What are the differences between Anglicans and Lutherans?

[gtsecc]

We had a woman at Church today who is Lutheran adn she has been coming to services with her boy friend, and ask this question.

[benedictine]

(please note, most of these are my opinions on some subjects, and some are absolute facts.)

The difference between the Anglican and Lutheran churches are as follows:
-The Anglican church has apostolic succession, the Lutheran Church doesn't.
-We accept 7 sacraments. Lutherans accept 2/3
-The Eucharist is the central act of Christian worship for us, for Lutherans it is not.
-There are some more, but I have to go for a while.

[UberLutheran]

(please note, most of these are my opinions on some subjects, and some are absolute facts.)

The difference between the Anglican and Lutheran churches are as follows:
-The Anglican church has apostolic succession, the Lutheran Church doesn't.
-We accept 7 sacraments. Lutherans accept 2/3
-The Eucharist is the central act of Christian worship for us, for Lutherans it is not.
-There are some more, but I have to go for a while.

For us Lutherans, the Eucharist IS the central act of Christian worship.

I can't imagine Sunday morning worship without the Eucharist -- or why one would even want to do that!

We do have two Sacraments (baptism, the Eucharist) and five rites. Also, the sacrament of "vocation", which for Anglicans means "holy orders" is one's daily work for Lutherans, when that work is dedicated to God.

And while it may not be a full "sacrament", I do go to the rite of Confession, especially before important holidays such as Christmas/New Year's Day and Easter.

[benedictine]

Uber, what branch of Lutheranism do you ascribe to? I ask only becouse I thought that there was at least one Lutheran branch that only celebrated the Eucharist once a month.

[UberLutheran]

Uber, what branch of Lutheranism do you ascribe to? I ask only becouse I thought that there was at least one Lutheran branch that only celebrated the Eucharist once a month.

What you're describing sounds like the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS).

In a nutshell, they have fellowship ONLY with other members of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.

Which is too bad, really -- because I've learned a lot from my Episcopalian, Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist and Jewish friends.

[UberLutheran]

Think of it as, "the piece of cod which passes all understanding."

Norwegians and Swedes think of lutefisk as a delicacy. We think of it as something we eat the third week of Advent which keeps us from enjoying Christmas too much!

[julian the apostate]

currently praising God for our differences

that little delicacy somehow involves lye doesnt it?

[cielo_azul]

can this be deleted? wahoo for double posts...;)

[cielo_azul]

I go to a Lutheran church, and we celebrate the Lord's Supper twice a month. Yes, it's extremely important, but I would argue that the proclamation of the Gospel is more important.

[RobNJ]

Think of it as, "the piece of cod which passes all understanding."

Norwegians and Swedes think of lutefisk as a delicacy. We think of it as something we eat the third week of Advent which keeps us from enjoying Christmas too much!

Lutefisk...The reason the vikings LEFT Norway!!:sick:

[AveMaria]

Lutefisk.. :sick: ugh, I was forced to eat some once (Grr, thanks, Grandma!). God willing, I'll never repeat that experience again.

[Bonifatius]

Hi, from a German perspective, there are some more differences between Lutherans and Anglicans:

- Lutherans regard themselves as a "confessional church" (Confessio Augustana, Formula of Concord etc.), Anglicans don't.
- Anglicans are far more sacramental than Lutherans
- Anglicans refer to their ministers as "priests", Lutheran's don't
- Anglicans are open to all kinds of "catholic" practices, whereas Lutherans wouldn't accept most of them as being fruits of an "erranous understanding of justification".
- Seeing oneself as Protestant and definitely NOT catholic is part of Lutheran identity in Germany (in the creed the Lutherans changed the word "catholic" into "christian") - Anglicans see themselves as basically catholic.

Greetz
Bonifatius

[RobNJ]

- Seeing oneself as Protestant and definitely NOT catholic is part of Lutheran identity in Germany (in the creed the Lutherans changed the word "catholic" into "christian") - Anglicans see themselves as basically catholic.


That's the way the creed was said in the chapel services, at the Lutheran school I attended from k-8th grade. Then again, in the ancient days, when I was young, the way-to-early first service on Sunday was done in German (according to the sign)

[UberLutheran]

Lutefisk.. :sick: ugh, I was forced to eat some once (Grr, thanks, Grandma!). God willing, I'll never repeat that experience again.

The Wednesday of the third week of Advent, we have lutefisk.

Lutefisk helps me see why Lent is a penitential season; and why the liturgical color for Advent is purple.

On Lutefisk Wednesday, however, I'd be all in favor of making the color of that day black.

Or perhaps puke green...

[UberLutheran]

currently praising God for our differences

that little delicacy somehow involves lye doesnt it?

Then it's poached until it turns into a gelatinous mess, and served floating in a mound of melted butter.

Mange gutt! :sick:

[ctobola]

...snip...
Seeing oneself as Protestant and definitely NOT catholic is part of Lutheran identity in Germany (in the creed the Lutherans changed the word "catholic" into "christian")
...snip...


When it comes to differentiating ourselves from the Roman Catholic organization, I'd agree that U.S. Lutherans take pains to distinguish ourselves from that denomination. (That's why we use catholic with a lower-case C in the creeds.)

However, I've heard of some uninformed individuals or congregations in the U.S. who have taken this to an extreme and "corrected" the creeds in their hymnal by replacing catholic with Christian. This is NOT considered orthodox or appropriate within the ELCA and (I would speculate) within most of the other Lutheran bodies in the United States.

Dropping catholic not only violates the original intent of the creeds, but it flies in the face of the Lutheran understanding of the Church (capital C) as the body of all individuals who are united by faith in Christ across geographic, temporal and denominational boundries.


Excelsior! -Cloy

[ctobola]

For us Lutherans, the Eucharist IS the central act of Christian worship.

I can't imagine Sunday morning worship without the Eucharist -- or why one would even want to do that!

UberLutheran,

With all due respect, I have to disagree with your handle. This post, along with others, indicate that your understanding and preferences are far removed from being Lutheran. There's nothing wrong with that -- nobody is saved by their theology, but you might want to be careful about what you present as Lutheran.

For Lutherans, the sacrament of communion is one "means of grace" -- but probably most prominent one in the Lutheran tradition is the proclamation of the Gospel. Lutheran congregations in many areas have communion monthly, and they have a complete worship experience. As I understand it, many Lutheran congregations are implementing more frequent communion services. Personally, I prefer communion at every worship service but Lutherans worship ALL the time without it. Ergo, it's not correct to say that "For us Lutherans, the Eucharist IS the central act of Christian worship"

Second, as Lutherans we do not use the term Eucharist. Okay, there are a few out there who do... but the cornerstone of the Lutheran faith is "Christ comes to us." To use the term Eucharist (i.e., thanksgiving) is to put the focus on the human experience.

Excelsior! -Cloy

[ctobola]

(please note, most of these are my opinions on some subjects, and some are absolute facts.)

The difference between the Anglican and Lutheran churches are as follows:
-The Anglican church has apostolic succession, the Lutheran Church doesn't.
-We accept 7 sacraments. Lutherans accept 2/3
-The Eucharist is the central act of Christian worship for us, for Lutherans it is not.
-There are some more, but I have to go for a while.

Good list, Benedictine. To clarify, Lutherans have two sacraments--baptism and communion.

Other key issues include:
-Lutherans see the Church (capital C) as defined solely by faith in Christ, not by apostolic sucession or any particular ecclestiastical structure.
-Lutherans hold the "priesthood of all believers." We hold that any believer can preside at communion, baptism.
-Lutheran ordination (which is not sacramental) comes from the Church as represented by the local congregation(s). Once the call to ministry ends, so does the ordination to the position of pastor or bishop.
-Although we agree on the Real Presence in communion, we do not recognize the "reserve host." We believe that Christ comes to us within the context of the sacrament. Outside of that context, the bread and wine are only that.

Excelsior! -Cloy

[AveMaria]

Then it's poached until it turns into a gelatinous mess, and served floating in a mound of melted butter.

Mange gutt! :sick:
I think I'm going to be very, very ill....:sick: :sick: :sick:

[cielo_azul]

However, I've heard of some uninformed individuals or congregations in the U.S. who have taken this to an extreme and "corrected" the creeds in their hymnal by replacing catholic with Christian. This is NOT considered orthodox or appropriate within the ELCA and (I would speculate) within most of the other Lutheran bodies in the United States.

Dropping catholic not only violates the original intent of the creeds, but it flies in the face of the Lutheran understanding of the Church (capital C) as the body of all individuals who are united by faith in Christ across geographic, temporal and denominational boundries. I agree that dropping the word "catholic" in the creed as a means to distance ourselves from the Roman Catholic church is completely petty and divisive. However, i don't think that's why many churches do it. Most people, even those who have grown up in church all their lives, don't realize the difference between the catholic (universal) Church and the Roman Catholic (specific denomination, usually just called Catholic) church. Therefore, people see the word "catholic" and think "wait....aren't i in a LUTHERAN church? why do they exclusively support a different denomination?".....and the confusion continues. For most churches, i think it's a matter of making the meaning of the creed crystal clear by today's language than trying to somehow "distance" ourselves from the Roman Catholic church. They ARE our brothers and sisters in Christ after all- which i thank God for. :clap:

[thejesusfish90]

Yeah i agree Cielo.... At my church they replaced Catholic with Universal, which essentially means the exact same thing.... Though I dont see the problem with it... It just avoids confusion, and removes a misunderstood latin word, with a better understood english word...

YBIC

Chris

[Cjwinnit]

It just avoids confusion, and removes a misunderstood latin word, with a better understood english word...

Greek ;)

[Brian Augustyn]

To be strictly correct, the Episcopal Church observes only two sacraments as well; Holy Eucharist and Holy Baptism.

The other five, marriage, annointing the sick, confirmation, ordination and reconciliation of a penitent, are considered sacramental rites, and not on the same primary level as are Communion and Baptism. This is all spelled out in the Catechism of the BCP.

Further, to those who make the distinction about the "sharing of the Gospel" being a more important element of worship than the Eucharist, I'd contend that sharing Communion is a big part of HOW we share the gospel in our worship. It's a "both-and" deal.

Fianlly, like the Lutherans, the Anglican/Episcopal church considers the layity to be part of the three-fold ministry of the church (part of the "priesthood of all believers). Except for extreme circumstances, though, we generally are not allowed to preside over a Eucharist.

Brian
:wave:

[cielo_azul]

Further, to those who make the distinction about the "sharing of the Gospel" being a more important element of worship than the Eucharist, I'd contend that sharing Communion is a big part of HOW we share the gospel in our worship. It's a "both-and" deal.I'm not sure I completely understand this. Can you elaborate? :)

[gtsecc]

I'm not sure I completely understand this. Can you elaborate? :)
We Anglicans would consider the Eucharist to be a means of grace.
It is acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

[ctobola]

Further, to those who make the distinction about the "sharing of the Gospel" being a more important element of worship than the Eucharist, I'd contend that sharing Communion is a big part of HOW we share the gospel in our worship. It's a "both-and" deal.

Just to clarify -- I did not say that proclaimation of the Gospel is more important in the Lutheran tradition. I said it was more prominent (i.e., visible) as it is part of every Lutheran worship service, but communion is not.

Finally, like the Lutherans, the Anglican/Episcopal church considers the layity to be part of the three-fold ministry of the church (part of the "priesthood of all believers). Except for extreme circumstances, though, we generally are not allowed to preside over a Eucharist.


My understanding is that the laity are incapable of presiding at communion in the A/E structure -- without the powers bestowed in ordination, they cannot transubstantiate (is that a verb?) the hosts. Am I incorrect in assuming this?

In the Lutheran tradition, we consider all believers to be laity... with clergy simply called to a different function. As such, any Lutheran can preside at communion, but typically it is done by the pastor.

Excelsior! -Cloy