The Episcopal Church and My Reflections on Service Attendance

History
The earliest beginnings of what is now known as the Episcopal Church were rooted in the Church of England. St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597 C.E. established the formal beginnings of the church with papal authority. During the English Reformation of the 16th century, papal authority was thrown aside as the Church split and the separation of Protestantism and Catholic faith intensified when the crown of England assumed official rule of the Church.
As colonization spread into the new world, so did the Anglican Church of England. Unfortunately, the Revolutionary War brought upheaval to the church and its followers. With the newly established separation of church and state, clergy abandoned the churches, returning to England and Canada. Eventually, there was also renaming of the Church as The Protestant Episcopal Church in 1783. Between 1789 and 1790, the American Church pursued the unification of all Episcopalians in the United States into one church. They adopted a constitution, set-up new canon laws, and even revised the Book of Common Prayer.
Having its history in the liturgy, customs, and framework of medieval Catholicism, the Episcopal Church has maintained its connections to these early symbols of the religious experience. Their services include the Creeds and the use of the Book of Common Prayer, while asserting the primary role of the Bible. Within this one denomination there is an amalgam of faiths, policies, and peoples. They have attempted to combine elements of Catholicism and Protestantism faiths, among others; humanism and reformist movements; and both liberal and evangelical views. At this point the Episcopal faith is surviving making up approximately five percent of the total Protestant population.
Beliefs and Practices
Congregations are oftened referred to as High Church, Low Church, or Broad Church to designate the elements of their service. In a High Church Service there is much embellishment, with the use of incense, formal hymns, and a high degree of ceremony. The Eucharist is usually sung. Clergy will be present in vested cassocks and surplice. In a Low Church ceremony you will usually find informal praise and worship music and more traditional Protestant symbolism, with a spoken Eucharist. While, the Broad Church services will incorporate elements of both High and Low service.
The majority of Episcopal services would be considered High Church, but not to the extent of a full Catholic mass. Low Church services are rare, but several New England churches drew from the Puritan values of their ancestors. Also, there are Broad Church services that have evolved as the trend of churches combining memberships in order to survive continues.
The central teachings of the Episcopal faith include that Jesus is both fully human and fully God; that he lived, died, and was resurrected from the dead. They believe in the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Both the Old and New Testament of the Bible where written by people, under influence of the Holy Spirit. The two necessary sacraments are Holy Baptism and the Holy Eucharist, while also recognizing the other sacred rites. They maintain a belief in heaven, hell, and Jesus’ return in glory. Their emphasis in life is on living a life of love of God and neighbor. The Episcopal Church as a whole is active in social causes; they have campaigned against the death penalty and supported the civil rights movement and affirmative action. They are also noted to support the rights of homosexuals, allowing the ordination of members of this professed orientation as well as recognizing marriages in states where it is legal;
Of note, is the fact that the Episcopal faith was one of the first, and continues to be the one of the strongest supporters of women’s rights. They allowed women to progress to priesthood in 1976, and also on to the episcopate. As of this date, the head of the Episcopal Church is Primate Katherine Jefferts Schori, serving in their headquarters in New York City and throughout the world as the face of the Church.
Service Attendance I attended Sunday service at Resurrection Episcopal Church on January 29th. Resurrection Church is located at 4100 Southern Parkway, in Louisville, Kentucky. The Church itself is an unassuming structure. The main structure is a simple, somewhat plain brick building, one and one-half stories tall. There are many stained glass windows, but not of the typical religiously symbolic; simple flowers and free form crosses, truly more reminiscent of a plus sign than a cross. There was a large plain cross behind the rectory; but not a single crucifix in site, no Madonna, or angels present anywhere in the room of main worship. What I did note to be present was the Holy Water font, or stoup at the entrance to the Church between the pews. The Church campus includes room for a children’s day center, elder services, multilingual teachings and outreach, as well as a community center. This facility is very diverse in their membership including congregationalists from many countries all over the world. In the recent past Emmanuel and St. John’s Episcopal Church merged to form this current group. Members range from white, black, Burmese, Sudanese, elderly, handicapped, blue haired little old ladies, as well as purple haired tattooed teenagers; all are equally welcomed. Their website
States that membership includes those of the Nazarene, Baptist, Methodist, Church of Christ, Catholic, as well as Episcopal faiths. The morning service is for both adults and children, it was completed in a Broad Church format, and showing signs of High and Low Church service; both English and Burmese language elements were utilized during the service. The music director and the choir director were both male; while in contrast both the head deacon and priest were female. It was vocalized during the service that one of the other deacons, Daniel, was currently serving on a mission trip in the Sudan; he was in need of everyone’s prayers with the currently deteriorating situation there. Of particular note is the afternoon service is completed entirely in the Dinka language, this is for the large group of Sudanese refugees in our community which have been welcomed and sponsored by many members of this Church; this service incorporates drums and elements of the Sudanese culture as the Church assists in the process of helping these individuals assimilate into this community while still maintaining a sense of self. The elements of High Church that I noted were the initial procession, which was lead by the music director, choir director, and head choir boy and girl, followed by the full choir; all were in robes, with the directors adorned with sashes denoting their roles. Also, the head choir boy and girl each carried a large metal cross to the front of the church and placed one to each side of the pulpit before being seated in their place of honor, at the front of the church. The deacons and priest were last, again in robes with different colored adornments denoting their roles. Also, the sing song note of the service with the priest singing out part of the sermon and the congregation singing the response back to her. Elements of Low Church included readings from multiple Church members from their seats, in multiple languages. The service was completed in an interactive fashion. There were hymns sung only by the choir, there were hymns sung only by the congregations, there were readings completed from the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Nicene Creeds, these were done by members of the congregation as well as the deacons in both English, with translations into Burmese, and in Latin, without translations. At the time of the Eucharist, the priest changed into a more elaborate robe and donned a headdress; members who wished to partake all came forward to individually take sacrament directly from her hands.
Reflections
I believe the buildings in their unassuming style are sat up to accommodate the very people they serve; by that I mean they are easily accessible by the handicapped, the elderly, and the very young. They are not overwhelming to those new to our country, if you stop and think about a large crucifix or winged angels being posted for those who have fled from countries where they were tortured, maimed, perhaps friends or family were murdered – how would they view that, when they may not even be able to adequately communicate? The building is reverent and has a feeling of holiness without being suffocating or overwhelming. I had ever experienced a service quite like this. In the Churches that I grew up in children were to be seen and not heard; by this I mean you were deposited in the nursery or Sunday school area until you could sit quietly throughout the service. And if you could not, you did not have to worry about just your own parents, there were any number of ladies who would be happy to snatch you up and leave the service with you, so did not disturb others. In the service I attended on that particular day, children played in the aisles and ran around, granted they were quiet but most assuredly they were not seated and this did not seem to bother anyone; but, here this seems to work. I was surprised at the uncomplicatedness of the Church. I do not think I have ever been present in any situation with the amount of total diversity and total acceptance that was present in that room on that day. People were truly just people, it did not matter what they looked like, everyone was just another person, and even if they did not speak the same language they still managed to communicate. In looking at the Face book link for this Church, there were two items that really stood out for me, one was a notation showing many colors of stick people encircling the globe, which states “There is only one race – THE HUMAN RACE”; the other that stood out to me shows a beautiful little girl, maybe two years old with her face contorted in giggles, with the caption “everyone smiles in the same language”. I was there, this isn’t hype, these people have all adopted this belief and I really wish it could spread throughout our world, and we would all be living in a much better place. I felt accepted during my visit, there was no attempt to persuade to their beliefs, yet I was welcomed warmly by each Deacon as well as the Priest prior to leaving the facility, also, by many Church other members on arrival. Overall this was a very enlightening experience. .
References
Corbett-Hemeyer, J. (2010). Religion in America. Boston: Prentice Hall.
History of the Episcopal Church. (2012, February 7th). Retrieved from St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church: http://www.stfrancisooltewah.org
Resurrection Church Visitor Information. (2012, January 20th). Retrieved from Resurrection Episcopal Church: http://myresurrection.episcopalky.org
Resurrection Episcopal Facebook. (2012, Feburaqry 13). Retrieved from Face Book: www.Facebook.com/pages/Ressurrection-Episcopal-Church/125424364163798