Images Allowed?

[bostonian]

I understand that some denominations don’t allow images of Jesus. It seems like the Episcopalians do. Is that correct? Do Episcopalians have prayer cards?

I know a lot of Catholics and they often wear chains with crosses on them. I don't see a lot of Episcopalians wearing crosses. Do Episcopalians wear bling?

[angli_fan]

Images are fine; many episcopal churches have ornate stained-glass windows, not infrequently picturing Jesus. Some even have statuary.

AFAIK, the church does not publish prayer cards, but if there are some published by another church (ex. R Catholic) that you find meaningful, by all means use them.

Wearing of religious symbols is not a part of TEC culture per se, but it is not discouraged. Like so many other things about the Episcopal church, you have to decide for yourself.

[anglicansablaze]

At the time of the English Reformation and the Elizabethan Settlement in the Church of England all images were either removed and destroyed or defaced. Rood screens were torn down. There was a lengthy struggle between Queen Elizabeth and the reform element in the English parliament and the English clergy over a silver crucifix in the queen's chapel. The crucifix was eventually removed and replaced with a plain cross.

During the reign of Charles I a number of High Churchmen were appointed as bishops of the Church of England. The Caroline High Churchmen introduced more ornaments and ritual into the worship of the Church of England than had been the practice in the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. Communion tables were replaced with altars and placed in the chancel against the east wall, surrounded by altar rails. Churches were decorated with stained glass windows and gilded images of flights of angels. The priest wore a cope at celebrations of the Holy Communion and stood before the altar with his back turned to the people instead of wearing a surplice and standing at the north end of the communion table, placed in the body of the church or at the entrance to the chancel where the people could see what the priest was doing and hear what he was saying. These changes provoked a negative reaction in a large segment of the English population. The Caroline High Churchmen were accused of Romanism even though they were not at all sympathetic to the Church of Rome as was the 19th century Oxford High Church movement. Archbishop William Lauds' harsh treatment of the critics of his policy of Thorough eventually led to his arrest, trial, and execution and was a major cause of the English Civil War.

In the 19th century the Episcopal Church was strongly influenced by the Oxford High Church movement which uprooted the hedge that separated the Church of England from the Church of England and allowed into the English Church many practices that the Church had rejected at the time of the English Reformation and the Elizabethan Settlement. This included the use of crucifixes, crosses with the image of Jesus upon them, and images of the Virgin Mary and other saints. In the Church of England these practices were confined to those churches that leaned the most toward the Church of Rome. In the Episcopal Church these practices became more widespread than in the Church of England. In the English Church they were illegal under English canon law. A number of priests who introduced them into the English Church were prosecuted. In the Episcopal Church, however, there was no such legal barrier.

Not all Episcopalians welcomed the introduction of these practices which were associated in their minds with Romanism and with idolatry. To this day certain Episcopal Churches do not permit the use of three-dimensional images and prefer a plain cross to a crucifix or cross with an image of Christ the King upon it.

In other Anglican provinces the attitude toward images varies. Where the Oxford High Church movement's influence was felt, you may find images in the more Anglo-Catholic churches. In other churches you may at most find a plain cross and clear-glass windows.

The use of images is not widespread in the Anglican Communion. Anglo-Catholics are a minority group in the Communion. Evangelical Anglicans, who form the largest group of Anglicans in the Communion, believe the use of images in churches is idolatrous as did the English and Elizabethan reformers. Liberal Catholics, which have a large representation in the Episcopal Church but not in the Anglican Communion, retain the use of images as part of their Anglo-Catholic heritage.