Highs and lows..

[Tellyontellyon]

High Church and Low Church... what's all that about?

 

[Andrewn]

High Church and Low Church... what's all that about?

This is the official definition:

“High” and “Low” Church - The Anglican Church of Canada

These terms basically describe the type of church service whether it is liturgy-oriented or free worship with more emphasis on preaching.

What is a Liturgical Church?

"In England, these points of view are now usually described as “Anglo Catholic” and “Evangelical”, and can be seen to a greater or lesser extent in many parishes."

So, it basically depends on your taste and previous experience whether you choose to go to a "high" liturgical-style church service or a "low" evangelical-style church service. If you're interested in more detailed info, the following article is very good:

Liturgical Protestant and Non-Liturgical

 

[Sketcher]

"High church" has worship sort of like the Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, etc.

"Low church" is usually associated with Baptists, Pentecostals and their offshoots.

Both have Christian reasons for worshiping the way they worship.

 

[Tellyontellyon]

"High church" has worship sort of like the Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, etc.

"Low church" is usually associated with Baptists, Pentecostals and their offshoots.

Both have Christian reasons for worshiping the way they worship.

I'm not really familiar with these different styles... It's like more or less ritualistic?

 

[PloverWing]

I'm not really familiar with these different styles... It's like more or less ritualistic?

Yes. Liturgical worship (the style used by Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran Christians) involves a great deal of ritual. There is a kind of script that we follow in worship, with the priest and the congregation reading prayers back and forth; the prayers are largely the same from week to week. Some of these prayers may be chanted. There are ceremonies of standing and sitting and kneeling and walking at different times in the service. There are usually visual elements to the worship space, such as candles, icons, crosses, vestments, and altar hangings.

Non-liturgical worship (the style used by Baptists and many non-denominational churches) has much less ritual and ceremony. Prayers are usually impromptu, composed by the speaker as they are speaking. There's usually a predictable order of events in the worship service, but almost none of it will be a script that the participants read. Except for congregational singing, much of the service consists of the congregation listening to one or more speakers. Preaching is often a very large part of the service and tends to be the central part of the service.

The terms "high church" and "low church" originally described variations in the Church of England, which is a liturgical church but whose liturgy can involve more ceremony or less ceremony. The terms are often used more broadly to distinguish liturgical from non-liturgical worship. For completeness, I'll note that there are churches like the Presbyterians or Methodists who tend to have a "medium" amount of ceremonial ritual in their worship.

 

[Sketcher]

I'm not really familiar with these different styles... It's like more or less ritualistic?

A very broad-brushed way to say it is that "high church" is more ritualistic and formal, but I would say that old-fashioned "low church" congregations are also very formal and traditional - the traditions are just different, and not always as freely admitted.

I know "high church" well enough to recognize it when I see it, but I'm afraid I won't do it as much justice as the believers here that hail from those denominations.

Old-fashioned "low church" can be expected to have people dressing up a bit more, worship music is likely limited to singing, piano, and/or organ. Maybe a plug-in acoustic guitar, but don't count on it. The centerpiece will be the sermon. Old-fashioned social customs and assumptions may be default, too.

More contemporary "low church" congregations will not be as formal (maybe a Polo shirt or dress shirt and khakis), "contemporary worship" that often includes drums and electric guitars, and an overall happier, more relaxed vibe. Clergy are less formal about their titles, though just go with what everyone at the church calls them. The sermon is still the centerpiece to the service at a good church like this, but there will often be some level of integration of it with the singing. Sometimes that line is intentionally blurred.