The Canterbury Trail

I've been asked by several people what is drawing me to Anglicanism. Recently, I picked up a book called Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail, which largely mirrors my own experience. Robert Webber (author of numerous books on post-modern Christianity) talks about his own pilgrimage from a Baptist to an Anglican. I too was raised in Baptist or non-denominational churches (most of them fundamentalist). I was taught who was in and who was out and all about the rules I had to follow. From there, after I married a Presbyterian, I migrated to Reformed churches, where I found an intellectualism that appealed to me, while still leaving me feeling lost. Recently, I've found myself in the unlikely place of attending an Episcopal church. I was raised to believe that this church was "apostate" and outside the realm of Christian orthodoxy. What I found was quite different than what I ever expected.

I found, first, a place of worship. I've always been drawn to and longed for a sense of the transendent-- the presense that overwhelms me in my private prayers and outdoor ramblings, when I know that God is there. For the first time, I found that within a church building. Here I could worship a Triune God will all my senses-- with candles and incense and icons and prayers and readings. Instead of devoid of Scripture, I heard more of the Bible read in the Episcopal church than I ever had in an evangelical one. Most importantly, I found the sacraments. I had always felt that communion was just an appendage in most churches, and I was always so worried that I might not be worthy that I rarely had time to simply meet Christ. Here, the Eucharist took center stage as the priest intoned; "The body of Christ, the bread of life" and "The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation." I met Jesus at the altar in the bread and the wine.

With this, I found a sacramental view of life. I could pray for the preservation of the environment in church. I was encouraged to see the face of Christ in my fellow human beings. "Worldly" elements of fire, water, palm branches, candles, etc; all pointed to a heavenly reality, sanctifying all of life.

I also found a "safe place," a place of hospitality and welcome. I never felt that I could ask questions in evangelical churches, especially if they questioned favorite doctrines. I reached a point in my life that I could suppress the questions no longer. Interestingly, I expected a formal hierachacal church, and found just the opposite. Yes, the Anglican tradition loves its structure, but there is none of the imposition of ideas and authority that I found in conservative Presbyterianism. It has been a place where I could struggle and still be welcome, doubt and still be embraced. It was also a place where I could celebrate my womanhood and be encouraged to find my full potential in the body of Christ, without rules regarding my gender.

Finally, I found a place both ancient and global. Anglicanism is a tradition that stands squarely in the historical Christian faith. Its history does not begin at the Reformation, rather it is both Catholic and Protestant, embracing the wisdom of the ancient church. It is also a global communion, varying widely in ideology, in race, in place of origin, in doctrine, but united by a common faith in a common Savior.