Christian denominations without much ritual
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In
Anglican
Christianity,
low church
refers to those who give little emphasis to ritual. The term is most often used in a
liturgical
sense, denoting a
Protestant
emphasis, whereas "
high church
" denotes an emphasis on ritual, often
Anglo-Catholic
.
The term was initially pejorative. During the series of doctrinal and ecclesiastic challenges to the
established church
in the 17th century, commentators and others?who favoured the theology, worship, and hierarchical structure of
Anglicanism
(such as the
episcopate
) as the true form of Christianity?began referring to that outlook (and the related practices) as "
high church
", and by the early 18th century those theologians and politicians who sought more reform in the English church and a greater liberalisation of church structure, were in contrast called "low church".
Historical use
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The term
low church
was used in the early part of the 18th century as the equivalent of the term
Latitudinarian
in that it was used to refer to values that provided much latitude in matters of discipline and faith. The term was in contradistinction to the term
high church
, or high churchmen, which applied to those who valued the exclusive authority of the Established Church, the episcopacy and the sacramental system.
[1]
Low churchmen wished to tolerate
Puritan
opinions within the Church of England, though they might not be in agreement with Puritan liturgical practices. The movement to bring
Separatists
, and in particular
Presbyterians
, back into the Church of England ended with the
Act of Toleration 1689
for the most part. Though
Low church
continued to be used for those clergy holding a more liberal view of
Dissenters
, the term eventually fell into disuse.
Both terms were revived in the 19th century when the
Tractarian movement
brought the term "high churchman" into vogue. The terms were again used in a modified sense, now used to refer to those who exalted the idea of the Church as a catholic entity as the body of Christ, and the sacramental system as the divinely given means of grace. A low churchman now became the equivalent of an
evangelical Anglican
, the designation of the movement associated with the name of
Charles Simeon
, which held the necessity of personal conversion to be of primary importance.
[1]
At the same time, Latitudinarian changed to
broad church
, or broad churchmen, designating those who most valued the ethical teachings of the Church and minimised the value of
orthodoxy
. The revival of pre-
Reformation
ritual by many of the high church clergy led to the designation
ritualist
being applied to them in a somewhat contemptuous sense. However, the terms high churchman and ritualist have often been wrongly treated as interchangeable. The high churchman of the Catholic type is further differentiated from the earlier use of what is sometimes described as the "high and dry type" of the period before the
Oxford Movement
.
[1]
Modern use
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In contemporary usage, "low churches" place more emphasis on the
Protestant
nature of Anglicanism than broad or high churches and are usually
Evangelical
in their belief and
conservative
(although not necessarily
traditional
) in practice. They may tend to favour liturgy such as the
Common Worship
over
Book of Common Prayer
, services of Morning and Evening Prayer over the Eucharist, and many use the minimum of formal liturgy permitted by church law. The
Diocese of Sydney
has largely abandoned the Prayer Book and uses free-form evangelical services.
Some contemporary low churches also incorporate elements of
charismatic Christianity
.
More traditional low church Anglicans, under the influence of
Calvinist
or
Reformed
thought inherited from the Reformation era, reject the doctrine that the
sacraments
confer
grace
ex opere operato
(e.g., baptismal regeneration) and lay stress on the
Bible
as the ultimate source of authority in matters of faith necessary for salvation.
[1]
They are, in general, prepared to cooperate with other
Protestants
on nearly equal terms.
[
citation needed
]
Some low church Anglicans of the Reformed party consider themselves the only faithful adherents of historic Anglicanism and emphasise the
Thirty-Nine Articles
of the Church of England as an official doctrinal statement of the Anglican tradition.
[
citation needed
]
Ecumenical relationships
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United churches with Protestants in Asia
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Several provinces of the
Anglican Communion
in Asia have merged with Protestant churches. The
Church of South India
arose out of a merger of the southern province of the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon (Anglican), the Methodist Church of South India and the South India United Church (a
Congregationalist
,
Reformed
and
Presbyterian
united church) in 1947. In the 1990s a small number of
Baptist
and
Pentecostal
churches joined also the union.
In 1970 the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon, the United Church of North India, the Baptist Churches of Northern India, the
Church of the Brethren
in India, the
Methodist
Church (British and Australia Conferences) and the
Disciples of Christ
denominations merged to form the
Church of North India
. Also in 1970 the Anglicans, Presbyterians (Church of Scotland),
United Methodists
and
Lutherans
of Churches in Pakistan merged into the
Church of Pakistan
. The Church of Bangladesh is the result of a merge of Anglican and Presbyterian churches.
Britain and Ireland
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In the 1960s the
Methodist Church of Great Britain
made
ecumenical
overtures to the
Church of England
, aimed at church unity. These formally failed when they were rejected by the Church of England's
General Synod
in 1972. In 1981, a covenant project was proposed between the Church of England, the Methodist Church in Great Britain, the
United Reformed Church
and the
Moravian Church
.
[2]
In 1982 the United Reformed Church voted in favour of the covenant, which would have meant remodelling its elders and moderators as bishops and incorporating its ministry into the apostolic succession. The Church of England rejected the covenant. Conversations and co-operation continued leading in 2003 to the signing of a covenant between the Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain.
[3]
From the 1970s onward, the Methodist Church was involved in several "Local Ecumenical Projects" (LEPs) with neighbouring denominations usually with the Church of England, the
Baptists
or with the United Reformed Church, which involved sharing churches, schools and in some cases ministers.
In the Church of England,
Anglo-Catholics
are often opposed to unity with Protestants, which can reduce hope of unity with the
Roman Catholic Church
. Accepting women Protestant ministers would also make unity with the
See of Rome
more difficult.
In the 1990s and early 2000s the
Scottish Episcopal Church
(Anglican), the
Church of Scotland
(Presbyterian), the Methodist Church of Great Britain and the United Reformed Church were all parts of the "
Scottish Churches Initiative
for Union" (SCIFU) for seeking greater unity. The attempt stalled following the withdrawal of the Church of Scotland in 2003.
In 2002 the
Church of Ireland
, which is generally on the low church end of the spectrum of world Anglicanism, signed a covenant for greater cooperation and potential ultimate unity with the
Methodist Church in Ireland
.
[4]
See also
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References
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Further reading
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- Cross, F. L. (ed.) (1957)
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church
. London: Oxford U. P.; Low Churchmen, p. 824
External links
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