What is an Episcopalian?

January 12, 2014

WHAT IS AN EPISCOPALIAN?

Episcopalian. It’s a funny word, isn’t it? It comes from the Greek word for bishop: episkopos. An Episcopalian is someone who chooses to worship in the Episcopal Church, which is governed and pastored by bishops.

Our Episcopal Identity is complex historically, socially and even personally. Our diversity does not lend itself to easy "bumper sticker" descriptions.  We are subject to many Episcopal STEREOTYPES, which regular Episcopalians can cite, almost as easily a newcomers do!  

Back in Virginia Seminary, we learned a little ditty, sung to the tune of "God Bless America":

"I am an Anglican, One step from Rome
Not a Methodist, Not a Presby,
Not a Baptist, white with foam
I am an Anglican, One step from Rome."

...which suggests more about what we are not than what we are!

Famous comedian and Episcopalian, Robin Williams took a humorous turn in his

Top 10 Reasons to be an Episcopalian
(by Robin Williams, an Episcopalian)

10. No snake handling.
9. You can believe in dinosaurs.
8. Male and female God created them; male and female we ordain them.
7. You don’t have to check your brains at the door.
6. Pew aerobics.
5. Church year is color-coded.
4. Free wine on Sunday.
3. All of the pageantry – none of the guilt.
2. You don’t have to know how to swim to get baptized.
And the Number One reason to be an Episcopalian:
1. No matter what you believe, there’s bound to be at least one other Episcopalian who agrees with you.

Robin captures some of the ways we see ourselves, as well as how others see us, using some catchy catch phrases, that still do not capture more than our somewhat curious, contemporary  and lighthearted image. But if an Episcopalian is someone who has more than an "image," one must go deeper into church history see our "roots" lest we be be judged simply by our "fruits!"

The Episcopal Church itself has taken a stab at declaring its own "unfrozen chosen" identity in an ads which challenge some stereotypes:

 In more thoughtful and comprehensive way, the Episcopal Church placed this ad  in the New York Times:

BEING EPISCOPALIAN

Our Presiding Bishop was asked recently asked to respond to the question:

"If I didn't go to church, what would you tell me to get me to visit an Episcopal Church?"

The "roots" of our way of life, can be found in ancient, as well as contemporary expressions of Christianity. Some have described us as "Orthodox but Open." Others have used the description "Freedom in Tradition." Both point to a church that has sought a balance of both freedom and tradition in Christ.  One of the most historic and essential descriptions of that holy balance was offered to us by Anglican Divine Richard Hooker, in the "three legged (sometimes four)  stool" of Anglican Authority:

Scripture, Tradition, and Reason

Scripture, tradition and reason/experience all have a particular STORY to tell, just as we, have personal and family stories to tell. No one story represents all of us and yet "characteristic" stories emerge, both from our past and also those being written today, as we live out our historic faith in the ever changing contexts of our current lives. 

 Roots of the Episcopal Church

The fruits of those roots emerged in the history of America. The Constitution of the Episcopal Church was written in 1789, the same year as the American Constitution (authored by many of the same "framers," who gave this new expression of Anglicanism a democratic and federal system of governance:

The American Protestant Episcopal Church: Our Continuing Story

The identity of our tradition was and is formed in the balance of unity in Christ and diversity in expression, in what has been called in Latin the "Via Media," or in English, "The Middle Way." 

QUEEN ELIZABETH'S  "VIA MEDIA" VALUES

  Despite our polarities, at times, the CENTER has always held!  We have have sought to balance the best of both Protestant and Catholic faith in our Book of Common Prayer, our governance and our historic hospitality to ideas, as well as people. The Episcopal Church is an "abundant table" that many people can gather around. There is room for each of us at Christ's table, because that table is not ours, it is Christ's table, that we all are invited to share. 

 

But one important question remains. "Why am I an Episcopalian?" The following website will offer you not one, but many answers to that question. Perhaps all but yours! Just click on any picture you choose and hear the 

GOOD NEWS that all of us have to share!

I AM AN EPISCOPALIAN 

Comment (can be posted below):   Why are YOU an Episcopalian?