I find that many Anglophiles tend to be curious about the Church of England. When thinking of the CoE one conjures images of Henry VIII being so desperate to marry his mistress that he broke with Rome and appointed himself the head of the church. We think of this grand split between Catholicism and Protestantism in England and the tragic destruction of monasteries and other sacred buildings. Most Anglophiles seem to know quite a bit about how the Church of England began, but the story of what the Church of England is today is far less glamorous. To put it very plainly, the Church of England is Episcopalian.

The Church of England is part of the Anglican Communion, which isn’t a denomination within itself but an umbrella which also includes the American and Scottish Episcopalian churches. They all use the Book of Common Prayer, which is also similar to many other Protestant liturgies, so if you visit a Church of England church while you are in England and you are a member or some Protestant denomination in America, chances are the liturgy will be either exactly the same or at the very least quite familiar.

I find the Church of England a bit fascinating, in the states people who don’t really care much about religion will probably tell you they aren’t religious. In England, even people who aren’t particularly religious seem to identify themselves as members of the Church of England. It is kind of the default setting if you aren’t raised Catholic or Muslim or decide you are vehemently atheist or agnostic. Possibly this has something to do with the Queen being the supreme head of the church, at one time all English subjects were considered members of the Church of England, and saying otherwise was heresy. Although today the people of England certainly have the choice to claim to be something else, most just don’t bother to. Now that isn’t to say that all people who identify themselves as CoE aren’t deeply dedicated to their faith, but it does make finding a church really difficult since the CoE has so many inactive members. When it comes to the Church of England, finding an active parish takes a lot of trial and error.

St. Hilda's Church at the Hartlepool Headland, built by the Bruce family in the 13th Century

I was raised Lutheran which shares a lot of the same doctrine as the Episcopal church, so here it almost leaves me with too many options. If I was Catholic or Baptist, it would be pretty easy to find a church here in my town because there are only a handful of them and all of them seem to be pretty active. When it comes to CoE churches, it is hard to figure out which ones have active parishes and which ones are basically museums that fill up for Easter and Christmas and a succession of christenings, weddings and funerals. They all look exactly the same, gorgeous centuries old stone buildings, evidence everywhere that at some point in its history the pews were filled, but for many of these churches they have become more of a monument while others are still very active. Its hard to tell the difference without visiting every single one of them on a Sunday morning. I have also noticed that because of this, often one clergy member will cover several different churches in one area because there aren’t enough members at just one church to support full time clergy.

Its a bit sad really that many of these churches are basically dead, its kind of a waste of such gorgeous buildings for them to sit mostly empty every Sunday morning.

Author Info -  Lisa Coulson is an American Expat living in the North of England in Hartlepool. She writes a weekly column on Wednesdays about life in the UK. Lisa also has her own blog - Anglophile's Digest Read more from this author

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