Question:
If this is too complicated a question, just let me know! My son attends an Episcopalian school, including chapel twice a week. I am Baptist, and though I know quite a bit about Catholics, and I know that the Episcopal faith stems from Catholic faith, I don’t know exactly what the differences are. I’d rather not get into disussing my errors in educating him Episcopalian when we are Baptist.
Answer:
I love complex questions…
I’m going to refer to the "Anglican" church here. That’s the same as Episcopalian.
The Anglican church is part of the "Church Catholic", just as is the Roman Catholic Church. The latter is probably what you mean when you say "Catholic". When we say the "Catholic Church" we mean "The whole company of Christian believers". We believe that includes Baptists too, although we recognise that you have lost, or reject, portions of the Christian faith that we value: specifically our understanding of Sacrament and Tradition. We don’t so much derive from the Roman Catholic Church; as do the Roman Catholic, and Anglo Catholic Churches derive from the same common source: the early apostolic church.
The Roman catholic church believes in central authority from Rome (the Magisterium and the Pope). We do not recognise the Pope as having any authority except for the authority he holds as Bishop of Rome (that is, over his own See and the churches within it). You’ll sometimes read in the news that the Archbishop of Cantebury is the "head" of the Anglican church, equivalent to the Pope, but that is a misunderstanding that the press may never become clear on. The only "head" of the Church that we recognise, is Christ. We do recognise the authority of individual Bishops over the churches under them: that is part of our understanding of Sacrament and Tradition.
This independence of Bishops means that the Anglican church allows more variation in belief and practice than is obvious in the Roman Catholic church. You will find Anglican churches that are nearly indistinguishable from Roman churches, and also Anglican churches that are indistinguishable from Evangelical churches, and a full range in between. The main things that will stand out for you, as a Baptist, are:
Like the Roman Catholics, we believe in Sacraments, in particular Baptism and Holy Communion. We believe that these are joint acts of God and Man, and have sacred power beyond their relevance as symbols, signs or memorials. Some Baptists (right here on the internet) have called me personally Satan’s tool for saying so, but we believe that "being born of water and the Spirit" refers to the act of baptism. So we are saved through baptism, not baptised in recognition of being saved. Shocking, eh what?<g>
The jury is still out on the other "sacraments": marriage, confirmation, orders, unction and reconciliation. The Roman Catholic central authority declares them to be sacraments; we get to debate the issue because we have no central authority.
Like the Roman Catholic Church, we believe in the Communion of the Saints. That means we believe the Church Militant (you and me) and the Church Triumphant (those who have died and are risen in Christ) are all part of the body together, dependent on one another as members of the same body. We hold up the example of our pious predecessors by naming them Saints and studying their example. Unlike Rome, we have no central authority to decide who gets to be called Saint and who doesn’t, so we gradually form a concensus.
Like the Roman Catholic church, we believe we can find revelation outside of the Bible: in Tradition and Reason. Since we have no central authority to dictate to us what dogmas may be considered "traditional" or "reasonable" we examine Scripture, Tradition and Reason together, to be sure that they do not conflict with one another. In the Catholic church this examination is done by the Magisterium, who take the place of Tradition (or of Reason) in this so-called "three-legged chair".
Like the Roman Catholic church, we use a liturgical form of worship: one in which the laypeople have a clearly defined role: saying or singing certain prayers and acclaimations in a prescribed order. "Liturgy" is derived from words meaning "the work of the common people". Unlike the Roman Catholic church, there is considerable variety in the precise forms followed by different churches, and considerable freedom to improvise.
Personally, I don’t see any errors in your sending him to an Episcopalian school. Anglican schools in general have a superbe record for quality education, and as I said at the top, your son is as much a part of the Church as any of us.