What is Angliwhaat?!

When someone asks me what church I pastor I am frequently met with some comment thatacknowledges a complete ignorance of what Anglicanism is or where (or even if) it fits within the Christian Church. If you think I am overstating my case, consider this: for the first three years of my ministry my insurance card declared to the world that I was employed by an “angelican” church. I wish that it were so but I readily admit that Anglicans are no more or less angelic than any other denomination within orthodox Christianity.

For those readers who do not know me, I am an Anglican priest and church planter. The majority of men and women who come to our little parish church are not coming from an “Anglican” background. Some are coming from no church background at all. But a good number are coming from other evangelical Protestant church traditions. They come to Anglicanism for the unique blend of worship we offer up on Sundays. Some come to our congregation for the dynamic community. Some even come simply because we are a church plant and they want to be a part of what God is doing through that. In most of these cases though, they come with very little prior experience or knowledge of Anglicanism.

Over the last several years as I have had conversations with those who come and visit and worship with us, I have found myself continually frustrated that I do not have a good, contemporary primer on what the Anglican Church is, and what She believes. I have found nothing written specifically for people who are not interested in plowing through theological and historical tomes. So I began a series at our church entitled “Angli-whaa?!” as a way to educate the parish and also as preparation for confirmation and reception. Recently though I have had a number of conversations with parishioners and interested parties alike that would like to keep the conversation started in "Angli-whaa?!" going. And that is where this blog comes in.

It is my sincere hope that this can be a place where interested lay people can find answers to satisfy their curiosity and their desire to know more about the Anglican Church. I will endeavor to post vignettes from the history of Anglicanism, articles on the central doctrines of the faith and tidbits about the liturgical worship of the Church as Anglicans typically practice it. In addition, I want this blog to be as useful to the reader and as interactive as possible. As such, please feel free to leave comments and ask questions. It is my sincere hope that this will be a place of learning and edification that will keep the Angli-whaa?! conversation moving forward.

Toward that end - if you are reading this blog and have come to it with questions already in mind, please leave your questions in the comments section of this post and I will try to tackle them in due course.

The Lord bless you as you journey along with us on the Canterbury trail.