Why I Am Not an Anglican
This post is not why you should not be an Anglican. Neither is it a critique of Anglicanism. This is simply why I am not an Anglican.
I have previously posted on my journey from Pentecostalism. But before I was a Pentecostal, I was an Anglican. I was baptized and confirmed as an Anglican. I was both a server and a chalice bearer. In fact about half my life was spent as an Anglican.
Why am I no longer an Anglican? It is not because of a disagreement with official Anglican doctrine. I do believe that believer’s baptism is biblical but that was not the reason I left.
The reason I am no longer an Anglican is that I had no idea that there was an evangelical stream within Anglicanism. I had no idea about C.S. Lewis, John Stott or N.T. Wright. The only book that my priest ever lent me was by Tom Harpur, hardly the defender of evangelicalism.
Unfortunately, the Anglican Church of Canada from my experience was extremely liberal. I would sit in church and wince at the unbiblical statements that were being made. The faith seemed to be solely about following the liturgy and seeking social justice (neither of which are bad). There was no sense of biblical devotion or of obedience to Christ.
For some time, this is what I thought of all Anglicans. Thankfully I was wrong. I have had the privilege of getting to know many Anglicans, both clergy and laity, who are devout followers of Jesus. I have discovered Anglican scholars who are very evangelical. When I left the Anglican church, I had no idea such people existed.
Why did I leave the Anglican church? I left because I was uneducated about the variety within the denomination in which I was raised. If I had known about the evangelical Anglican tradition I would probably still be an Anglican.
Why share this? If you are a part of the evangelical minority within your mainline denomination, make yourself known. There may be people looking for Christians just like you.
