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InAnglican Christianity, the termlow church refers to those who give little emphasis toritual, often having an emphasis onpreaching, individual salvation and personalconversion.[1][2] The term is most often used in aliturgical sense, denoting aProtestant emphasis, whereas "high church" denotes an emphasis on ritual, oftenAnglo-Catholic.
The term was initially pejorative. During the series of doctrinal and ecclesiastic challenges to theestablished church in the 17th century, commentators and others – who favoured the theology, worship, and hierarchical structure ofAnglicanism (such as theepiscopate) as the true form of Christianity – began referring to that outlook (and the related practices) as "high church",[3] and by the early 18th century those theologians and politicians who sought more reform in the English church and a greater liberalisation of church structure were in contrast called "low church".
To an outsider, the difference between high church and low church may not be immediately obvious. There is a strong tradition of spiritual flexibility in Anglicanism, and many churches do not wish to exclude those who prefer one or the other. Most local churches do not identify as one or the other, and may try to accommodate many forms of worship. Churches that are more lax in ritual generally do not advertise as such, and the vast majority of Anglican churches, including most low church congregations, follow some kind of fixed liturgy. Low-church congregations, however, typically have plainer-looking churches, prefer modern language, have some aspects ofcontemporary worship, and include more roles forlaypersons during service. One definite indicator of a low-church parish are infrequent services for performing sacraments such as theEucharist. Many low-church parishes are strongly influenced byevangelicalism and individualreligious experience, resulting in a tradition calledEvangelical Anglicanism.
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The termlow church was used in the early part of the 18th century as the equivalent of the termLatitudinarian in that it was used to refer to values that provided much latitude in matters of discipline and faith. The term was in contradistinction to the termhigh church, or high churchmen, which applied to those who valued the exclusive authority of the Established Church, the episcopacy and the sacramental system.[4]
Low churchmen wished to toleratePuritan opinions within the Church of England, though they might not be in agreement with Puritan liturgical practices. The movement to bringSeparatists, and in particularPresbyterians, back into the Church of England ended with theAct of Toleration 1689 for the most part. ThoughLow church continued to be used for those clergy holding a more liberal view ofDissenters, the term eventually fell into disuse.
Both terms were revived in the 19th century when theTractarian movement brought the term "high churchman" into vogue. The terms were again used in a modified sense, now used to refer to those who exalted the idea of the Church as a catholic entity as the body of Christ, and the sacramental system as the divinely given means of grace. A low churchman now became the equivalent of anevangelical Anglican, the designation of the movement associated with the name ofCharles Simeon, which held the necessity of personal conversion to be of primary importance.[4]
At the same time, Latitudinarian changed tobroad church, or broad churchmen, designating those who most valued the ethical teachings of the Church and minimised the value oforthodoxy. The revival of pre-Reformation ritual by many of the high church clergy led to the designationritualist being applied to them in a somewhat contemptuous sense. However, the terms high churchman and ritualist have often been wrongly treated as interchangeable. The high churchman of the Catholic type is further differentiated from the earlier use of what is sometimes described as the "high and dry type" of the period before theOxford Movement.[4]
In contemporary usage, "low churches" place more emphasis on theProtestant nature of Anglicanism than broad or high churches and are usuallyEvangelical in their belief andconservative (although not necessarilytraditional) in practice. They may tend to favour liturgy such as theCommon Worship overBook of Common Prayer, services of Morning and Evening Prayer over the Eucharist, and many use the minimum of formal liturgy permitted by church law. TheDiocese of Sydney has largely abandoned the Prayer Book and uses free-form evangelical services.
Some contemporary low churches also incorporate elements ofcharismatic Christianity.
More traditional low church Anglicans, under the influence ofCalvinist orReformed thought inherited from the Reformation era, reject the doctrine that thesacraments confergraceex opere operato (e.g., baptismal regeneration) and lay stress on theBible as the ultimate source of authority in matters of faith necessary for salvation.[4] They are often prepared to cooperate with otherProtestants on nearly equal terms. Some low church Anglicans of the Reformed party consider themselves the only faithful adherents of historic Anglicanism and emphasise theThirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England as an official doctrinal statement of the Anglican tradition.[5]
Several provinces of theAnglican Communion in Asia have merged with Protestant churches. TheChurch of South India arose out of a merger of the southern province of the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon (Anglican), the Methodist Church of South India and the South India United Church (aCongregationalist,Reformed andPresbyterian united church) in 1947.[6] In the 1990s a small number ofBaptist andPentecostal churches joined also the union.
In 1970 the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon, the United Church of North India, the Baptist Churches of Northern India, theChurch of the Brethren in India, theMethodist Church (British and Australia Conferences) and theDisciples of Christ denominations merged to form theChurch of North India. Also in 1970 the Anglicans, Presbyterians (Church of Scotland),United Methodists andLutherans of Churches in Pakistan merged into theChurch of Pakistan.[7] The Church of Bangladesh is the result of a merge of Anglican and Presbyterian churches.[8]
In the 1960s theMethodist Church of Great Britain madeecumenical overtures to theChurch of England, aimed at church unity. These formally failed when they were rejected by the Church of England'sGeneral Synod in 1972.[9] In 1981, a covenant project was proposed between the Church of England, the Methodist Church in Great Britain, theUnited Reformed Church and theMoravian Church.[10]
In 1982 the United Reformed Church voted in favour of the covenant, which would have meant remodelling its elders and moderators as bishops and incorporating its ministry into the apostolic succession. The Church of England rejected the covenant. Conversations and co-operation continued leading in 2003 to the signing of a covenant between the Church of England and the Methodist Church of Great Britain.[11] From the 1970s onward, the Methodist Church was involved in several "Local Ecumenical Projects" (LEPs) with neighbouring denominations usually with the Church of England, theBaptists or with the United Reformed Church, which involved sharing churches, schools and in some cases ministers.
In the Church of England,Anglo-Catholics are often opposed to unity with Protestants, which can reduce hope of unity with theRoman Catholic Church. Accepting women Protestant ministers would also make unity with theSee of Rome more difficult.[12]
In the 1990s and early 2000s theScottish Episcopal Church (Anglican), theChurch of Scotland (Presbyterian), the Methodist Church of Great Britain and the United Reformed Church were all parts of the "Scottish Churches Initiative for Union" (SCIFU) for seeking greater unity.[13] The attempt stalled following the withdrawal of the Church of Scotland in 2003.[14][15]
In 2002 theChurch of Ireland, which is generally on the low church end of the spectrum of world Anglicanism, signed a covenant for greater cooperation and potential ultimate unity with theMethodist Church in Ireland.[16]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Low Churchman".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 72.
