Diversity in the Episcopal Church

For my Anglican Life and Tradition course there is a specific focus of the diversity within the Anglican Communion.  We are looking at this focus from different perspectives and right now we are looking at the early history of the Church of England and the initial formation of the Communion.  Over the last three weeks I have been reading articles and books about Henry VIII and the church that he instituted and which was then further developed and defined over the next 200 years.  I have a four page reflection paper due next week that asks me to briefly describe how the diversity of Anglicanism is identified in a chosen set of readings, explain how tat diversity illustrates the nature of Anglican ethos and identity, and then wrap it all up with my own experience of Christian ministry.  That is a lot to fit into a four page paper so I am not actually worried about being able to write something that fits the parameters.  But I have been looking back upon the last few months and the diversity that I have experienced within the Episcopal Church.

Over the past month I have now visited three different churches with three very different communities.  All of this is then coupled with the services that I have experienced in the chapel, usually twice a day, and it is amazing just how diverse the services are within the Episcopal Church which is indicative of the wider church.

Let's take Grace Cathedral.  Given the fact that it is the seat of of the diocese of California and therefore carries with it a certain amount of expectation in the way the services are conducted.  Since they have the resources they have a renowned choir, many different outreach programs, educational opportunities and fully live out all of the "smells and bells" that can accompany a typical Rite II service.  The congregation that they minister to is that of tourists, travelers and there is a core group of regular parishioners who call the cathedral home.

On the other hand if we look at St. Alban's you will find that it is the opposite end of the spectrum.  The church is itself is more modern in design and modest in terms of size of congregation.  There was no incense or parade of choir and ministers, there weren't kids running around, but it was a typical suburban neighborhood parish.  What makes this setting so interesting is the deep relationships that the parishioners share with each other because they live in close proximity to each other and the church.  When I arrived last Sunday it felt like being welcomed into one of their homes as a guest, it was that warm and caring.  The music was familiar and the congregation was invited to participate in the service as much as possible.

If you really want to see the variety in the ways of worship within the Episcopal Church, come worship at our chapel for a week and you will see some interesting things.  I was amazed at first because I wasn't aware of all of the supplemental materials that exists.  These supplemental services are variations on the traditional Book of Common Prayer but that have been developed and adapted over many years.  At our chapel we cycle through these various services over a three week period so that we, as future priests in the church, become very familiar with the diversity of services available.

As you can see there is breadth of options that one can find in the way we do "church" and that from that diversity we can express our faith and worship God in many different ways.  The service is just but one example of how diverse the Episcopal Church is and the Anglican Communion for that matter.  I won't even begin to get into the diversity of ways in which we understand and interpret scriptures...at least not right now.  (A preview of things to come???)