What do Episcopals believe?

[Paidiske]

You might find it worth your while to see if there's a branch of the Student Christian Movement near you. They're ecumenical and active all over the world, and they've been really important to other people I know during their time as students.

 

[DavidFirth]

Ah, please excuse me David. I just thought that's what people did when they prayed the rosary and such.

No problem, no offense taken.

Mary is to be greatly admired for her humility and obedience. I'm not taking away from her any of the honor God gave her. Some of us Catholics believe that we should only pray to the Father as Jesus taught. Most do pray to her and the saints so your assumption has merit.

 

[seeking.IAM]

I'm surprised that you find Catholic services more structured. In my experience, many Anglican and Catholic communion services would have been interchangeable, and you'd have been hard pressed to tell which church you were in. It's possible you went to the sort of parish that has a more relaxed/informal approach, but not all Anglican parishes are like that...

My thoughts exactly. I think that is the risk in our church which has variation of low to broad to high as well as Anglo-Catholic to Evangelical. I always suggest that if you don't like the first one, you try another before abandoning the search. We had an RC who wandered into our church and didn't grasp where they were until approaching our priest after the service. We have to improve our signage.

 

[Arcangl86]

Hmm, maybe. And, you know, maybe you are right about the Catholic service not being more structured. I could very well be biased simply because my family is Catholic and I'm feeling so left out. Not only that, but there are college services available for people of my age group who are Catholic, but as for protestant college-aged folks, I can't find any youth groups, so that's also contributing to my bias.

I feel like I'm being silly, honestly, but what can I do? Maybe I just need more time to think about things before I settle down and pick which church is right for me. Hmm...

If you PM your college I can get you in touch with a near by Protestant campus ministry.

 

[Decanus]

I'd like to add that some Anglicans DO pray to Mary and the Saints. I live near an Anglican Church that is further up the candle than most Catholic Churches and believes in asking for the intercession of saints.

The 39 Articles may be an important part of Anglicanism, but they are not binding and increasingly disregarded.

 

[gordonhooker]

Thank you for the resources Archangl86! I'll be sure to look at those links.

And yeah, I ended up not going to the Taize service this morning and instead went to the 11 O'Clock service which was more traditional, I think. It was a nice service and my favorite part was when I got to have the Eucharist. That was pretty nice, and as for the service itself, it was okay too, but for some reason, I think I like Catholic services better. I don't know what it is, but Catholic services seem more... structured, I think, is the word that I'm looking for.

I'm walking a very fine line here. It's like, I want to be Catholic, but at the same time, I don't think that's possible for me because I believe in birth control, I'm technically pro-choice even though abortion still hurts my heart when it does happen, I don't believe same-sex couples are sinful unions, and I'm more Jesus-centered than Mary-centered... and what makes it even more hurtful for me is that my entire family (on my dad's side, anyways) is Catholic, but I'm not. It makes me feel a little left out, truth be told, and like I'm not a true Christian if I'm not Catholic, because Catholicism is where it all started, right?

I'm sorry. Maybe I should be griping about this in the Liberal Catholics forum. In fact, I think I'll inquire about this over there too, just to see what they have to say on the matter. But I welcome any feedback from you guys as well! Thanks for taking the time to read this!

I have both the A Prayer Book for Australia (Anglican) and the Sunday Missal (Roman Catholic) and the structure of both Masses is almost identical.

 

[Paidiske]

The 39 Articles may be an important part of Anglicanism, but they are not binding and increasingly disregarded.

Depends where you are. I know in some countries clergy don't have to assent to them on oath any more, but I did.