Do Lutherans and Episcopalians canonize saints?

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I pass some a couple Lutheran and Episcopalian churches each day on my way to work and the other day it hit me that they were named after saints: St. Paul’s, St. Luke’s, St. Alfred’s.

So, do they just recognize pre-reformation saints or do they now canonize their own?
 
Lutherans don’t canonize saints. Most of the saint names you would see on a Lutheran church are apostles. There are a few exceptions I know of, for example, St. Lorenz, St. Boniface, St. Augustine, and occasionally, St. Mary. I think that those are pre-reformation hangovers.

Tina
 
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Genesis315:
I pass some a couple Lutheran and Episcopalian churches each day on my way to work and the other day it hit me that they were named after saints: St. Paul’s, St. Luke’s, St. Alfred’s.

So, do they just recognize pre-reformation saints or do they now canonize their own?
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We recognize pre-reformation saints. We have people in our calendar who lived after the Reformation (ECUSA has only Anglicans; the C of E is more ecumenical and acknowledges Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant saints), but there is no official canonization process and they are usually not referred to as saints. Rather, they are seen as people who have played an important role in the history of the Church.

Biblical saints do, of course, have pride of place. Usually churches are named after Biblical saints, but you can find Anglican churches named after non-Biblical saints as well.

Edwin
 
He’s something weird: when I was in Milwaukee, WI last, I drove by a church called St Mary’s Baptist Church! You can imagine I did a doubletake on that one.
 
They may not call it Canonization, but they do have liturgical feasts for persons not recognized as Canonized Saints in the Catholic Church. In the Revised Common Lectionary, used by some Episcopalian and Anglican Churches (and possibly others), August 12 is the Feast of Florence Nightengale.
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ahhhhh yes, the feast of nightengale, my favorite. let’s not forget the late great jeremy taylor -bishop of down et. al. 1667 -i have a special devotion to him. his great writings - *Dissuasion (or Dissuasive) Against Popery *will surely stand the test of time.

or how about the great sts. Thomas Gallaudet and Henry Winter Syle -these guys are known by all as great saints, especially in the east. how many times have i prayed to henry winter syle for his intercession. in fact, i have a statue of these two that i process down my street every aug. 27 -good times.

but not lets us forget about good ole’ samuel issac Joseph Schereschewsky- a.k.a.“the schermster” this guy rocked the orient for years!!!
 
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TinaK:
Lutherans don’t canonize saints…
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According to this Liturgical calendar, the ELCA Liturgically Commemorates:

Martin Luther King, Jr (January 15)
Martin Luther (February 18)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (April 9)
John Calvin (May 27)
Chief Seattle (June 7)
Johann Sebastian Bach, Heinrich Schütz, and George Frederick Handel (July 28)
Florence Nightingale and Clara Maass (August 13)
John Bunyan (August 31)
Albert Schweitzer (September 4)
Dag Hammarskjöld (August 18)
William Tyndale (october 6)
and many others not recognized as Canoized Saints in the Catholic Church either pre or post reformation.

Interestingly, this calendar does include some post reformation Catholic Saints, including:

St Francis Xavier (December 3)
Archbishop Oscar Romero (Cause for Canonization pending)(March 24)
St Peter Claver, (September 9)
St Martin De Pores (November 3)
Bl Miguel Pro (November 23)

As with the Anglican/Episcopalian churches, the Lutheran church (or at least some Lutheran churches) may not call what they do Canonization, but there it is.
 
From all my years as a lutheran, including being catachized, I recall that though some of the churches may be named St. Mark’s, etc., never were the Saints recognized in sermons nor discussed.
Just my observation and recollection.
 
Joseph Bilodeau:
According to this Liturgical calendar, the ELCA Liturgically Commemorates: …
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My mistake. I should have specified that in the LCMS we don’t. ELCA isn’t really Lutheran anymore, especially since today they voted to join in “practicing fellowship” with the United Methodist Church.

The proposed “Feasts and Festivals” calendar (for the new hymnal) is at old.worship.lcms.org/LHP/Commemorations/CommFeasts.htm

and there are 4 commemorations
old.worship.lcms.org/LHP/ChurchYearCal.htm

Martin Luther (February 18)C.F.W. Walther (May 7)
Presentation of the Augsburg Confession (June 25)
St. Laurence (August 10)

And there is the occasional Lutheran church that will celebrate the Assumption, Dormition, etc, but that is mostly up to each individual pastor as a matter of devotion.
Tina
 
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TinaK:
My mistake. I should have specified that in the LCMS we don’t. ELCA isn’t really Lutheran anymore,
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I’m glad you don’t get to decide who is or isn’t Lutheran.
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TinaK:
especially since today they voted to join in “practicing fellowship” with the United Methodist Church.
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Oh how dreadful . . . .

Edwin
 
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