u/Dazzling-Antelope210

I pray that this question does not come off as antagonistic because I really don’t mean it as such.

In the past, I’ve described Episcopalianism as practically the “liturgical form of non-denominationalism with bishops,” and that description was extremely unpopular. People claimed that the Episcopal Church has its own doctrine. What is it? If I were going to answer that question myself, I would point to the 1801 Revision of the 39 Articles of Religion, but that doesn’t seem to be the correct answer as people point out that the Episcopal Church is not a confessional church. I would then point to the Catechism and to the creeds, but even aspects of those are debated within the Episcopal Church.

If the creeds and the catechism aren’t binding, if the 39 Articles of Religion isn’t a confessional document, but also the Episcopal Church is not the liturgical form of non-denominationalism with bishops… what on earth is the doctrine of the Episcopal Church? I legitimately don’t know how to answer the question “What is the Episcopal Church?” anymore because it seems that every answer I say is incorrect. 

So the bracketed paragraph within Article 35 about the Book of Homilies says "This Article is received in this Church, so far as it declares the Books of Homilies to be an explication of Christian doctrine, and instructive in piety and morals. But all references to the constitution and laws of England are considered as inapplicable to the circumstances of this Church; which also suspends the order for the reading of said Homilies in churches, until a revision of them may be conveniently made, for the clearing of them, as well from obsolete words and phrases, as from the local references."

Was this revision ever made? Unfortunately I rarely see any mention of the Book of Homilies within Anglican resources but I’ve never seen or heard of an actual revision being made to make them more “American.”

What is the difference between OPC, PCA, and EPC? I know how they’re different from PCUSA, but I’m not really sure how they’re different from each other...

What is the PCUSA like? I know they ordain women and are inclusive but do they still uphold the Westminster Standards?

Are there other high-church Reformed denominations other than Anglicanism within the United States (New England area)? I want both a high-church liturgy, but I also want Reformed theology and not doctrinal chaos.

I’m looking at study Bibles to get. I already have the “main” Reformed study Bibles (ESV, Ligonier, Reformation Heritage). But I’m curious about the Thomas Nelson’s NKJV Study Bible? Even if it’s not in your face about being Reformed, is it still good? I notice some of the contributors are from Dallas Seminary. Does it have a dispensational lean to it or is it rather neutral on that topic? 

(Amazon link so you know which one I’m talking about: https://a.co/d/086ueMfX )

*Note: I’m not trying to make a broad, sweeping generalization about the Episcopal Church. I’m basing my thoughts on my own experiences, what I see and hear from others, and what appears in official resources. While, based on what I’ve seen and heard, I do believe it’s the significant majority, I do realize and acknowledge that this is not an issue in every single parish within the Church. I also BEG comments to be respectful and charitable because I really don’t want this post to be locked but rather have a real and thoughtful conversation.

Membership within the Episcopal Church and other mainline denominations continues to shrink, and it’s mostly our own fault.

There are parishes, priests, and bishops within the Episcopal Church that blatantly and consistently disagree with articles of the Creeds, Scripture, and the catechism. We have priests who deny the very existence of God within the Episcopal Church and face zero consequences. We have priests who begin their sermons with “I do not like this passage.” With a total disregard for the respect that Scripture demands. People look at the Episcopal Church and frankly don’t see a church but see an organization whose priority is on social justice and politics, and only if we have time, we will talk about Jesus. Outsiders, and even some insiders like myself, do not see a Church that is focused on the gospel, the message of salvation through Christ, encompassing His life, death, resurrection, but rather a political organization and social club. I do not have any issue with a church advocating for social justice. In fact, I support it. My issue is that social justice now appears to be the MAIN PRIORITY of the Episcopal Church rather than an effect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Episcopal Church married the age of the 1960s-1970s, and we are currently seeing her being widowed. Like with every church, a church that marries the age will be widowed in the next. We currently are seeing conservative offshoot churches grow while mainline churches continue to shrink, and I truly believe that the respective rapid growth/shrinkage doesn’t have much to do with politics as people think. But rather that the majority of people do not find that their souls are being nourished within the mainline churches. I do not currently see a place where those who are orthodox-minded (even if inclusive) are welcomed within the Episcopal Church. If it weren’t for an incredibly rude interaction with the bishop whose jurisdiction I would be under within the Anglican Church of North America, I would have joined them. Even though I’m gay and even though I support women’s ordination.

I also see enemies of the Church taking advantage of this situation. Using rather rash and unjust judgements against women’s ordination and same-sex marriage. They see a church that ordains women and weds gay people and they also see the errors, the heresy, the countless schisms and say “see, the sufferings of this Church? This is the result of women’s ordination and same-sex marriage. We must oppose these ideas or else we will become like them” I do not believe that they are at all related but it’s rather difficult providing an example of this within our Church.

In a certain sense, the Episcopal Church and even the broader Anglican Communion are simply the liturgical and organized version of non-denominationalism. I don’t really want this to change; I love that I can walk into a Church and find an Anglo-Catholic who is two doctrines away from just being a Roman Catholic sitting next to a staunch Calvinist. I love how we do not find our unity in a pope or a long and narrow confessional document but rather in the Book of Common Prayer, Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. But there have to be some guardrails, and historically that has been the creeds and the rather large-in-scope Articles of Religion, even if they haven’t been a binding authority within TEC. 

I know that the Church is built on the rock; the faith of the apostles and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it, and I have zero doubt that eventually the pendulum will swing back. I do worry about how much damage will be dealt to souls and to our blessed and beloved Church before that.

What do you think? What do you think the future of the Episcopal Church looks like? How do you think we should heal our Church? 

(I know I can use my phone, but I don’t like to.)

Are there any affordable one-volume Reformed Bible commentaries out there? I keep finding either study Bibles or massive and expensive commentary sets. 

So I’m buying sewing supplies, and this is what I have in my cart so far:

Safety pins, sewing needles, thimbles, thread, seam ripper, thread cutter, rotary cutter, fabric scissors, sewing ruler, cutting mat, tape measure, sewing pins, sewing clips, sewing chalk, and a sewing machine.

 Is there anything else I should add to this list? 

I hear a lot of people talking about how the average reading scores in this nation (the US) are low, and I don’t believe I’m an exception to that. I think that my reading score is around tenth grade. (Which is the grade I was in when schools shut down due to COVID.) Thinking back, I didn’t really have the best education. I remember that our version of reading the Odyssey was reading some (not even all) chapters from the graphic novel adaptation. I’m now in my early 20s, and I’m at university, and most of the time I have zero idea what the textbooks are saying. I know the words, I can pronounce them correctly, but if I was asked to give a summary of the text that I just read, I know I couldn’t do it. I read twelve books last year. I can probably only tell you about three of them. (And I think the main reason I remember one of them is simply because one of the most iconic horror films is based on it. Rosemary’s Baby.) It’s gotten to the point where it’s just embarrassing and affecting my grades. I’m aware that in order to improve my reading score, I need to read more, but what do I actually read? I’m assuming not all genres are considered equal here? What else can I do?

I was going to get the Fortress Commentary on the Bible because it's from Fortress Press, which is an imprint of Augsburg Fortress, but it doesn't seem to be specifically Lutheran-tailored.

How are people justified and saved in the Orthodox Church? Is it the same as Roman Catholicism?

Are there distinctions between sins like venial and mortal?

Is confession strongly recommended or is it actually required, or would one be condemned to Hell?