When I do an internet search for Anglican churches in Salt lake city utah they all come up with Episcopal without Anglican in their name. So would I assume they are probabley liberal? And one more quick question what is the difference between the LCMS and a conservative Anglican church?
Thank You!
Hi, Tigger. Thanks for the message.
They are all Episcopal in that case. I understand that this is a confusing matter for a lot of people, including Episcopalians and Anglicans, so let me take a moment to explain further. Normally, when there's a split in some denomination, the split-off takes the denominational name and modifies it somewhat. For example, the main conservative split from the "Presbyterian Church (USA)" is the "Presbyterian Church in America." But in our case, the split-off groups chose not to use the Episcopal name (although I can think of two exceptions) because they didn't want unnecessary court fights and because they wanted to suggest that they were true to the historic faith and it was The Episcopal Church that had changed. But The Episcopal Church continued to belong to the worldwide federation of churches, the "Anglican Communion," so Episcopalians are not about to surrender the identity just like that, either.
Anyway, if it says "Anglican" in the phone book heading or on the church, it's one of the "Continuing Anglican" churches or the more recent split, the "Anglican Church in North America." If it says "Episcopal" without any modifiers, it's the parent church.
Sorry to go into all that if it's unnecessary, but maybe it'll help you or someone else in another conversation some day.
In addition, I know where many of the Continuing or ACNA churches are--or to be more exact, where they are not. And my memory is saying there are none in Salt Lake City. I will double check, though, and let you know if it turns out I'm mistaken.
As a footnote to that, though, I should probably say that you can occasionally find an Episcopal parish that resists the national church's theological orientation and would not be notably liberal. But that's rare, and Utah is not one of the parts of the country that has that reputation.
Lastly, the LCMS question. That's an interesting one, for sure. By all comparative standards, they are close. When conservative Episcopalians decide it's time to find a new church, they probably choose the LCMS more often than any other. I've not seen any data on that, but that's my feeling. Bear in mind that each person has different priorities, so I don't know which of these differences would rank higher than the next one to you.
Polity/government--All Anglican and Episcopal churches are governed by bishops in Apostolic Succession. The LCMS has a presbyterian-type government of representative assemblies and elected national officers, etc. (The ELCA has bishops, but that's the liberal branch of American Lutheranism and a close ally of the Episcopal Church.)
Sacraments--Baptism about the same, but Communion is somewhat different. Lutherans believe that the bread and wine remain bread and wine but also take on the physical nature of Christ in addition. That's like the Catholics except that they believe the bread and wine are totally changed except for the appearance, etc. Anglicans normally say it's a spiritual change, although a real one, or they say it's a mystery best not defined.
Doctrine--LCMS Lutherans are typically Lutheran in being very precise in their doctrinal statements and demand correctness. Anglicans generally, even the conservatives, recognize our historic flexibility on matters that are not considered essentials of the faith. Lutherans agree in principle but you'll find them more determined to dot a lot more "I"s if you know what I mean.
Worship--Not a lot of difference in format, although many people think that there is a certain sobriety about Lutherans, and Anglicans are, well, English in style. There is a style difference that is a bit hard to identify. Some people say that there's a seriousness about the Lutheran worship but yet there's often a degree of casualness that offends Anglicans.
In most other ways, these are two pretty similar churches. BTW, the church that probably comes in second with fleeing Episcopalians is the Presbyterian Church in America, but that works only for those Evangelical Anglicans who are in favor of a more bare-bones liturgy coupled with a belief in Calvinistic views of salvation.
Whew. Don't hesitate to get back to me if there's something that doesn't exactly "click."
Lutherans are very Christ-oriented.
