Frequently Asked Questions
We are Episcopalians. Our practices
may be strange and perhaps even uncomfortable for you at first. Here
are answers to some of the questions we hear from newcomers--or that we
remember we had when we became Episcopalians (most of us are not
"cradle Episcopalians"). For even more information, check out our Glossary page and our Links to other sites.
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Questions
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Answers
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| What is the Episcopal Church about, really?
What's your "claim to fame?" |
Here's the Episcopal Church's "Brand Strategy
Statement:" For those looking for more meaning and deepened spirituality,
The Episcopal Church offers honest and unconditional acceptance, which
removes barriers to Jesus Christ and permits belonging to an authentic
church community. |
| What do you believe about homosexuals? | Grace
Church prides itself on having active members who are young and old,
male and female, black and white, native-born and immigrant, and yes,
gay and straight. In recent years, we have called two gay men to be our
priests. The Episcopal Church has determined that church membership will not be determined on "marital status, sex, or sexual orientation." |
| What about the role of women in the church? | At this time, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church is a woman. Need we say more? |
| I was baptised elsewhere (in another church, in a lake by a friend, etc). Do you recognise my baptism? | The
Episcopal Church, along with the Roman Catholic Church and most other
main line churches, recognises any baptism done with the water in the
name of the Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit).
Further, there’s
no such thing as being baptized twice. If a person isn’t sure
about his or her baptism, then a conditional baptism can be done,
saying, “If you are not already baptized, then I baptize you in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
The
Episcopal Church believes that becoming a Christian means becoming a
member of a Christian community. In the Episcopal Church, baptism is
normally done during a regular worship service so the congregation can
welcome the newly baptized person into the community.
There
is nothing that a baptized person needs to do to become a member of the
Episcopal Church (other than to ask that his or her name be put on the
register, and to participate). However, if a person wants a more formal
recognition of his or her decision to join the church and community,
the rite of Confirmation is available. |
| Do you really say
the same words every Sunday? Where does spontaneity come in? |
There are
variations, but we do pretty much follow the script in the Book of
Common Prayer during our public worship. Having a script
allows everyone, clergy and laity, to learn their parts and to
participate, and participation not only makes for great worship, it
expresses the meaning of being part of a Christian community
The texts used have developed over a period of 2000 years and are deep
enough and subtle enough to be inspirational over a lifetime of
use. Spontaneity comes as we worship and study individually
or in small groups. |
| Why do you have
Communion every Sunday? Doesn't that cheapen it? |
We have
Eucharist
(Communion) almost every Sunday in celebration of Christ's resurrection on the
first day of the week. This practice dates from the first
century, and originated in the meals to which Jesus invited all sorts
and conditions of people. God's saving act reconciling the
world to himself is so important and yet so hard to internalize that it
bears repeating. |
| Can I take
Communion? |
Yes! Not only are
you welcome, you are invited! It is the Lord's table, and He invites
you to it. |
| Do you really
drink wine at Communion? |
Yes we drink wine
and eat bread at Communion. If either presents a problem for
you, it is ok to take just the other. |
| How do I receive
Communion? |
When you kneel or
stand at the altar rail, you will be offered a wafer of consecrated
bread and a sip of consecrated wine from the common chalice.
The usual way to receive the bread is
to place your right hand in your left, and to extend your open palms
toward the server. To receive the wine from the chalice, it is helpful
if you guide the chalice from the base of it to your lips. If you
prefer to dip the wafer into the wine, you may dip it yourself or you
may hand it to the chalice bearer to dip into the wine. Or you may
choose not to receive the wine.
If you do not wish to receive
communion, you are still invited to come to the altar rail to receive a
blessing from the priest. Please indicate this by folding your arms
across your chest.
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| Isn't sipping
wine from a common cup unsanitary? |
Those who have
studied the question tell us that this practice is no more dangerous
than the usual contact with other people, such as shaking hands. We
know of no instance where disease has been spread through use of the
common cup. If you are uncomfortable with this practice, you may take
bread only at Communion. |
| You do a lot of
kneeling, standing and sitting. How do I know what to do
when? And what's it all about anyway? |
Traditionally, we
have said that we stand to sing, kneel to pray and sit to
listen. But sometimes we stand when we pray and sit when we
sing. And sometimes some people stand while others are
kneeling. What you are seeing is a mixture of traditions,
especially with respect to prayer, where both standing and kneeling are
considered to be respectful postures. Don't worry getting it
"right." Episcopalians usually grant others the independence
of thought and action that they expect for themselves. |
| What do I call
the clergy? |
It varies,
depending on the person. Episcopal clergy may want to be
called "Father Jones" or "Father Joe" or "Ms" or "Mrs." or "Mother" or
"Mr." or "Joe," or "Mary." The only way to really know is to
ask. There is one almost-certain rule: Episcopalians never address
their priest as "Reverend." "The Reverend" is used as a title
when referring to a priest in the third person. |
| Where did the
Episcopal Church come from? |
Our church
inherits many centuries of catholic and apostolic tradition.
Missionaries brought Christianity to England in the second century. The
faith flourished and became organized as the Church of England in the
16th century. English colonists brought the Anglican
(English) Church to the United States. After the American Revolution,
it separated from the Church of England and became known as the
Episcopal Church. |
| But King Henry
the VIII was your founder, right? |
Christ was our
founder. There was an English Christian Church from the
second century or so. What Henry and his Parliament did was
to declare that the English Church was again independent from and equal
to the Roman Church as had been other national churches (the Greek and
the Ethiopian churches, for example) since the beginning. |
| I see people
crossing themselves. Am I expected to? What's it
mean? |
As with many
Episcopal customs, crossing oneself is optional. Making the
sign of the cross was used from the earliest times to
sanctify every action of daily life from morning to night.
Presently it usually signifies giving or receiving a blessing. |
| Do you have a
pope? |
No, in fact
Anglicans have no central authority as such. A worldwide
Anglican Church does not exist, at least not in the form that one might
think. There are nearly 40 independent Anglican churches, none of which
has authority over any other. The Episcopal Church in the United States
is one of these Anglican churches. The Anglican Communion has no Pope,
no
Patriarch, no overall director nor any Parliament or Congress
either. See Anglican.
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| Then you're
Protestants, right? |
Not really, even
though the name of the Episcopal Church used to contain the word
"protestant." We like to think of ourselves as the "via
media"--the middle way-- between protestants and Roman
Catholics. We are both catholic and evangelical with roots
going back to the historic Episcopate
of the Apostles. We are one part of the Holy Catholic and
Apostolic Church. |
| What do you
believe? |
The best way to
find out what Episcopalians believe is to participate in our worship
and join us in our work in the world. The three basic sources of our
beliefs are scripture, tradition and reason. The Nicene
and Apostles' Creeds, two ancient and
ecumenical professions of faith second only to scripture, summarize
these beliefs. A more complete summary of our beliefs is
found in the Catechism
in the Book of Common Prayer. On a lighter note, you might enjoy Top
10 Reasons to be an Episcopalian by Robin Williams. |
| Do you have
Sacraments? |
Yes. A
sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual
grace. The two great sacraments given by Christ to his Church are Baptism and Eucharist (Communion).
Other sacramental rites which evolved in the Church include Confirmation,
Ordination, Holy Matrimony, Reconciliation of a Penitent (confession),
and Unction (healing). |
| Do you have
private confession?
Are Episcopalians expected to go to confession? |
Yes we have
private confession, which we call
Reconciliation
of a Penitent, and any priest can and will offer you this
sacrament. But we don't have confessionals and we don't
require private confession. Virtually every public worship
service we do contains a prayer of confession followed by an
absolution. |
| How do I join the
Episcopal Church? |
We expect all
Episcopalians to be Baptized.
Nothing more is required to participate in the life of the church. If
you want to be baptized, contact us to make arrangements.
If you wish to make a public, adult,
affirmation of faith, you may choose to be Confirmed at the
next bishop's visitation. If you were already confirmed in a church in
the apostolic succession, you would instead be Received.
In any case, you always have the
option of publicly reaffirming your baptismal vows, even after
confirmation, if you so choose--but this is a highly personal matter,
and not in any way required.
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| How do I join
Grace Church? |
It's simple: Let
us know you want to be a member, and we'll add you to our membership
list. If you are a member of another church, we will submit
the transfer request to your former church. |
