Different flavours of church

The wonderful thing about the Minster is that we celebrate the breadth under our roof — the BCP eight o’clock and the contemporary 9.15, the Choral Communion and the Choral Evensong, the central Anglican core and the daughter and linked churches. But there is more to explore beyond our own walls.

Across the Christian family — a brief family tree

In its early centuries the Christian church was undivided. The first major split, in 1054, separated the Eastern (now Orthodox) churches from the Western (now Roman Catholic) churches. The Reformation in the sixteenth century then produced several Western Protestant traditions — Lutheran, Reformed (later Presbyterian), Anglican — and over the following centuries further movements arose: the Methodists from within the eighteenth-century Church of England, the Baptist family of churches, the Quakers, the Pentecostal and charismatic movements from the early twentieth century, and a great variety of independent and non-denominational churches in our own time.

What is shared across all of these is the central story: belief in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; the historical reality of Christ; the authority of scripture; the practice of baptism; and (with some variation in detail) the celebration of the Eucharist. What differs is questions of authority, ministry, sacraments, and worship style.

The Church of England is one of the thirty-eight provinces of the Anglican Communion. Beverley has two other Church of England parishes of its own — St Mary’s, the great church at the north end of the town, and St Nicholas to the east — and the Minster works alongside both, and especially closely with St Mary’s through the Two Churches One Town partnership. Beverley is also a happily ecumenical town: the Minster works with the Methodist congregation at Toll Gavel and with the other local churches through Beverley Churches Together.

Within Anglicanism itself — a broad church

Anglicanism is sometimes called a “broad church”, and means it. Historically, four overlapping strands have coexisted within the Church of England, with different emphases.

• Evangelical Anglicans place the centre of weight on scripture as the primary authority, on personal conversion and discipleship, and on mission. Worship tends to be word-centred and often informal.
• Catholic Anglicans (sometimes called Anglo-Catholics) place the centre of weight on the continuity of the Church through history, the importance of the sacraments, and the dignity of the liturgy. Worship tends to be more elaborate; ordained ministry is understood as part of the historic apostolic succession.
• Liberal Anglicans place the centre of weight on the use of reason in interpreting scripture and tradition, the value of doubt and questioning as part of faith, and the church’s engagement with contemporary intellectual and social life.
• Central Anglicanism — sometimes called “middle” or “moderate” — sits between these poles, drawing from each, holding the breadth.

Beverley Minster sits broadly central, but holds the breadth as part of its character. The 8.00 Holy Communion (BCP) carries something of the older catholic tradition, in cadence and form. The 11.00 Choral Communion is recognisably central. The 9.15 has more of the evangelical tradition’s register, and with it an openness to the work of the Holy Spirit that the charismatic renewal has brought to the wider Church. Choral Evensong sits within the great central English choral tradition. Taizé draws from the contemplative-ecumenical tradition.

A final invitation. Whenever you are away from Beverley — on holiday, visiting family, away for work — consider being a “church tourist” and dropping in to a service in a tradition different from your own. An Anglo-Catholic Eucharist with incense, an evangelical-charismatic worship service, a Quaker meeting, a Roman Catholic Mass, a Cathedral Evensong, an Orthodox liturgy. Notice what surprises you. Many of us have found that the breadth of the wider Church is one of the most quietly nourishing things about belonging to it. The clergy are very glad of a conversation about any of this.

Section 8 of 26 in the Companion