How High Church/Low Church are You?

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Certainly Low Church (A/G) but I have an interest in the Creeds and an outsiders fascination with Eastern Orthodox style of worship service.

[Mr. Illini]

As a Catholic, the services that I attend are obviously very much high church. Personally, I do appreciate the ritual, but I find more value in the spiritual aspect. The ritual is very helpful in guiding my spirituality during the mass, but ultimately the spirituality is more valuable to me than the ritual itself. Ritual, to me, is nothing if there is not spirituality attached to it, and so I prefer both together.

[Flake]

As a Catholic, the services that I attend are obviously very much high church. Personally, I do appreciate the ritual, but I find more value in the spiritual aspect. The ritual is very helpful in guiding my spirituality during the mass, but ultimately the spirituality is more valuable to me than the ritual itself. Ritual, to me, is nothing if there is not spirituality attached to it, and so I prefer both together.

[Frodo]

What do terms like 'high church' and 'low church' mean?  What's the difference? 

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

High church tend to emphasize the ceremonies and rituals, usually with them being precisely laid out, and the Bible reading for the service preselected each week according to lectionary.  Low church emphasizes the sermon, and the topic can be more free-wheeling and determined according to what the pastor thinks needs to be discussed that week. Also, in the Anglican Church where the terms originated, High Church tended to emphasize apostolic succession while Low Church emphasized the personal piety of the pastor.

[Frodo]

High church tend to emphasize the ceremonies and rituals, usually with them being precisely laid out, and the Bible reading for the service preselected each week according to lectionary.  Low church emphasizes the sermon, and the topic can be more free-wheeling and determined according to what the pastor thinks needs to be discussed that week. Also, in the Anglican Church where the terms originated, High Church tended to emphasize apostolic succession while Low Church emphasized the personal piety of the pastor.

Thanks.  

So if we were to apply these terms to Christianity as a whole, the Catholic and Orthodox churches are what one would term as being 'high church', while most Protestant sects (with the notable exception of the Anglicans) would be considered 'low church'.  

Where would the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints best fit?  

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

High church tend to emphasize the ceremonies and rituals, usually with them being precisely laid out, and the Bible reading for the service preselected each week according to lectionary.  Low church emphasizes the sermon, and the topic can be more free-wheeling and determined according to what the pastor thinks needs to be discussed that week. Also, in the Anglican Church where the terms originated, High Church tended to emphasize apostolic succession while Low Church emphasized the personal piety of the pastor.

Thanks.  

So if we were to apply these terms to Christianity as a whole, the Catholic and Orthodox churches are what one would term as being 'high church', while most Protestant sects (with the notable exception of the Anglicans) would be considered 'low church'.  

Where would the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints best fit?  

I don't know about the Mormons, but the Lutherans and Methodists also have High Church tendencies.

[Globus Cruciger]

I would call myself somewhat "Low Church," but within the original Anglican context of the term. In other words, while I do enjoy the occasional extravagant ceremony, my normal liturgical preference is for worship that is dignified yet simple. I want neither "smells and bells" and Rosaries nor "relevance" and T-shirts, but a minister clad in white surplice and black tippet who is strictly following the rubrics of the 1662 Prayer Book.