Are most Episcopalians the radical liberal type or no?

  • Thread starter Thread starter All_Father
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
of course there are Episcopaleans who pray for a correction of the “errors” of theTEC Church

surely there are Roman Catholics who pray for a corrections of the “errors” of some of the Clergy

The RC church excommunicates problematic Bishops such as the Pius the Xth group the TEC does not or very rarely

I saw Matthew Fox speak he was a loss to the RC Church

:cool:
 
I can’t speak for anyone or anywhere else, but most of the Episcopalians in my area are 80 years old and only go to the Episcopal church every Sunday because it’s where Mom took them to church when they were kids. A similar case exists in all of the mainline churches, at least as far as I know.

The only churches that are vital and growing are the evangelicals, at least around here.
 
BeProfOSX said:
I can’t speak for anyone or anywhere else, but most of the Episcopalians in my area are 80 years old and only go to the Episcopal church every Sunday because it’s where Mom took them to church when they were kids. A similar case exists in all of the mainline churches, at least as far as I know.

The only churches that are vital and growing are the evangelicals, at least around here.
Click to expand...
Curious how you could come to such a generalization? Do you attend various Episcopal parishes on a regular basis? Do you know of many Episcopalians who are 80 yrs old and only go to church because “Mom took them to church when they were kids”?

Somewhat offensive in my opinion.
 
EvangelCatholic said:
Curious how you could come to such a generalization? Do you attend various Episcopal parishes on a regular basis? Do you know of many Episcopalians who are 80 yrs old and only go to church because “Mom took them to church when they were kids”?

Somewhat offensive in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Again, I’m only speaking of the experience in my own home town.

And yes, I’ve been inside nearly every church in my town for a Sunday service at least once and I can tell you that, with the exception of the evangelical churches in town, they are all very much on the aging side with very low attendance. The evangelical churches are, generally, the opposite: Very young. The only notable exceptions to that rule are the local IFB (Independent Fundamental Baptist) and the local C&MA Church (which I attend), but both of those represent the evangelical “establishment” in the town.

Nationwide, statistics bear that out as well. Barna Group in 2009 found that average attendance nationwide for all mainline churches is at around 100. Of those 100, only 2% are under 25 and 35% are over 60 (compared to 6% and 25% of the general population, respectively). Statistics on evangelicals are harder to come by but between Pew and Olsen, I would estimate average attendance at around 150 (given that there are about 3x as many evangelicals in church on any given sunday but spread out over 2x as many churches) with a decided skewing to the younger side of the spectrum over the mainline churches.

Back in my personal experience, I can say that I would be shocked to find more than 100 people in any of my towns mainline churches on any given Sunday whereas the evangelical churches in town all average around 300. My elderly uncle and aunt’s United Methodist Church has trouble hitting 20. The UCC church I grew up in has been holding steady at the same 30 or so folks in attendance every Sunday for the last 30 years or so, but all of them are now 30 years older and their kids have either left the faith entirely or started going to one of the Evangelical churches… just like me.

I’m not saying any of that to thump my chest or say “rah rah!” for my team. I really do earnestly wish and pray that we could see a revival of more traditional protestantism, but barring a miracle, it’s not going to happen.

Meanwhile, statistically and in my own personal experience, the catholic church just keeps on chugging along.
 
BeProfOSX said:
Again, I’m only speaking of the experience in my own home town.

And yes, I’ve been inside nearly every church in my town for a Sunday service at least once and I can tell you that, with the exception of the evangelical churches in town, they are all very much on the aging side with very low attendance. The evangelical churches are, generally, the opposite: Very young. The only notable exceptions to that rule are the local IFB (Independent Fundamental Baptist) and the local C&MA Church (which I attend), but both of those represent the evangelical “establishment” in the town.

Nationwide, statistics bear that out as well. Barna Group in 2009 found that average attendance nationwide for all mainline churches is at around 100. Of those 100, only 2% are under 25 and 35% are over 60 (compared to 6% and 25% of the general population, respectively). Statistics on evangelicals are harder to come by but between Pew and Olsen, I would estimate average attendance at around 150 (given that there are about 3x as many evangelicals in church on any given sunday but spread out over 2x as many churches) with a decided skewing to the younger side of the spectrum over the mainline churches.

Back in my personal experience, I can say that I would be shocked to find more than 100 people in any of my towns mainline churches on any given Sunday whereas the evangelical churches in town all average around 300. My elderly uncle and aunt’s United Methodist Church has trouble hitting 20. The UCC church I grew up in has been holding steady at the same 30 or so folks in attendance every Sunday for the last 30 years or so, but all of them are now 30 years older and their kids have either left the faith entirely or started going to one of the Evangelical churches… just like me.

I’m not saying any of that to thump my chest or say “rah rah!” for my team. I really do earnestly wish and pray that we could see a revival of more traditional protestantism, but barring a miracle, it’s not going to happen.

Meanwhile, statistically and in my own personal experience, the catholic church just keeps on chugging along.
Click to expand...
I have no idea where you happen to live so your experience may only reflect nearby churches. If this is a discussion of declining membership then your data is relevant. But I can assure you that there are many Episcopal parishes in my area of the country that have full churches on Sunday morning.
 
Is the topic not: Are most Episcopalians the radical liberal type or no?

The previous poster made a lot of gnerealizations - hard to prove-

evangelicals are usually conservative right? - they and the Catholics often form alliances to prevent certain causes - Gay marriage-Abortion-

Memebers of the Episcopal Church as I alluded to tend to fairly conservative in their lifestyles but liberal in opinions-

I also believe the evangelicals have stopped growing as well-and as you said the Catholic Church persists and in many reas thrives

A good thread would be are all Evangelicals dyed in the wool conservatives?:cool:
 
Wonder if there is data or a study on the number of Roman Catholics who join the Episcopal Church? I suspect, a good number of Catholics dissatisfied with some of the teachings of the Church have become Episcopalians since they feel right at home worshipping in Episcopal parishes.

As cmodrmac points out, Episcopalians who require ‘black and white’ explanations on life and faith, may leave the Church and become Roman Catholics since the worship is quite similar.

My own prediction is that the influence of Anglicans/ Episcopalians & Lutherans on the Vatican will result in some significant changes for Roman Catholics that may include married priests, female priests and a more compassionate attitude toward gay people.
 
EvangelCatholic said:
Wonder if there is data or a study on the number of Roman Catholics who join the Episcopal Church? I suspect, a good number of Catholics dissatisfied with some of the teachings of the Church have become Episcopalians since they feel right at home worshipping in Episcopal parishes.

As cmodrmac points out, Episcopalians who require ‘black and white’ explanations on life and faith, may leave the Church and become Roman Catholics since the worship is quite similar.

My own prediction is that the influence of Anglicans/ Episcopalians & Lutherans on the Vatican will result in some significant changes for Roman Catholics that may include married priests, female priests and a more compassionate attitude toward gay people.
Click to expand...
In what way do you thing the RCC lacks compassion for gays? :confused:
 
BeProfOSX said:
I can’t speak for anyone or anywhere else, but most of the Episcopalians in my area are 80 years old and only go to the Episcopal church every Sunday because it’s where Mom took them to church when they were kids. A similar case exists in all of the mainline churches, at least as far as I know.

The only churches that are vital and growing are the evangelicals, at least around here.
Click to expand...
Well, your experience is a lot different than mine. My parish is only 10 years old and growing, and the average age of the congregation is 26!

I’m not saying my young, growing parish is typical, but it exists, and Episcopal churches can grow, and can attract younger folks, if they do things a little differently.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top