On Planting an Anglo-Catholic Parish

By Father Chris Culpepper

Of late, I have been asked by at least three different people, all of whom are friends and colleagues, who run in different circles, to write an article addressing why I am planting an anglo-catholic parish. To this point, I have resisted answering the call(s) because of my own internal perception of how this article will be received: arrogant by some, and deficient by others. So, perhaps ironically, this is why I have now put the proverbial pen to paper and make this offering with all humility.

But, before I go any further, it seems appropriate to offer a little of my background and experience. I grew up at St. Andrew’s parish in the Diocese of Fort Worth. Most are aware of Fort Worth by reputation as an anglo-catholic diocese, and those who are familiar with the inner-workings of the diocese know that St. Andrew’s is the 1928 Prayer Book, 39 Articles, Morning Prayer, Evangelical, “low-church” congregation, though I have grown a certain distaste for that last phrase, given that (at least among Evangelical parishes) St. Andrew’s has anything but a low view of the Church.

And, not only did I grow up at St. Andrew’s, but I also served on staff there for five years as its youth minister, learning to appreciate and respect the Anglican Communion as a whole, naturally with a bent toward Cranmer, Jewel, Luther, and Calvin, given the ethos of the parish, even though the latter two were not Anglicans. It was during my time on staff that my interest piqued in church-planting. With my first career being in retail leasing and development, planting seemed a natural fit for my skill set, so I regularly found myself attending church-planting workshops, when and where available.

However, from there I went to Nashotah House where, as I had hoped I would, given the trajectory I was already on toward the early Church I “grew through” the Reformation, soaking in the rest of the Church’s history, as it were. There, I drank from the waters of Aquinas and Augustine, understood Hooker in a new light, and gained a deeper and abiding appreciation for the Oxford Movement. What is more, I also developed an appreciation for the Conciliar Church, and in particular, the Undivided Church of the first 1,000 years including, of course, the Ecumenical Councils. It was through this journey that I found the deepest place of theological integrity one can find – the belief and practice of the Undivided Church, which is commonly called catholic Christianity. This occurred from the years 2002 – 2005. Upon graduating, I was priested on Holy Cross Day of 2005.

Fast forward from there to 2008, when the unfortunate, if logical, result of TEC abandoning the catholic faith and practice, precipitated in large part by the centuries-long, still on-going internal and un-reconciled divide between anglo-catholics and evangelicals, ironically yielded a kairos moment, at least for me. What to do? Rome, which remains in theological error due to its magisterium acting in an un-catholic manner concerning the establishment of its doctrine, was and is not an option. Orthodoxy, of course, is an option. Protestantism cannot be an option. Curiously, I found that I could maintain orthodoxy – and catholicity - within the Anglican Communion, quite frankly, because no one has yet to tell me I can’t, which remains an ironic impetus for planting within the Anglican Communion.

So, for the last 8 years of my life, I have been invested in planting anglo-catholic parishes. First, and still, I am planting Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church in Fort Worth, where I serve as rector. Along the way, I was given the delightful task of also planting Christ Church, Waco, where I spent the first five years as its vicar, before yielding the congregation into the capable hands of Fr. Lee Nelson, who currently serves as its vicar.

Therefore, I suppose, on to the why: why am I doing this? Specifically, why am I planting anglo-catholic parishes? Given what I have said, I suppose the short answer is that to do otherwise would be unfaithful. But, unfaithful to what, is the critical question: to my own opinion of myself, to my bishop, or to the Faith? The answer must ultimately be to the Faith.

It plagues me, and I think that is a good word for it, that we speak of anglo-catholicism as though it is a “stream” or a “strand” of theology. This implies that catholicity is deficient, or somehow incomplete, which it cannot be by definition. And, it implies that there are other equally valid streams of theology that, though they contain irreconcilable differences and even deficiencies, we are free to pick and choose from among them. Catholicity, as we know, means of the whole. Or, said another way that I have come to enjoy – here comes everyone! And, that is what I want my planting exercise to be, participating in what has been believed at all times, in all places, by all, to paraphrase Vincent. Even Abraham Lincoln understood our Lord’s words which tell us that a house divided against itself cannot stand. It is catholic Christianity that gives the Evangelical life its full conversional force. And, it is catholic Christianity that makes the fullness of the gifts and charisms of the Holy Spirit expressed, while also keeping it grounded in the fullness of Truth. Those who understand anglo-catholicism as “smells and bells” have simply missed the mark. While I appreciate and employ many of the rituals that accompany catholic theology, rituals cannot be confused with theology. Rather, ritual is but a faithful expression of catholic theology. In the end, it is theology that matters.

Said another way, clearly what we Anglicans have been doing – remaining doctrinally-divided over a set of Articles that has still not yet been submitted to the whole of the Church to prove their catholicity (or lack thereof) - has not worked, as the sweep of Anglican history, with its present, tragic downfall, plainly shows us. Neither will repeating the past by doubling-down on it get us any further. Therefore, I simply want to be counted among those who preached and practiced the Christian Faith with the highest degree of integrity, and the only place I can see the existence of that Faith is in what the Scriptures say, and what the Undivided Church says the Scriptures say. How can we say we believe and trust Holy Scripture but not the teaching of the undivided Catholic Church that gave us the canon of Scripture? This, in short, is my substantial motivation for planting, for it is within catholic Christianity that we have been saved, are being saved, and will be saved.

So, I ask myself, how could I do anything else? Could I be faithful and do anything else? In other words, my deepest hope is that the Anglican Communion will prepare itself for full communion with both Orthodoxy and Rome, which requires catholic-minded clergy preparing catholic-minded Christians properly formed in catholic parishes. Is not this what our Lord intercedes for us, the unity of His Church? Perhaps, it just so happens, that I am among those who has been given the opportunity to help the Anglican Communion have a fresh start, so to speak, as it undertakes the necessary internal reforms to correct its errors. Perhaps, even as I pray for my brother clergy who are working diligently within existing congregations for their welfare and renewal, I am simply among those who have been called to plant, to pioneer, to make a new place for people to hear catholic Christianity in a fresh way, that one day, we might truly be able to say as united Christians contending as one Body, with Christ himself as our Head, against the world, the flesh, and the devil, “Here comes everyone!”

And, in the end, as a sort of postlude, two things will happen, which give me great concern as a priest. First, I will leave parish life some day. God forbid that there would be any slack or lack because people were more given to my personality than the Faith. Therefore, it is my duty to practice and preach catholic Christianity. Secondly, one day I must give an account to Jesus for the work that I have done. What will I say? Somehow, I take comfort knowing that the Faith I dispensed to my flock will be judged as being part of the whole, rather than being somehow apart from the whole. This, I believe, is the essence of catholic Christianity. This, I believe, is the comfort of the Undivided Church. This, then, is where I take my stand as a priest and the reason I have given my ministry to the planting of catholic parishes in the Anglican Communion. May Christ grant us all the wit and the will to work for the fullness of the Faith and the unity of His Church.

Fr. Culpepper is the president of the FiFNA’s Church Planting Task Force.

Reprinted from Christopher Culpepper, “On Planting an Anglo-Catholic Parish,” Forward in Christ, 8, 3 (May 2016), pp. 23-24.