View source for Low church

{{short description|Christian denominations without much ritual}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}

{{update|date=July 2017}}{{Anglicanism}}
In [[Anglican]] [[Christianity]], the term '''''low church''''' refers to those who give little emphasis to [[Christian liturgy|ritual]], often having an emphasis on [[preaching]], individual salvation, and personal [[religious conversion|conversion]].<ref>[https://www.episcopalchurch.org/glossary/low-church/  Episcopal Church website, Glossary section, ''Low Church'']</ref><ref>[https://www.compellingtruth.org/high-church-low-church.html Compelling Truth website, ''What are 'High Church' and 'Low Church'?'']</ref> The term is most often used in a [[Christian liturgy|liturgical]] sense, denoting a [[Protestant]] emphasis, whereas ''[[high church]]'' denotes an emphasis on ritual, often [[Anglo-Catholic]] (with respect to Anglicanism) and [[Evangelical Catholic]] (with respect to Lutheranism).

The term was initially pejorative. During the series of doctrinal and ecclesiastic challenges to the [[established church]] in the 17th century, commentators and others – who favoured the theology, worship, and hierarchical structure of [[Anglicanism]] (such as the [[episcopate]]) as the true form of Christianity – began referring to that outlook (and the related practices) as ''[[high church]]'',<ref>[https://www.anglican.ca/ask/faq/high-low-church/  The Anglican Church of Canada website, '' “High” and “Low” Church '']</ref> 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 of [[contemporary worship]], and include more roles for [[Laity|layperson]]s during service. One definite indicator of a low-church parish is infrequent services for performing sacraments such as the [[Eucharist]]. Many low-church parishes are strongly influenced by [[evangelicalism]] and individual [[religious experience]], resulting in a tradition called [[Evangelical Anglicanism]].

==Historical use==
[[File:A British Janus (BM 1868,0808.3424).jpg|thumb|1709 satirical [[Broadside (printing)|broadside]] with an [[engraving]] showing a [[Janus]] figure preaching, the left half showing a bishop in a pulpit, the right half a puritan in a tub.]]
[[File:Adolph Tidemand - Low Church Devotion - Google Art Project (9QGXjFzX4Caijw).jpg|thumb|"Low Church [[Anglican devotions|Devotion]]" ([[Adolph Tidemand]], 1852)]]
The term ''low church'' was used in the early part of the 18th century as the equivalent of the term ''[[Latitudinarian]]'' 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 term ''[[high church]]'', or high churchmen, which applied to those who valued the exclusive authority of the Established Church, the episcopacy and the sacramental system.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Low Churchman |volume=17 |page=72 |inline=1}}</ref>

Low churchmen wished to tolerate [[Puritan]] opinions within the Church of England, though they might not be in agreement with Puritan liturgical practices. The movement to bring [[Separatists]], and in particular [[Presbyterians]], back into the Church of England ended with the [[Act of Toleration 1689]] for the most part.  Though ''Low church'' continued to be used for those clergy holding a more liberal view of [[Dissenters]], the term eventually fell into disuse.

Both terms were revived in the 19th century when the [[Tractarian 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 an [[Evangelical Anglicanism|evangelical Anglican]], the designation of the movement associated with the name of [[Charles Simeon]], which held the necessity of personal conversion to be of primary importance.<ref name=EB1911/>

At the same time, Latitudinarian changed to ''[[broad church]]'', or broad churchmen, designating those who most valued the ethical teachings of the Church and minimised the value of [[orthodoxy]]. The revival of pre-[[English Reformation|Reformation]] ritual by many of the high church clergy led to the designation ''[[ritualism|ritualist]]'' 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 the [[Oxford Movement]].<ref name=EB1911/>

==Modern use==
In contemporary usage, "low churches" place more emphasis on the [[Reformed Christianity|Reformed]] [[Protestant]] nature of Anglicanism than broad or high churches and are usually [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical]] in their belief and [[wikt:conservative#Adjective|conservative]] (although not necessarily ''traditional'') in practice. They may tend to favour liturgy such as the ''[[Common Worship]]'' over ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]'', services of Morning and Evening Prayer over the Eucharist, and many use the minimum of formal liturgy permitted by church law. The [[Anglican Diocese of Sydney|Diocese of Sydney]] has largely abandoned the Prayer Book and uses free-form evangelical services. 

Some contemporary low churches also incorporate elements of [[Charismatic movement|charismatic Christianity]].

More traditional low church Anglicans, under the influence of [[Calvinist]] or [[Reformed tradition|Reformed]] thought inherited from the Reformation era, reject the doctrine that the [[sacrament]]s confer [[divine grace|grace]] ''[[ex opere operato]]'' (e.g., baptismal regeneration) and lay stress on the [[Bible]] as the ultimate source of authority in matters of faith necessary for salvation.<ref name=EB1911/> They are often prepared to cooperate with other [[Protestant]]s on nearly equal terms. Some low church Anglicans of the Reformed party consider themselves the only faithful adherents of historic Anglicanism and emphasise the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]] of the Church of England as an official doctrinal statement of the Anglican tradition.<Ref>[https://www.reformedanglican.us/blog/2016/4/20/gleaning-what-is-reformed-anglicanism Reformed Anglican website, ''Gleaning - What is Reformed Anglicanism?'', article by H Barton dated April 20, 2016]</ref>

==Ecumenical relationships==

===United churches with other Protestants in Asia===
Several provinces of the [[Anglican Communion]] in Asia have merged with other Protestant churches. The [[Church 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 (a [[Congregationalist]], [[Reformed tradition|Reformed]] and [[Presbyterian]] united church) in 1947.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Church-of-South-India Britannica website, ''Church of South India'']</ref> In the 1990s a small number of [[Baptist]] and [[Pentecostal]] churches joined also the union. 

In 1970 the [[Church of India, Burma and Ceylon|Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon]], the United Church of North India, the Baptist Churches of Northern India, the [[Church of the Brethren]] in India, the [[Methodist]] Church (British and Australia Conferences) and the [[Disciples of Christ]] denominations merged to form the [[Church of North India]]. Also in 1970 the Anglican, Presbyterian (Church of Scotland), [[United Methodist]] and [[Lutheran]] Churches in Pakistan merged into the [[Church of Pakistan]].<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Church-of-Pakistan Britannica website, ''Church of Pakistan'']</ref> The Church of Bangladesh is the result of a merger of Anglican and Presbyterian churches.<ref>[https://churchofbangladesh.org/about/foundation/#:~:text=Church%20of%20Bangladesh%20Evolved&text=Therefore%2C%20the%20Synod%20of%20the,of%20the%20Church%20of%20Bangladesh.  Church of Bangladesh website, ''Who We Are'']</ref>

===Great Britain and Ireland===
In the 1960s the [[Methodist Church of Great Britain]] made [[ecumenical]] overtures to the [[Church of England]], aimed at church unity. These formally failed when they were rejected by the Church of England's [[General Synod]] in 1972.<ref>[https://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/articles/ministry-ecclesiology-and-theological-tidiness-reflections-on-the-history-of-anglican-methodist-unity/  Fulcrum Anglican website, ''Ministry, ecclesiology and theological tidiness: Reflections on the history of Anglican-Methodist unity'', article by Peter Webster dated February 7, 2018]</ref> In 1981, a covenant project was proposed between the Church of England, the Methodist Church in Great Britain, the [[United Reformed Church]] and the [[Moravian Church]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anglican-methodist.org.uk/ |title=Church of England/Methodist Church Covenant}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anglican-methodist.org.uk/ |title=Church of England/Methodist Church Covenant}}</ref> From the 1970s onward, the Methodist Church was involved in several "Local Ecumenical Projects" (LEPs) with neighbouring denominations usually with the Church of England, the [[Baptists]] or with the United Reformed Church, which involved sharing churches, schools and in some cases ministers.

In the Church of England, Anglicans of [[Anglo-Catholic]] churchmanship are often opposed to unity with other Protestants, which can reduce hope of unity with the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. Accepting women Protestant ministers would also make unity with the [[See of Rome]] more difficult.<ref>[https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2024/02/02/anglican-catholic-christian-unity-summit-247105 America Jesuit Review website, ''A short history of Catholic-Anglican relations - and the last roadblocks to unity'', article by Gerard O’Connell dated February 2, 2024]</ref>

In the 1990s and early 2000s the [[Scottish Episcopal Church]] (Anglican), the [[Church 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.<ref>[https://www.christianpost.com/news/scottish-churches-first-steps-to-union.html Christian Post website, ''Scottish Churches' First Steps to Union'', article by Albert H Lee]</ref> The attempt stalled following the withdrawal of the Church of Scotland in 2003.<ref>[https://www.scotsman.com/news/kirk-rejects-move-to-form-super-church-2460893 The Scotsman website, ''Kirk Rejects Move to form Super-Church'', article dated May 20, 2003]</ref><ref>[https://oxford-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/2013-6-kingston.pdf Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies website, ''The Notion of Covenant as ecumenical instrument'', article by Gillian Kingston (2013)]</ref>

In 2002 the [[Church 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 the [[Methodist Church in Ireland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ireland.anglican.org/archives/pressreleases/prarchive2002/covstmt2.html |title=Church of Ireland/Methodist Church Covenant}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Anglo-Catholicism]]
* [[Broad church]]
* [[Central churchmanship]]
* [[Conservative Evangelicalism in Britain]]
* [[Church of England]]
*[[Church of England (Continuing)]]
*[[Evangelical Anglicanism]]
* [[High Church]]
* [[Open Evangelical]]
*[[Provincial episcopal visitor]]
* [[Ritualism]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Cross, F. L. (ed.) (1957) ''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church''. London: Oxford U. P.; Low Churchmen, p.&nbsp;824

==External links==
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09399a.htm "Low Church"] in the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]''
* [http://anglicansonline.org/special/highlow/ High Church vs. Low Church: Documentary Narrative of an Ecclesiastical Joke] compiled by Richard Mammana and Cynthia McFarland for [[Anglicans Online]]
* [http://igrejaanglicana.com.br Igreja Anglicana Reformada do Brasil] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100502044033/http://igrejaanglicana.com.br/ |date=2010-05-02 }}

{{Christian theology by tradition |Protestant}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Low Church}}
[[Category:Anglican Churchmanship]]
[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:Evangelical Anglicanism]]
[[Category:Evangelicalism in the Church of England]]
[[Category:Protestantism-related controversies]]