A Primer for Those in the Pews

http://episcopalmajority.com/?p=58

[The Episcopal Majority] 17 Mar 2009--Over the past century The Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. has been transformed. What had been a church overly steeped in the ways of English gentlemen rewrote its Book of Common Prayer in 1928 to be more inclusive and friendly to those who worshiped each Sunday. Women no longer had to sit in a certain area at the back of the nave. The pure English rootstock of the church was being augmented by more recent arrivals to our country - once, of course, they had reached a modicum of wealth and position. The leaders of the church, bishops, priests and laity, were content that tradition still held and innovation was strictly limited.

Firm in their belief, the leaders guided the church through a depression, a world war, a cold war and a period of unbridled growth in the wealth and living standards of the American family. Oh, there were always disagreements within the Church, some quite heated. The most contentious during the first six and one half decades of the twentieth century was “Low Church” vs. “High Church.” Low Church congregations took the first word of the church’s name “Protestant” very seriously. One would never call the priest “Father” or, for that matter, think of him as a priest at all. He was a minister, thank you. These congregations would typically have Morning Prayer service on all but one Sunday in the month and then on the remaining Sunday, have Holy Communion. On the other end of the Episcopal spectrum were the High Church “Anglo-Catholics.” Smells and Bells. Priestly garb and call me Father. The Eucharist was the center of almost every Sunday service. We Episcopalians have always had a high tolerance for diverse opinions. Low Church/High Church tested that tolerance but with only a few convention fist fights and shouting matches, the church kept on its “via media” (by the middle) course.