Questions About The Episcopal Church

The Episcopal Church is one of 36 nationally or regionally self-governing churches bound together by common tradition, faith, order and worship, birthed by or connected with the Church of England. This fellowship of churches is called "The Anglican Communion."

We believe in one God who creates all things and us, who redeems us in Jesus Christ from sin and death, and empowers us in the Holy Spirit. We believe that God is made known through the Holy Scriptures interpreted by a developing tradition and by reason. The scriptures have authority as they are interpreted as a whole. No isolated text is thought adequate for capturing the whole of Biblical truth.

We understand ourselves as that part of the catholic church which accepted the main insights of the Protestant reformation. We retain catholic order and thus are governed by Bishops (the Greek word for "Bishop" is "Episcopes" hence the word "Episcopal"), led by Priests and served by Deacons al of whom serve the whole people of God, those who keep the baptismal covenant.

We worship in a way, which keeps continuity with the church prior to the Reformation, and affirm those beliefs of the ancient and universal Church rooted in Holy Scripture. The great creeds of the tradition are publicly recited and are considered important summaries of the foundational beliefs of the Christian people. But we also share Martin Luther's powerful insight that it is by God's grace alone that we are saved.

Our worship is centered in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist or Lord's Supper, with prayers and hymns both ancient and modern. We have no holy days of obligation, but many days of holy opportunity. With the Holy Eucharist, the other great sacrament of Holy Baptism is kept, along with other sacramental rites; Confirmation, Holy Matrimony, Ordination, Penance and Holy Unction. Penance is available to anyone, required of no one, clearly a good idea for some! Unction, the anointing with oil, is available to anyone who seeks healing of mind, body or spirit and is not reserved for those at the point of death. Ordination is not restricted to men. About one third of the priests of the Episcopal Church in the United States are women, perhaps half of the Deacons. While the Bishops are predominantly male we have now a half-dozen women in the American Church.

While we believe that Christian life is possible in its fullness only in the Christian community and respect the teaching authority of the church, which develops and builds by consensus over the years, we trust the wisdom and conscience of individual members. We find our diversity a rich gift and delight in it.

Anglicans have a social conscience. We believe we are called to participate in God's efforts to transform and redeem the world, to heal the broken-hearted, to speak for justice. But we are uncomfortable with claims that there is only one Christian position on any public policy question.

Richard Hooker's Milk Stool
One of the seminal thinkers of Anglicanism is Richard Hooker, who lived in the 17the century. Hooker wrote an important book called, "The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity." In that book he proposed that the church see its life as a milk stool, a three-legged stool. One leg is the Holy Scriptures, another the tradition, a third reason. Those three things together are the basic authorities by which the church prays, worships, governs itself and thinks and serves.

About the use of Scripture in Worship
Holy Scripture is read at the Sunday liturgy in a three-year schedule of readings called "the lectionary". Most liturgical churches follow a similar, often identical schedule of readings. Normally it includes a lesson from the Old Testament, a Psalm, a lesson from the New Testament Epistles, and a reading from one of the Gospels. Anglicans, like their Roman Catholic friends, read from a collection of books called "The apocrypha." Anglicans do not consider these books to have the same authority as the rest of the scriptures, but find the texts enriching. Occasionally the Old Testament reading is from an apocryphal book.

A two-year schedule of readings is provided for the daily prayer of the church.

Interpreting Scripture
The Episcopal Church takes scripture very seriously but does not believe in its "verbal inspiration". While the Spirit inspired the authors, the authors contribute their own "spin" and sometimes misspellings in the basic biblical message. Use of historical-analytical tools to understand the texts, the language in which they are written and even of archeology is encouraged. Most Biblical scholars would note that texts may have several meanings. The Church trusts its members to read and interpret the texts, but invites them to do so in community, and to utilize the skills of those with expert knowledge which might assist them, available through commentaries and other tools.