Within
AnglicanismAnglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
the term
churchmanship is sometimes used to refer to distinct understandings of church
doctrineDoctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
and liturgical practice by members of the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and other churches of the Anglican communion. The three principal forms of churchmanship are
low churchLow church is a term of distinction in the Church of England or other Anglican churches initially designed to be pejorative. During the series of doctrinal and ecclesiastic challenges to the established church in the 16th and 17th centuries, commentators and others began to refer to those groups...
,
broad churchBroad church is a term referring to latitudinarian churchmanship in the Church of England, in particular, and Anglicanism, in general. From this, the term is often used to refer to secular political organisations, meaning that they encompass a broad range of opinion.-Usage:After the terms high...
and
high churchThe term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
.
Low churchLow church is a term of distinction in the Church of England or other Anglican churches initially designed to be pejorative. During the series of doctrinal and ecclesiastic challenges to the established church in the 16th and 17th centuries, commentators and others began to refer to those groups...
is now generally also used to refer to the
puritanThe Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
or
evangelicalEvangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
tradition within Anglicanism and
high churchThe term "High Church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality, and resistance to "modernization." Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term has traditionally been principally associated with the...
is now generally also used to refer to the
Anglo-CatholicThe terms Anglo-Catholic and Anglo-Catholicism describe people, beliefs and practices within Anglicanism that affirm the Catholic, rather than Protestant, heritage and identity of the Anglican churches....
tradition.
Broad churchBroad church is a term referring to latitudinarian churchmanship in the Church of England, in particular, and Anglicanism, in general. From this, the term is often used to refer to secular political organisations, meaning that they encompass a broad range of opinion.-Usage:After the terms high...
is generally used for Anglicans whose churchmanship is somewhere between the low and high traditions and is much the same as the tradition historically called
latitudinarianLatitudinarian was initially a pejorative term applied to a group of 17th-century English theologians who believed in conforming to official Church of England practices but who felt that matters of doctrine, liturgical practice, and ecclesiastical organization were of relatively little importance...
.
Within the low church tradition of churchmanship there are some distinct variations such as
charismatic evangelicalThe term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
,
traditional evangelicalEvangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
,
open evangelicalOpen Evangelical refers to a particular Christian school of thought or Churchmanship, primarily in the United Kingdom...
and
conservative evangelicalConservative Evangelicalism is a term used in Britain to describe a theological movement found within Evangelical Protestant Christianity, and is sometimes simply synonymous with Evangelical within the United Kingdom...
. Within the high church tradition there are variations such as traditional Anglo-Catholic, moderate Catholic, modern Catholic,
liberal CatholicLiberal Catholic may refer to:* The Liberal Catholic Church, an independent theosophical denomination not affiliated with Roman Catholicism* A party or theological position within Anglicanism...
, prayer book Catholic and
Anglo-PapalistAnglo-Papalism is a term used to describe a tendency within Anglo-Catholicism whose adherents manifest a particularly high degree of influence from, and even identification with, the Roman Catholic Church....
. The terminology used for churchmanship variations can differ from country to country and the same terms can have some differences in meaning in different places.
In Lutheran churches churchmanship can be liberal Protestant, pietist,
confessional LutheranConfessional Lutheran is a name used by certain Lutheran Christians to designate themselves as those who accept the doctrines taught in the Book of Concord of 1580 in their entirety, because they believe them to be completely faithful to the teachings of the Bible...
, or evangelical Catholic.
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