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OUR CHURCH |
Nationally
The Episcopal Church, having its roots in the Church of England,
is also an Anglican Church. Like all Anglican churches, the
Episcopal Church is distinguished by the following
characteristics:
Protestant, Yet Catholic
Anglicanism stands squarely in the Reformed tradition, yet
considers itself just as directly descended from the Early
Church as the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox churches.
Episcopalians celebrate the “Mass” in ways similar to the Roman
Catholic tradition, yet do not recognize a single authority,
such as the Pope of Rome.
Worship in one’s first language
Episcopalians believe that Christians should be able to worship
God and read the Bible in their first language, which for most
Episcopalians, is English, rather than Latin or Greek, the two
earlier, “official” languages of Christianity. Yet the Book of
Common Prayer has been translated into many languages, so that
those Episcopalians who do not speak English can still worship
God in their native tongue.
The Book of Common Prayer
Unique to Anglicanism, though, is the Book of Common Prayer, the
collection of worship services that all worshipers in an
Anglican church follow. It’s called “common prayer” because we
all pray it together, around the world. The first Book of Common
Prayer was compiled in English by Thomas Cranmer in the 16th
Century, and since then has undergone many revisions for
different times and places. But its original purpose has
remained the same: To provide in one place the core of the
instructions and rites for Anglican Christians to worship
together.
The present prayer book in the Episcopal Church was published in
1979. Many other worship resources and prayers exist to enrich
our worship, but the Book of Common Prayer is the authority that
governs our worship. The prayer book explains Christianity,
describes the main beliefs of the Church, outlines the
requirements for the sacraments, and in general serves as the
main guidelines of the Episcopal life.
Scripture, Tradition, and Reason
The Anglican approach to reading and interpreting the Bible was
first articulated by Richard Hooker, also in the 16th Century.
While Christians universally acknowledge the Bible (or the Holy
Scriptures) as the Word of God and completely sufficient to our
reconciliation to God, what the Bible says must always speak to
us in our own time and place.
The Church, as a worshiping body of faithful people, has for two
thousand years amassed experience of God and of loving Jesus,
and what they have said to us through the centuries about the
Bible is critical to our understanding it in our own context.
The traditions of the Church in interpreting Scripture connect
all generations of believers together and give us a starting
point for our own understanding.
Episcopalians believe that every Christian must build an
understanding and relationship with God’s Word in the Bible, and
to do that, God has given us intelligence and our own
experience, which we refer to as “Reason.” Based on the text of
the Bible itself, and what Christians have taught us about it
through the ages, we then must sort out our own understanding of
it as it relates to our own lives. |
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