Hello to the forum. I have drifted in and out of here over the years as a lurker and have finally decided to join in. I have found a great deal of insight here that has helped me along the Canterbury trail. As this thread states, I am almost an Anglican. This is entirely due to the very deep love and loyalty I have for the Southern Baptist congregation that I and my family have been a part of for over 30 years. However I find it harder and harder to overlook the weak theology, in particular the low view of the sacraments and the low ecclesiology that it fosters. That being said, this baptist church does as good of a job maintaining orthodoxy and reverence as it can, given the evangelical context. There is a small ACNA church in my area that I sometimes attend, but those occasions are rare on account of certain obligations at my current church that I can't seem to shake honorably. My journey toward anglicanism began nearly ten years ago when during a very trying time in my personal life I turned to the 1928 BCP as a personal devotional. The liturgy for Morning Prayer connected me to God when I could muster no words on my own and I discovered in it a beautiful and vibrant faith that my Baptist upbringing had taught me was dead and rote. I have spent the last ten years discovering what Christianity has been for the last 2000 years. I am very influenced by Eastern Orthodoxy and have learned respect for Roman Catholocism but my heart, I believe, is Anglican. Like Chesterton, I was surprised by orthodoxy.
I am trending towards the ACNA myself. Unfortunately I live about an hour away from a near ACNA church and can only make it about once per month. I still go to my Methodist Church the other weeks.
I am fortunate to have a parish so close, ACNA is sparse in this part of Florida. There are plenty of TEC parishes around, but I don't think I could join with them given the direction they are going. I don't really have any other options.
I am glad that someone new is (probably) joining the Anglican Church. Although I am mostly very happy in the LCMS, my heart too is Anglican. There just aren't any traditional Anglican churches near me.
Hello, can any of you guys tell me why I should be Anglican. Because I've been wandering and been curious. I'm 17 and was raised in the International Pentecostal Holiness Church and this past year I started looking into (Roman) Catholicism and thought that's where God was leading me. But recently I feel a pull to the Anglican church, so as a former Pentecostal turned Catholic I would appreciate it if anyone could explain why I should become Anglican.
Welcome to the Forum @Idk22 there are lots of reasons why being Anglican is a good thing to be. For me it is how I understand being Christian. Theologically I would want to affirm the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, which affirms the Scriptures, the Creeds, the Sacraments and the Historic Episcopate. We do have some doctrinal differences with the rcc, specifically in terms of how we express our understanding of Christ's presence in the Eucharist, the authority of the Pope, the question of the nature and purpose of purgatory. This means that the core of essential belief in Anglicanism is smaller, and on a range of issues there are some divergent views. It has been highlighted in recent times that there are hot issues for Anglicans where we do not agree, and we do not agree on the importance of what we disagree about. This tension between upholding truth and unholding unity has been the experience of the Church from the time of the Acts of the Apostles and in some way through all the Councils and many other aspects this has been a feature of Church life. Specifically hot issues of late have been the Ordination of Women and Mono-Gendered Marriage. This Forum takes the traditional Orthodox view of these issues, and would not accept either, though clearly we acknowledge that some churches in the Anglican family do. People normally become Anglican because they have found something in the witness of Anglican Christians that draws them to a deeper commitment to Jesus, this may be life and practice, liturgy and worship, kindness and generosity of spirit. People also become Anglican because they have something to contribute that they see fitting within the context of Anglicanism. Anglicanism may have its struggles, however we also have our shining lights, great music, fabulous liturgy, intense scholarship, and integrity of faith. If you have a read of the Thirty Nine Articles, you will see some of the basic precepts on which Anglicanism is founded. If the Thirty Nine seems to many, just start with the first 8. Anyway welcome to one of the kindest places on the internet.
Could you send a link to the Thirty Nine Articles, and the Book of Common Prayer, or anything else that would help me understand Anglicanism.
https://anglicancommunion.org/media/109014/Thirty-Nine-Articles-of-Religion.pdf https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/worship-texts-and-resources/book-common-prayer https://anglicancommunion.org/theology/doctrine/foundations.aspx
Reading this is almost like looking in a mirror!! Since 18 months I have now been an Anglican and it has felt like coming home (despite all the problems with liberalism, ordination of women etc.) The BCP is a wonderful help in devotions. I was surprised by Orthodoxy too, as I had been told that if there were any Christians in the Anglican (and RC) churches, they shouldn't be there....... The arrogance of that viewpoint now strikes me as incredible!
Indeed. Two years ago, I was looking at Eastern Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Reformed Orthodox churches and Anglicanism as I wanted a church that is tied to history and provides both Word and sacrament which most Evangelical, Baptist and Charsmatic/Pentecostal churches do not have. I was influenced by a Christianity Today article which featured an interview with Thomas Oden. In that article, Oden quoted Lancelot Andrewes: "One canon, two Testaments, three creeds [the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian], four [ecumenical] councils, and five centuries along with the Fathers of that period." Eastern Orthodox and Reformed Orthodox churches were quickly struck out as they are difficult to come by in Malaysia and I did not really agree with EO's view about Mary. Lutheran churches in Malaysia have issues of their own besides only having the low church version here (if there were high church Lutherans here, I would have been so tempted). So eventually after a year of discernment, I went Anglican.