*Question:
I am Roman Catholic and have explored my religion in depth. Well, reality hit, and I don’t believe it all. Last week I went to an Episcopal service, and felt so much peace! I didn’t receive communion, because I’m still very confused, even though the pastor made me feel welcome to. I want to know if this Church is the answer to my prayers!

What is the role of Mary in the church? Saints? Who has the authority for preaching doctrine? What’s the Episcopal take on weekly attendance at mass, minimum of yearly confession, contraception? Finally, what do you call the pastor?**

*Answer:
The Episcopal Church … is part of the Catholic (i.e. "universal") church, which is the whole company of all Christian people. It traces its history back to the Apostles, just as the Roman Catholic church does, and like the roman Catholic church, our Bishops have Apostolic succession. The main differences between Episcopal (or Anglican – the terms are interchangeable in the U.S.) Catholics and Roman Catholics is that we don’t accept the overriding authority of the Bishop of Rome, or the hierarchy under him. We believe that each Bishop has direct accountability to God for his oversight of God’s flock.

As a result of having thousands of equal Bishops, instead of one head-Bishop who can dictate dogma to the rest, we have a diversity of doctrine and practice. Most Anglicans and most Anglican parishes are largely indistinguishable from Roman Catholics, except for doctrines that have been introduced by the Roman Catholic church in relatively recent times: those being papal authority and infallibility; the immaculate conception and bodily assumption of Mary and the role of Mary as co-redemptress, specific teachings on birth control.

We believe that saints are members of the "Communion of Saints, which is the whole company of all faithful people militant here on earth and triumphant in heaven." We are all members of that communion by virtue of our baptism; however some of us are recognised by consensus as being particularly strong witnesses to the faith, so we give them the title of Saint. Few Anglicans pray to Saints, but most look to the lives of the saints for examples of faithful living.

In the language of divinity studies, "doctrine" refers to the normative belief held by the community. "Dogma" refers to the formulation of doctrine into authoritative teaching. Thus, responsibility for discerning doctrine remains with the people. Because we have multiple equal Bishops, there is no single source of Dogma; and instead we rely on the consensus of the Bishops and the people as to what true doctrine is. Bishops are responsible for the people being well taught and engaged in the process of worship and study, so that no-one wanders too far afield from the domain of consensus.

Roman Catholics often hear that protestants don’t believe that Christ is "really present" in the sacraments of the eucharist. Most Anglicans do believe that Christ is truley present; but not in material transubstantiation. Most Roman Catholics I know in real life don’t believe in material transubstantiation either; they just don’t say so out loud because their church hierarchy says they have to believe it. When asked to explain exactly what we do believe, we’re at a loss, since we don’t have a committee to tell us what the right words are; but we have a long history of aphorisms. Our aphorism for what the Eucharist is is attributed to Queen Elizabeth I, who said to the Roman Catholic inquisitors: "His was the Word that Spake it; He took the Bread and Brake it; and what His Word doth make it; I do believe and take it." As I interpret that, it means that we don’t have to have a precise definition of what takes place in the Sacrament: we participate in the Sacrament and it is effective; we do not require anything more.

Our aphorism respecting confession is "All may, some should, none must". If you want to make a private sacramental confession, it’s the priest’s duty to hear it, proclaim absolution, and counsel you (which may or may not include penance). If you don’t feel the need – and many people rely on general confession solely – it’s none of the priest’s business.

We believe there is only one church, which one joins by baptism. Since you were baptized, you are a member of the one church, and all members of the Lord’s church are welcome at his table. I tell people who come to this board: "you are an Episcopalian, you just don’t realise it yet". I say it jokingly, but in essence that is twhat we believe. Roman Catholic’s can’t take communion at the Lord’s table in an Episcopalian church because their hierarchy forbids them to recognise the validity of our sacraments; not because of any bann on our part.

I always called my pastor "Bob". When I talked about him, I referred to him as "Father Bob". Some priests don’t like the paternalism implicit in being called "Father", and prefer the egalitarian "Mr." "Reverend" is an adjective that is colloquially used instead of "Mr.": the correct form is "the Reverend Mr. Smith" but most people shortcut and just say "Reverend Smith". I would never shortcut, but then I would never serve guests at dinner in the kitchen either: in normal use all the above titles are equally acceptable.

Many people attend communion in an Anglican Church without communicating and nobody gets offended. We assume you have a good reason: that you’re Roman Catholic, for example; or that you’re used to having frequent Morning Prayer services with Eucharist only a few times a year (this was the pattern in the early twentieth century); or you’re squeamish about shared food; or you already took communion at the 8:00 service or are planning to take it at an evening service; that you’ve committed some grave and unconfessed sin <grin – no, we don’t assume that, it’s just another reason that someone might not>; and so on. To decline graciously either stay in your pew when everyone else goes up, or go up and ask the priest for a blessing instead of communion: either carry your prayerbook in both hands or cross your hands over your breast when it’s your turn to receive, and if the priest doesn’t get the hint (most will, they’re used to this) say quieetly "your blessing, Father" when he tries to hand you the host.

The one thing that is (very mildly) offensive, is to talk about "Catholics" and "Episcopalians" as if they are two separate groups. "Roman Catholics" and "Episcopalians" are two flavours of Catholicism. I’m sure you don’t mean to imply "We’re real Catholics and you’re not, nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah". Most Roman Catholics aren’t aware that there are other Catholics besides themselves. But it sounds to us just as it does when evangelicals talk about "Christians" and "Catholics" as if those were two separate groups.

I hope that helps. In practice, I think you will find that a majority of Roman Catholics actually believe pretty much what you do; they just aren’t the ones who make a marked display of their orthodoxy. Still, it is nice to worship in a community where you can sometimes say what you think without worrying that your thinking something unacceptable. The Episcopal church can be good that way, and you’re welcome here any time. </P> </BODY> </HTML>