WHAT IS ANGLICANISM?
What does Anglican mean?
Just a few years after our Lord Jesus Christ's resurrection and ascension, a group of Christians led by St. Joseph of Arimathea brought Christianity to the British Isles and established the Church in the area near Glastonbury. From there, the faith spread through Britain and flourished. Several centuries later, this indigenous British Church was subsumed into the Roman Catholic Church and later re-emerged as an independent national church at the time of the Reformation. (Many are under the erroneous impression that King Henry VIII created Anglicanism, but what we now call Anglicanism had a long and admirable history before Roman Catholicism spread to Britain.) As British culture and institutions spread throughout the world from the 16th to the 19th centuries, Anglican churches were established worldwide. Our church is in apostolic succession, which means that our bishops have been consecrated in an unbroken line all the way back to the Apostles.
What is a Traditional Anglican?
Some Anglican churches have departed from the historic and biblical faith in order to "adapt" Christianity to current fads, social trends, and/or political agendas. We believe that the person, teaching, and mission of Jesus Christ was God's full and final revelation to humankind; therefore, Christian doctrine and morals cannot "evolve." Traditional Anglicans are sometimes called "Continuing Anglicans" because we continue in the modern context the faith as it has been held from the time of the Apostles onward.
What should I expect if I visit?
We are a small but warm and welcoming church. You will find everything you need to participate in the service but will not be singled out as a visitor. (We want to welcome you but not embarrass you!)
Are you part of a denomination?
A wonderful development has occurred in the last few years. For a while, traditional Anglicans were divided among many different church bodies. More recently, four major Anglican churches - the Anglican Catholic Church, the Anglican Province in America, the Anglican Church in America, and the Diocese of the Holy Cross - agreed to full communion among themselves, working toward full unification. St. Bartholomew's is a parish of the Anglican Catholic Church. You can read more about the larger church body at AnglicanCatholic.org
Are you evangelical?
“Evangelical” is one of the most important words in a Christian’s spiritual vocabulary – but also one that is most often misused. “Evangelical” is simply the adjectival form of the word “gospel” – in other words, it means by the gospel, for the gospel, of the gospel. So yes, we certainly are evangelical because we believe in the Gospel and seek to live as disciples of Jesus. We do not reject the sacraments or liturgical prayer, as some often mean when they use the term “evangelical.”
Are you Catholic?
This is the other extremely important but often misused word in the Christian’s spiritual vocabulary. Although it has come to be used synonymously with “Roman,” particularly in the United States, this word in its original context meant “faithful to the Apostolic Tradition." Since we revere the faith as handed down by the Apostles ('tradition' simply means 'handed down') and seek to be faithful to it in all that we do, we are in full communion with bishops in apostolic succession; we are indeed catholic. We are not, however, part of the Roman Catholic Church.
What is your worship service like?
We worship as Christians have worshipped from the first century onward. Our service is heavily Scriptural, consisting of prayers (both sung and spoken), psalms, readings from the Scriptures, a sermon that teaches Christian doctrine and how to live as a disciple of the Lord Jesus, and the celebration of Holy Communion. As Anglicans, we believe that Jesus Christ is really and truly present in Holy Communion and that we are united to him by receiving it.
