A number of people have
asked me why I became an Episcopalian, what drew me to the Anglican
tradition. Here are five of my most important reasons.
1) The Ancient Western Church – The Anglican Church (Episcopalians included) is directly
descended from the Ancient Christian Church, established by Christ and his
apostles. There are other churches who continue in the historically unbroken
line of the Ancient Christian Church, but in Anglicanism I found the broadest
welcome and most acceptance. I was invited to live into the Christian faith and
into Christ-likeness, not required to acquiesce and conform to statutes of
governance and tradition. I was invited, not commanded.
2) Shared Authority of Scripture, Tradition, & Reason – Growing up where the Bible supposedly reigned
supreme, I had nonetheless seen tradition and reason used as authorities. We
did some things because they had always been done that way (tradition) or
because doing so made sense (reason). But reason and tradition could never be
overtly recognized as authorities. In the end, it seemed more honest to recognize all three,
Scripture, Tradition, and Reason - and celebrate that God had given them all to
all of us.
3) Active Theological and Spiritual Worship – In Anglicanism I found that Christian theology
and spirituality were seamlessly interwoven in worship. Every little detail
about worship had at least one layer of meaning. The depth of meanings, known
and unknown, lead me to an encounter of God’s majesty and mystery. The task of
worship was not to figure out what to do, it was learning to unveil the meaning of
what we were already doing. Worship was plunging through the forms and into the
holiness and the immensity of God’s being.
4) Adaptive Flexibility – I hadn't, and still haven’t, found a tradition that is so rooted
in the past revelation of God (tradition) and yet finds itself constantly
opening itself up to the current revelation of God (leading of the Holy
Spirit). I have seen traditions who had one or the other, Tradition or Spirit,
but not both. “Here,” I thought, “is the Church of Acts! It carries on what it
has been given and yet looks to God with openness to the future!”
5) Humility – There are many
individuals and groups within Anglicanism that cannot claim the virtue of
humility. And yet, as a whole, I find Anglicanism as a tradition to love
humility. It surfaces in its ability to admit its own fallibility, to always
claim its need for grace and redemption and to recognize the status and
goodness of other faith traditions. Humility is evident Anglicanism’s love of
incarnational theology, that God loves material existence and exalts by Divine
Grace. And I see Anglicanism’s humility in the understanding that God calls us
to a holy worldliness.
And so I am and remain Anglican even with all
the current debates about Scripture, authority, sexuality, and gender. If
anything recent schisms and failures have served only to strengthen my
commitment to the principles of Anglicanism. I know some would argue that
Anglicanism has failed, that it has abandoned the ancient Church, rejected
God’s authority, lost its sense of true worship, and adapted beyond the limits
of Christianity. For me, it is not that the principles of Anglicanism have
failed us, but rather that we have failed in Anglicanism’s Christian
principles. We are (surprise, surprise) sinners in need of a Savior.
Thus I will go to Mass this Sunday to receive
the Eucharist, to make thanksgiving to God and to find Communion with God and my
neighbor in Christ Jesus. All the while I will
join in the ancient prayer of the Church, “Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord,
have mercy.” For as an Episcopal Anglican I am in need of God’s mercy; and in being an Episcopal Anglican I have found God’s mercy.
May you also know God's mercy.
In Christ,
Fr. James+
May you also know God's mercy.
In Christ,
Fr. James+
