Why Anglicanism? What’s our Why for the Anglican Way? A Tried and TESTED Way!

Thought Provoking. Some have said that they like Anglicanism because on Sunday mornings they don’t have to “Check their brain at the door.” It has been said of some church traditions, “We don’t have all the Answers, but we love the Questions.” It might be better said of us, “We might not know the answer, but we can endeavor to find out!” There are, indeed, limits to our intellect and there is mystery and there are things that God has not revealed to us. And yet there is much to plummet in the ancient texts of Israel and the early Church, in the definitions, grammar and syntax of God’s Word written, the history of Saints and Sinners, the Holy Tradition, the great volumes of formal and systematic theology, and in prayer!

Eucharistic and Sacrificial. This means making our lives “a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable” through Eucharistic (Thanksgiving) offering, especially in the midst of the Divine Liturgy or Mass. While Anglicanism does not espouse offering Christ “afresh” on the altar every time (it is a good question whether medieval Rome ever officially taught such a thing as is popularly believed), Anglicanism has not excised the whole notion of Eucharistic Sacrifice either as some reformation traditions have. “Man was made for sacrifice,” might be said to be one of our slogans. So God has given us a way to give back, especially through the bloodless Sacrifice of Bread and Wine. The “giving back” isn’t “meritorious” and doesn’t glorify ourselves (any more than tithes and offerings do), because it is all God’s grace, merit, favor; it only glorifies the Giver of All. Yet to say these offerings aren’t “sacrificial” doesn’t quite get the biblical notion of sacrifice accurate either, we would argue.  

Sacramental and Successful. Besides the Eucharist, the “Most Holy Sacrament”, Anglicanism holds to the historic and biblical idea of Sacraments, as “outward and visible signs” of God’s grace, and means of the same for us sinners. While the number of the sacraments has been different according to different theories, all have agreed that Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are the most prominent and indispensable ones. Most traditions have agreed on the number of sacraments as being biblical symbolic – Seven, the number of fullness. But we Anglicans have held to a distinction between these two which are most prominent and indispensable, and the other five sacramental rites. For a fascinating article on the history of the number of the Sacraments read this article Almost Sacraments https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2024/08/almost-sacraments-charles-yost.html by Professor Charles Yost. Sacraments are successful because they connect us with God’s grace every time and the churches that maintain a sacramental system are the largest and most missionally successful ones. While appearing to be “successful”, revival-based churches result – all too often – in burned out areas, rather than the historic slow-and-steady sacramental approach, nurturing the individual from womb to tomb. 

Teleological and Time-tested. Teleological might be defined as the “study of function”, Telos being a Greek word translated as Purpose, or Function, or, archaically expressed, “end”. Here we hold to the fact that the functions of the Church should be and are well-ordered (c.f. 1 Cor. 12), each having its part to play in the whole “band” or orchestra, so to speak. Of course, this is true in any organized congregation but our orders are ancient, time-tested, and, we believe, biblical. This begins with the three holy orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. These are sine quo non, the foundationally necessary basics. Beyond that there are vast orders and other functions, which have come and gone as needed in the history of the Church: churchwardens, lay readers, acolytes, choristers and cantors, vergers (historic janitors), sextons (historic gravediggers), deaconesses (teaching and tending the sick and poor), catechists (historic Sunday school teachers), and doorkeepers (historic ushers). Many of these “functions” still exist today as they did in ancient times. 

Evangelistic and Egalitarian. Despite all the “functions” in the church, there is an egalitarianism running through the whole system. Some refer to this as the “Priesthood of all Believers” and this is one way of describing it – although this biblical idea has been made too prominent and lopsided in many traditions. A balanced approach is that everyone has a part in the voting of the Church. There is no “pay, pray, and obey” mentality. Communicant members vote in annual meetings and approve congregational budgets, serve on vestry and pass motions and call clergy to serve as Rectors, these occasionally become delegates to diocesan and provincial synods, and approve diocesan and provincial budgets, and elect individuals to various offices including the office of the Bishop. Most importantly, everyone has the equal privilege of sharing the Gospel with their neighbors and in becoming guardians – not innovators or creators – of the doctrine and discipline of the Church. 

Disciplined and Directed. Through our Prayer life, especially through the Book of Common Prayer, the ancient liturgical heritage and directed readings and spirituality of the Christian is continued. This is perhaps the most noteworthy “Tested” methodology that the Anglican Way is privileged to offer. The Prayer Book has been tested, over and over, and not found wanting. The Prayer Book is ordered and flexible, as any good tradition should be, whether in regards to congregational or individual life. Furthermore, there is a place in Anglicanism for discipline, from the pulpit, for the penitent, or even, if regrettably necessary, excommunication. There is individual direction for those who want it, pastoral, in the confessional, or through formal spiritual direction. The term “Rector,” which is related to the word, Rex, King, is also related to the ideal of “Direction” and he, as the senior pastor, is the chief spiritual director in the parish, in respectful consultation with and subordination to the Bishop.