Looking for God in all the Right Places
The Episcopal Church, what is it?
“I hear you are an Episcopal priest. What does that mean? Are you a Christian? Are you Protestant or Catholic?”
We Episcopalians seem to remain something of a mystery to many people. It’s hard to understand how we can stay so well hidden in plain sight, given that the very well-known National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. is, in fact, the Cathedral Church of the diocese of Washington DC and our national cathedral . What follows is a brief introduction for anyone who might be curious.
The best way to understand what we believe is to come and experience the way we worship. Our regular Sunday service includes extensive readings from Holy Scripture, hymns and prayers, confession of sin, public testimony to the faith of the Church, and an exhortation to live more fully into Christian discipleship. All of this culminates in the most important part of the service: Holy Communion. In it, we believe that Christ is truly present in the bread and the wine, nourishing us with divine life and strength for the days ahead. The way we worship really is at the very center of what we believe, proclaim, and try to live.
The sign out front says that all are welcome — and we mean it. That includes everyone who seeks to know Christ and be known by him, as well as those who are simply curious and have no real intention of joining anything at all. It includes people from every walk and condition of life. Entering into an unfamiliar church can be intimidating, but don’t worry: just follow along, without feeling any pressure to do anything in particular. You are always free to speak with the clergy afterward and ask any question you like.
We adopt positions on a wide array of theological and social matters but have no magisterium — no centralized teaching authority that demands uniform assent. We treasure questions, respect doubts, and take seriously the task of listening for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we discern how to respond to the world as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. It is a messy and sometimes inefficient process: too slow for those who want urgent change, and too fast for those who fear departing from God’s will. But it reflects our commitment to being a living, praying, thinking Church.
Congregations vary in their styles of worship. Some are very Anglo-Catholic, with lots of “smells and bells” and formal ceremonial. Others are quite plain, with minimal ceremonial and a more informal, down-home character. Most fall somewhere in between, reflecting the customs and temperament of the local community. Yet in each the shape of the liturgy will be the same.
An Historical Note
Christianity came to the British Isles very early in the life of the Church, likely by the mid second century during the Roman occupation of Britain. After the Roman legions withdrew, pagan Germanic tribes — the Anglo-Saxons — invaded and settled in what is now England, pushing many of the indigenous British Christians into Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. From these regions, Celtic Christian missionaries returned to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons, while at the same time missionaries sent from Rome were working from the south and east. Eventually, in the seventh century, Celtic and Roman Christians in England agreed to form one English church, following Roman practice while retaining distinctive local customs.
In the early 1500s, King Henry VIII, unable to obtain an annulment from the Pope, declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and rejected papal authority. This led English church leaders to wrestle with a difficult question: if we are not Roman Catholic, and not entirely Protestant in the Continental sense, what are we? What emerged over time was Anglicanism — a reformed Catholic tradition, retaining Catholic worship and structure while embracing certain Protestant reforms.
As the British Empire expanded, the Church of England planted churches throughout its territories. Over time, these churches developed their own local identities and eventually became self-governing, while remaining in communion with one another and with the Archbishop of Canterbury. Together they now form the worldwide Anglican Communion.
If we are part of the Anglican Communion, why are we called Episcopal rather than Anglican? After the American Revolution, anything too closely associated with England was politically uncomfortable. What had been the Church of England in the colonies became The Episcopal Church. The word episcopal refers to bishops, and we are a church governed by bishops. True to the spirit of the American Revolution, however, we also developed a democratic form of church governance. Authority is exercised through a bicameral General Convention, with an upper house of bishops and a lower house of clergy and lay deputies. Instead of an archbishop, we have a Presiding Bishop.