Hello everyone, Cradle Anglican here, who has a newfound passion for our faith. You see, I grew up in the heretical Episcopal Church, seldom attending mass. When I did attend, we sang nice hymns, recited the Creed, but it was your typical broad church, liberal congregation, overall rather indifferent to theology and moral beliefs. The first time that I learned about historic Anglicanism was actually from an encyclopedia I read in middle school. There was a section on the English Reformation, which listed the 39 Articles. At first, I was shocked at what I read. They were so very different from the faith I grew up in, and , seemed stark dogmatic, and even puritanical. I decided I wanted nothing to do with them. For years, I scoured books and the internet, looking for criticism of the Articles wherever I could find it; I was utterly convinced that they were contrary to both the bible and church history. Then I discovered the Tractarians; words cannot express how overjoyed I was at having found a group of Anglicans who disapproved of evangelical dominance in the Church as I; who shamelessly revived the Catholic practices which were lost in the tragic-but-necessary Reformation. As I dug further however, I was disappointed once again when I realized the harsh low-church backlash the Oxford movement had faced. It seemed if I wanted my beliefs to be rooted in history (which I still do to this day) I would have to look elsewhere for a spiritual home. Naturally, my first instinct was to look to Lutheranism. It soon became quite clear, however, that they embraced many of the beliefs I wanted to escape from. Next, I considered the Eastern Orthodox Church, but was quickly discouraged by the fact that most nearby congregations were mono-ethnic "Greek" or "Russian" parishes, whose languages I couldn't understand. Later I looked into Catholicism, but was confronted with the uncomfortable reality that they had too many doctrines that were hard to believe like "papal infallibility", the "immaculate conception", and "perpetual virginity." My search for the True Church was looking more and more bleak Then, last month, everything changed. It came to me as an epiphany, seemingly out of nowhere, that the historic Anglican Standards. the Articles, the Prayer Book, and Catechism, DID teach the Catholic faith of the church Fathers, only in a reformed context. Since that day I have really begun to appreciate classical Anglicanism; I can see the points where it has retained parts of the ancient faith lost by other Protestants, and that it is historically and biblically true. I've really fallen in love with the liturgy, and can recognize it's catholicity. I now consider myself a fully-fledged Reformed Catholic, with Caroline leanings in terms of ceremony, who is looking for a new demoninational home. Sorry for the Long-winded post, I just wanted to share my story in case it interests any of you. In Christ, DeusExMachina
Welcome to the forums DeusExMachina! Many good people here, some perhaps more passionate than others but they've all made me feel welcomed and I hope you enjoy participating here. Blessings to you
Welcome DEM, good to hear your story. I've only recently joined the forum and have been made welcome. There are some great people here! I hope you enjoy being involved in the conversations.