What Does It Mean To Be An Anglican Catholic?

There is a question I get asked all the time whenever I say the name of my church.

"Anglican Catholic?" People say. "What is that and how does that work?"

I think the reason why there is confusion in the title is because when most people think "Catholic" they think The Roman Catholic church.
But this is not the case. My church is not in communion with the Roman Catholic church, nor do we acknowledge The Bishop of Rome (AKA The Pope) as the head of our church.

So what does it mean to be an Anglo-Catholic?

Well, a very good explanation can be found on our church's website http://www.anglicancatholic.org/

Which states the following:

"The word "Catholic" is often understood in opposition to the word "Protestant." However, this is both a recent and uniquely western perspective. In the ancient church, Catholicism was understood to be the opposite of heresy, or false belief, and even today there are millions of Christians in Greece, Russia, and other parts of the world who consider themselves neither "Catholic" nor "Protestant," but "Orthodox."

 

During the sixteenth century, the Church of England sought to modify certain beliefs and practices that had developed over the centuries and appeared extraneous, unwise, or divergent from apostolic faith and practice. In doing so, the church did not abandon its catholicism; rather it engaged in a process of reform. As Bishop John Bramhall wrote in the seventeenth century, "our religion is the same it was, our Church the same it was...differing only from what they were formerly, as a garden weeded from a garden unweeded."

 

"Anglicanism, then, is best understood as a reformed catholic faith. Likewise, we believe that the church is in need of continual renewal and reformation. It must oppose the errors of every age in order to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3)."

 

 

So what is the short version of what I just posted?

It's simple. We are Anglican by Theology and Catholic by Tradition.

 

In fact, my church is not the only church that falls into the Anglo-Catholic category.

 

There's the Episcopal church. (which my church originated from but separated in the 1970's. More on that later.)

 

The Anglican Church of North America.

 

Lutherans.

And yes, the church of England.

 

The world Catholic itself means Universal. It's one of the reasons why in the apostles creed, we say "I believe in one Holy Catholic and Apostolic church (Which we even said when I was in the Presbyterian church).

 

We keep the traditions of the early church alive, such as the Apostles creed, Lent, Advent, Sainthood, and many others that honestly, this blog would be 12 pages long if I went through them all. However in Theology, that's where we differ from the Roman church.

 

 

 

Our Theology is kept more inline with Anglican church (or The Church of England).

 

I know this entry is shorter, but I just wanted to go ahead and get this explanation out there. I know how confusing the name can be with someone that's not familiar with Anglo Catholicism.

 

Before I ever stepped foot into my current parish, I used to pass by the church all the time as a kid. I remember thinking "Where do they keep the nuns?" thinking again, Roman Catholic.

 

I hope this clears up something and expect another blog post sometime soon.

 

May The Lord be with you.