Sunday, April 13, 2008

By any other name

Anglican
Anglo-Catholic
Ortho-Anglican
Anglican Orthodox
Episcopalian
Orthodox Episcopalian
etc.

Whatever word you chose to use they all mean the same thing, but since the time of the reformation the question has been what do these things mean? Some would say that it means that we are "Catholic in the Reformed tradition" others would say we are Via Media, while yet others would choose to call us simply Christian; all of these terms however are not what Anglican means. If we were to use the full name of the Anglican Church it would be the Holy Orthodox Catholic Anglican Church.

Holy
Holy because it is of God, and all that is of God is Holy and good. He through His Holy Spirit guides us in our daily journey to a deeper union with His Son.

Orthodox
Because our teaching is Orthodox. We believe what was held always, everywhere, by all, this is to say what God has revealed to us through Tradition, Scripture, and Reason.

Catholic
Catholic because we are one expression of the larger universal Church of God.

Anglican
Anglican because our Faith is expressed in the spirituality of the English Church.

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