Are you a part of the American Episcopal church?
The Anglican Communion
The "Anglican Communion" refers to all the national churches throughout the world that together make up the international Anglican Church. In some ways, there is no one “Anglican Church”; rather there are a number of national churches which together comprise the Anglican Communion.
The Anglican Communion is divided up into 38 different Provinces and has approximately 80 million members, making it the third-largest communion of Christian churches in the world (after the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches). Generally speaking, each Province is equated with a geographical area (usually a country but sometimes a continent). Each of the Provinces governs itself, having its own Archbishop, who is the highest church official within that particular province.
The various Provinces have their own particular names. The Anglican Province in the United States is called the Episcopal Church USA. The names of other Provinces vary, such as: The Church of England, The Church of the Province of Rwanda, The Scottish Episcopal Church and The Church of Uganda, etcetera.
And now we are ready to tackle your question as to the difference between being an Anglican and being an Episcopalian. When this question is asked within the context of the American church, the main distinction lies in whether or not you are a member of a church which is within the American Province (in other words, a part of the Episcopal Church USA) or not. Episcopalians are those who answer “yes” to that question - they attend churches belonging to the Episcopal Church USA.
Crisis in the Communion
The worldwide Anglican Communion is presently experiencing much turmoil and confusion. There is even debate among the Archbishops as to exactly what constitutes inclusion in the Communion.
Historically, all bishops (and Provinces) in the Anglican Communion were bound to affirm a central core of Christian belief and practice. This consensus about faith, order and worship is articulated in the historic Book of Common Prayer. At the center of this consensus is affirmed (1) the primacy of Scripture, (2) the Creeds (as authoritative summaries of Scriptural teaching), (3) the Sacraments ordained of Christ, and (4) the Historic Order of the Church. Although committed to this consensus by its own Constitution, the Episcopal Church USA’s (henceforth ECUSA) national leadership has drifted far from this core commitment. The challenge for those who would be faithful Anglicans, inside or outside the ECUSA, is to rediscover the historic theological basis of the Communion.
In America there are an increasing number of churches which are in the Anglican Communion but which are not a part of ECUSA (i.e. not a part of the American Province of the Anglican Communion). As a mission church of the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC), we are in the Anglican Communion but we are not in the ECUSA. Thus we refer to ourselves as Anglicans, but not as Episcopalians.
The Reformed Episcopal Church
The Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) is an Anglican in the United States and Canada and a founding member of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA).
Saint Andrew’s Anglican Church, Asheboro
Here in Asheboro, our desire is to plant a vibrant new Anglican church which is: unashamed of the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel, passionate about the preaching and teaching of God’s Word, committed to authentic discipleship and which is firmly rooted in the historic Anglican tradition.
