I suppose I’m asking for links, references…and of course, if there’s anyone who would like to tackle my murky questions, that would be appreciated as well…🙂

sparrow
 
This is mostly from memory.
In the Anglican faith there are two “systems” of churches. High Church and Low Church.

A High Church is very similar to a Catholic Church in both function and worship. Some of their Bishops can even trace their lineage back to the Apostles (like the Catholic and Orthodox Church).

A Low Church is more similar to a mainstream Protestant Church. I don’t know if any of them can now trace their lineage back to the Apostles.

Something you might find interesting, is that the Traditional Anglicans Church (a High Church in the Anglican faith) has said that they want to join the Catholic Church. Both sides are currently talking.
 
Boy, you asked a humdinger of a question, and one that can’t really properly be answered, except to say “just about everything.”

At some point on this thread, I expect that a user named “GKC” will come on and tell you the same thing but in more detail.

Suffice to say, the Catholic Church in England does date back to early centuries. But Anglicanism, in its present form, does not. It dates back to the Reformation period. The See of Canterbury is still there, but it is not in communion with Rome. The Queen is the head of the Church of England, and its bishops are appointed by the Prime Minister of the British government.

But the Anglican Communion is a grouping of national churches that share a heritage with the CofE (these “national” protestant churches are usually started by the fact that their countries are former British colonies). So Anglicanism in its official form is the Anglican Communion, which includes the Church of England as well as Episcopalians in the United States, the Anglican Church of Canada, so on and so on.

There are splinter groups like the Reformed Episcopal Church or the Traditional Anglican Communion which claim to be Anglican because of their beliefs or continuity in ordination of bishops, but are not in communion with the See of Canterbury. Of course, as you will see, “Anglican beliefs” are not readily defined at all, so the splinter groups are not so much getting their doctrine from the fact that they claim to be Anglican, as much as they are saying “we’re Anglican because we believe correct doctrine and/or are in apostolic succession.” (no offense meant, here, GKC).

Anglicans, even those within the Anglican Communion, believe a wide variety of things, and there is (currently) no effective basis for kicking someone out for having different beliefs than another or the rest. You will find Anglicans that believe in the sacrifice of the Mass, transubstantiation, auricular confession and the supremacy of the Pope. You will find Anglicans who believe holy communion is a symbol, the Pope is the Antichrist (rare), and it’s fine to have woman bishops and gay bishops. You will find Anglicans who think the Roman church is in error about praying to saints, and Anglicans who pray the rosary and celebrate every feast day of the Catholic Church.

And that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. I’ve perhaps overgeneralized that, but GKC will correct any liberties too freely taken. One hot topic between Roman Catholics and Anglicans is the concept of valid holy orders. It’s all quite a mess to deal with, but suffice to say, if you’re Catholic, going to an Anglican mass/service/eucharist is not going to fulfill your Sunday obligation 🙂

My personal advice–just accept whatever someone tells you about Anglicanism as having some truth to it. And then stay away from it.

God bless, from a former Anglican/Episcopalian.
 
lookaround said:
This is mostly from memory.
In the Anglican faith there are two “systems” of churches. High Church and Low Church.

A High Church is very similar to a Catholic Church in both function and worship. Some of their Bishops can even trace their lineage back to the Apostles (like the Catholic and Orthodox Church).

A Low Church is more similar to a mainstream Protestant Church. I don’t know if any of them can now trace their lineage back to the Apostles.

Something you might find interesting, is that the Traditional Anglicans Church (a High Church in the Anglican faith) has said that they want to join the Catholic Church. Both sides are currently talking.
Click to expand...
Almost. There are not two “systems” but there two general but overlapping styles of worship. High Church and Low Church refer to a particular parish’s style of worship. So for example my former parish, a “High Church” Episcopal Church in town, refers to its services as the Mass, priests wear Roman collars, there’s incense, candle to indicate reserved host in the tabernacle, genuflection, sign of the cross, statutes of patron saint, rosary groups that meet before Mass, elevation of the Host, and so on. Low Churches will resemble Methodist churches, as a rule of thumb.

The group that is seeking to join the Catholic Church is the Traditional Anglican Communion, I believe. You will see a lot of Anglican monikers and acronyms. They are not part of the Episcopal Church in the US, or the Anglican Communion, but are “splinter” or “continuing” Anglican groups. More often than not, these parishes left the Episcopal Church for one heresy or another over the past few decades. The TAC would obviously be “high church” since they seek to be in full communion with Rome.
 
SonofMonica said:
Almost. There are not two “systems” but there two general but overlapping styles of worship. High Church and Low Church refer to a particular parish’s style of worship. So for example my former parish, a “High Church” Episcopal Church in town, refers to its services as the Mass, priests wear Roman collars, there’s incense, candle to indicate reserved host in the tabernacle, genuflection, sign of the cross, statutes of patron saint, rosary groups that meet before Mass, elevation of the Host, and so on. Low Churches will resemble Methodist churches, as a rule of thumb.

The group that is seeking to join the Catholic Church is the Traditional Anglican Communion, I believe. You will see a lot of Anglican monikers and acronyms. They are not part of the Episcopal Church in the US, or the Anglican Communion, but are “splinter” or “continuing” Anglican groups. More often than not, these parishes left the Episcopal Church for one heresy or another over the past few decades. The TAC would obviously be “high church” since they seek to be in full communion with Rome.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the corrections.
 
Father Longenecker, a former Episcopalian/Anglican clergyman and now a Catholic priest, wrote this week that he has not been able to keep abreast of what’s going on with the Anglicans.
There are more than 100 groups who identify themselves in some way as Anglican, Ango-Catholic, Episcopal. Some are in communion with the Church of England (more-or-less the mother church, but that has no real “control”), and others are not.
What do they believe? It would be necessary to ask each one, and be prepared for a wide variety of answers.
To make things more interesting, within the Western-Roman Catholic Church there are a few churches of the Anglican Rite, a dispensation granted by Rome to entire congregations that have converted, along with their clergy who have now been ordained in the Catholic Church. They are, to use an old expression, as Catholic as the Pope. One may fulfill the Sunday Mass obligation in one of these congregations.
GKC, where are we when we need you?
 
BTW you also left out the broadchurch group which is more middle of the road and tends to include the charismatic groups. As a person who was a former anglican I was certainly high church albeit our service tended to be broadchurch.
an interesting commentary on modern anglicanism can be found here:
MR Bean says the Apostles’ creed
www.gloria.tv/?media=23845
I shared that with another former anglican from outside US and she thought it brilliant.
 
scottywolf777 said:
BTW you also left out the broadchurch group which is more middle of the road and tends to include the charismatic groups. As a person who was a former anglican I was certainly high church albeit our service tended to be broadchurch.
an interesting commentary on modern anglicanism can be found here:
MR Bean says the Apostles’ creed
www.gloria.tv/?media=23845
I shared that with another former anglican from outside US and she thought it brilliant.
Click to expand...
I love that! If you liked that, you simply must watch this episode of *Yes Prime Minister *for a commentary on the modern Church of England and its bishops and entanglement with the British government. (3 parts):

youtube.com/watch?v=NzpU6SAi4vo&feature=player_embedded
youtube.com/watch?v=3ZIakf5f068&feature=player_embedded
youtube.com/watch?v=I5h58AF_MW8&feature=player_embedded
 
First, thank you for the information and the links! I’m very grateful.

I found myself curiously relieved by your responses. Why? Because I thought I had a fairly decent understanding of most Protestant religions, since I used to deal with a wide variety of religious backgrounds during the time I ran the RCIA. And yet, I found myself feeling under-informed as I listened to my husband and my stepmother, well…uh…arguing (my dh managed to steer clear of polemical statements however, thanks be to God). Yes, I had Episcopalians in our classes, and I knew they were connected to the Church of England, but you’ve all helped me tie in the breadth of the C of E, and my parallel confusion, when I tried to pin down their beliefs. I turned to this board when I found one conflicting website after another, all claiming to possess, or at least be attempting to possess the Truth.

My stepmother now claims to be a traditional Anglican. She and my father left the Episcopalian Church over the homosexual bishop scandal a few years ago. Now she believes they’ve found the true church…or at least the true church right now (to her way of thinking). :o

I would still be interested in any additional information that can be added to this thread. And specifically, I hope that GKC will show up, and bestow his (I’m assuming it’s a he, since GKC was also male) vast knowledge about Anglicanism upon me. :bowdown2:

And, while I’m at it, I would ask for prayers on behalf of my stepmother. She’s quite anticatholic, and somewhat antagonistic toward my husband and I.

Thanks, and God bless,
sparrow
 
littlesparrow,

Have you read Hilaire Belloc’s How The Reformation Happened or Characters Of The Reformation?

These would go a long way in answering your questions.
 
1ke said:
littlesparrow,

Have you read Hilaire Belloc’s How The Reformation Happened or Characters Of The Reformation?
Click to expand...
I’ve read Hilaire Belloc’s “How the Reformation Happened,” but to be honest, it’s been awhile. I don’t recall that it drew a reasonable line between the English Reformation and the modern Anglican Church. It may have, and I simply don’t remember. I DO remember that I loved what he said about Luther’s role in ecclesiastic history: (Paraphrasing), [The Reformation was not a heresy in itself, but it spawned several heresies.] :yup:

sparrow
 
littlestsparrow said:
First, thank you for the information and the links! I’m very grateful.

I found myself curiously relieved by your responses. Why? Because I thought I had a fairly decent understanding of most Protestant religions, since I used to deal with a wide variety of religious backgrounds during the time I ran the RCIA. And yet, I found myself feeling under-informed as I listened to my husband and my stepmother, well…uh…arguing (my dh managed to steer clear of polemical statements however, thanks be to God). Yes, I had Episcopalians in our classes, and I knew they were connected to the Church of England, but you’ve all helped me tie in the breadth of the C of E, and my parallel confusion, when I tried to pin down their beliefs. I turned to this board when I found one conflicting website after another, all claiming to possess, or at least be attempting to possess the Truth.

My stepmother now claims to be a traditional Anglican. She and my father left the Episcopalian Church over the homosexual bishop scandal a few years ago. Now she believes they’ve found the true church…or at least the true church right now (to her way of thinking). :o

I would still be interested in any additional information that can be added to this thread. And specifically, I hope that GKC will show up, and bestow his (I’m assuming it’s a he, since GKC was also male) vast knowledge about Anglicanism upon me. :bowdown2:

And, while I’m at it, I would ask for prayers on behalf of my stepmother. She’s quite anticatholic, and somewhat antagonistic toward my husband and I.

Thanks, and God bless,
sparrow
Click to expand...
Ironically I had a buddy one time that told me about his darling grandmother from Liverpool, high church anglican said the rosary every day and hated catholics and catholcism with a passion. I helped make her grandson catholic even though I doubt he practices now after his remarriage to a mormon. Go figure.
 
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