Always Reforming

I recently shared my journey to Anglicanism, or, more accurately, as I am still on my journey to Anglicanism, my journey to St. John's Anglican Church.  Our family is not looking for another church body, but we are still relatively new to this particular Christian tradition, so we are still exploring its history, theology, and practice.  Anyone who has ever made such a significant change in their religious life knows that this is, or at least ought to be, an exciting and sometimes confusing process.  As I explained in my previous post, I shared this journey primarily for personal catharsis and journaling.  Blogging is a way that I organize my thoughts and develop the ideas that are bouncing around in my head.  Today I am going to begin a series called Things I Like about Anglicanism .  As I explore this rich tradition, I am finding much that is similar to the tradition in which I was raised (Presbyterianism), but I am also finding much that is different....

    It never ceases to amaze me how vitriolic we Reformed folks can be towards those who believe and worship differently than we do.  If pressed for an answer for why we are like this, I would say that it is because we like to "principlize" our traditions.  We do things a certain way and we like to think that we do those things for good reasons.  If you don't follow the consensus, you are wrong, even if your reasons for doing so are grounded in logical deductions from Scripture.  Okay, victim rant over.     One such issue that seems to draw much ire is the interval at which we celebrate the Lord's Table (the Lord's Supper, Communion, the Eucharist, or whatever you call it).  I hold to a view often called Weekly Communion.  To some people it is a non-issue, but how often you celebrate the Table says quite a bit about the value you place upon it.  Many churches celebrate it as rarely as once a year. Many churches celebrate it quarte...