The History of the Anglo-Catholics: Part 2

     Anglo-Catholics rode the twin waves of 20^th century modernism and urbanization to prominence in the United States. Their anti-establishment Bohemian criticism of the establishment was initially welcomed into academia long before it invaded churches. From New York (General) and New England (Berkeley) and other Episcopal seminaries, the Social Gospel became as prominent as the Articles of Religion. This allowed young Episcopalians to identify with the down-trodden while at the same time not having to give up their wealth and elite social status.  The growth of cities after the Second World War brought many cultures into closer proximity and Roman Catholic influence was more accepted. Episcopalian priests began to call themselves “father” instead of the more Protestant “Reverend.” As divorce became more accepted in society, Anglo-Catholicism became a popular re-marriage compromise for divorced people and their blended families.

     The Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s became the watershed event for 20^th century liberal theology.  Conservatives in all the mainline denominations, believing primarily in individual conversion, were ignored and often ridiculed by the more activist minority who were adopting Liberation Theology, a Marxist re-invention of the Gospel as freeing people from unjust economic, political, and social conditions. First introduced by Roman Catholic radicals in Central and South America, it took root and gained traction with a growing number of Anglo-Catholics. The Bible was not to be taken literally. Sin was conceived as not a personal problem, but an institutional one. Jesus was portrayed as a revolutionary subversive, a teaching completely at odds with Roman doctrine. The Second Vatican Council (1965-68) sought to limit the damage done by these modern, urban myths, but change was in the air. The Mass was no longer to be said in Latin and a new Roman Missal containing the words and rubrics of the mass was ordered.  

     In 1975, largely influenced by the growing acceptance of modern Anglo-Catholic practice, the Episcopalians introduced a new Book of Common Prayer.  The General Convention of 1976 allowed the new Prayer Book to be used as an alternative to the 1928 book and at the same time authorized the ordination of women. Something new was emerging that enraged both the evangelicals and Anglo-Catholic traditionalists.

     The new Prayer Book was adopted in 1979. Churches were forbidden to use the 1928 Prayer Book.  New liturgies in contemporary English replaced the traditional use of “thee,” “thou,” and other arcane phrases.  But the updated language was a minor change in comparison to the theological and organizational changes implemented by the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. The name of the church was no longer the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, but The Episcopal Church.  The 39 Articles were demoted to a section at the back of the book called “Historical Documents” where they were promptly ignored.  Baptismal regeneration became the accepted theology (that people were actually saved by the sacrament) rather than the invoking of the Holy Spirit that “the person may be born again” as specified in the 1928 service.  Compare the ordination questions from the 1928 Book with those of its successor.

Bishop. DO you think in your heart, that you are truly called, according to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, and according to the Canons of this Church, to the Order and Ministry of Priesthood?
    Answer. I think it.
    Bishop. Are you persuaded that the Holy Scriptures contain all Doctrine required as necessary for eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ? And are you determined, out of the said Scriptures to instruct the people committed to your charge; and to teach nothing, as necessary to eternal salvation, but that which you shall be persuaded may be concluded and proved by the Scripture?
    Answer. I am so persuaded, and have so determined, by God’s grace.

Bishop         My brother, do you believe that you are truly called by God

and his Church to this priesthood?

Answer        I believe I am so called.

Bishop        Do you now in the presence of the Church commit yourself to this trust and responsibility?

Answer     I do.

Bishop     Will you respect and be guided by the pastoral direction and leadership of your bishop?

Answer     I will.

Bishop     Will you be diligent in the reading and study of the Holy Scriptures, and in seeking the knowledge of

such things as may make you a stronger and more able minister of Christ?

Answer     I will.

Bishop     Will you endeavor so to minister the Word of God and the sacraments of the New Covenant, that the reconciling love of Christ may be known and received?

Answer     I will.

     Whereas in the 1928 Book, the Lordship of Jesus Christ was affirmed ahead of anything to do with Church polity and organization, by 1979 Jesus has disappeared and primacy is given to the church, especially bishop. Scripture was demoted from the content of ministry to a place on the priest’s reading list alongside "such other things as may make you a stronger and more able minister of Christ." When the Word of God is finally mentioned in the later Book, it is in the context of Sacraments. Other changes are too numerous to identify here, but the direction of the 1979 Book was to a hyper-sacramental viewpoint inconsistent with the origins of the Church and its Articles of Religion. Having successfully compromised the authority of the Bible in favor of catholic tradition, schism was thought a worse sin than heresy.  Many left the Episcopal Church but the majority of evangelicals decided to stay and effect change within. Like the Anglo-Catholics before them, they organized into supportive communities and tried to recover the orthodoxy of the church. These groups held sway at the General Convention of 1994 in which the church affirmed there was value in the position that women should not be ordained. But by the next Triennial that position was wiped out, declaring "the canons regarding the ordination, licensing, and deployment of women are mandatory and that dioceses noncompliant in 1997 shall give status reports on their progress toward full implementation." Battle lines were being drawn between the three main groups that made up the American Episcopal Church: evangelicals, traditional Anglo-Catholics, and the now majority of Post-biblical inclusivists.  In 2006 the Episcopal Church decided to toss a bomb into the worldwide Anglican Communion, electing the first woman Presiding Bishop and affirming the ordination of openly homosexual individuals.  This began the Great Anglican Realignment.