Question:

My MIL told me "Episcopalians don't believe in the Virgin Mary"...is this true and can you explain?

Answer:

Nonsense! Your MIL is either not Episcopalian, or is suffering ...

from the knee-jerk anti-papist rhetoric of the eighteenth century.

Of course we believe in the Blessed Virgin.

We don't believe that the Blessed Virgin is our co-redemptress with Christ, or that she has any ability to forgive our sins. Most Roman Catholics don't believe that, either, although it has some proponents within the Roman church.

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is a papal declaration, and as such does not influence Episcopal thought. Although some Episcopalians do believe that the Blessed Virgin was conceived without taint of original sin, most don't. It's a matter of personal conscience.

Relatively few Episcopalians ask the Blessed Virgin, or other saints, to pray for them; preferring to ask the prayers of their fellow-Christians here on earth to asking the prayers of their fellow-Christians triumphant in Heaven. But some do, and it is doctrinally correct to do so.

Episcopal churches often have less statuary and fewer icons than Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic churches. Thus, you will less often see statues and icons of the Blessed Virgin. But you will see some, and often see beautiful stained glass depictions of the Blessed Virgin.

How does your MIL imagine we think Jesus was born, if we don't believe in the Virgin Mary? Does she imagine we don't read Scripture, which teaches us about the Virgin? Does she not realize that we recite the Apostle's Creed or the Nicene Creed in every service, including the words "I believe in Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son, who was born of ***the Virgin Mary***?

Your MIL is wrong.