Anglican101 - GRACE CHURCH

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GRACE CHURCH

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Anglican? Do I know any Anglicans? Who or What is an "Anglican"? It's not about angels (Angelican), or Angus beef (Angusians), or being angry (Angrians)! If you think worshiping each Sunday in English, and not Latin, is GREAT...then thank the Anglican Thomas Cranmer. The Archbishop of Canterbury, he was burned at the stake by Queen "Bloody" Mary in 1555, for teaching that salvation was by grace alone, through faith alone, and that this should be clearly proclaimed in "a language understanded of the people." If you enjoy being able to have a copy of the Bible in English (not Hebrew or Greek or Latin)...again, thank Thomas Cranmer! If you know the song "Amazing Grace"...then thank pastor John Newton. A former hardened slave trader who was saved when he knew he didn't deserve it, he became an Anglican minister and later wrote the words to this famous hymn. If you have read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" or any of the Chronicles of Narnia...thank C.S. Lewis, considered the greatest Christian writer of the 20th century. This Anglican also wrote "Mere Christianity," which along with his many others works has helped disciple thousands of people around the world. If you know or are a Methodist...then thank George Whitefield and John Wesley. Both were Anglican ministers and evangelists during the Great Awakening (see column below) - the largest revival America has ever experienced. Whitefield started the Methodists, but was a far greater preacher, so that when he traveled to America for a preaching tour, he and handed them over to Wesley. Wesley was better at organizing and developing what was originally a system of Anglican small/house groups, which after John Wesley died, broke away and became the Methodist Church. If you have studied the Bible helped by a commentary or notes...you have probably read a book by, or which quotes, Anglican pastor and evangelist John Stott. The Rev. Billy Graham called Stott, "the most respected [minister] in the world today." Stott has also been called "Evangelicalism's premier teacher and preacher" by the leading magazine Christianity Today, and even secular writers have said that if Evangelicals elected a Pope, it would be John Stott. If you have read (along with Billy Graham and millions of others) the classic “Knowing God”...thank its Anglican author, J.I. Packer, who is is one of the most highly respected and quoted Bible scholars and theologians in the world. He was general editor of the English Standard Version (ESV) translation of the Bible. He is a frequent contibuting writer to Christianity Today. But wait...there's more! William Wilberforce - The recent movie "Amazing Grace" is about this Anglican. An English political leader, Wilberforce's evangelical conversion led him to accomplish the eradication of slavery in England without a civil war. Do you know "O Little Town of Bethlehem"?... The Rev. Phillips Brooks, who was considered one of the greatest preachers in America in the late 1800's, wrote this Christmas hymn after a visit to the Holy Land. Charles McIlvaine - U.S. Senate chaplain and chaplain at West Point when Robert E. Lee was a cadet, whose preaching stirred a mini-revival at the Military Academy. In 1869, Bishop McIlvaine led the American Tract Society to present a Bible to each West Point cadet, a practice that continues to this day. McIlvaine was one of only 2 Americans to be honored by laying in state after death in Westminister Abbey in England (the other...Winston Churchill). Peter Akinola - recognized by Time magazine as one of the most important evangelical leaders in the current worldwide church. Akinola (pronounced 'a kee OH lah') is the leader of over 18 million active Anglicans in Nigeria (that's more than all the Southern Baptists in the USA on the membership rolls!)
The Great Awakening (1735-1755) was the greatest revival in United States history, with wide ranging and lasting consequences. For example, Princeton, Rutgers, Brown, and Dartmouth universities were all established as a direct result of the Great Awakening. The three most famous leaders used by God in the movement were Jonathan Edwards, and two Anglican ministers: John Wesley, and George Whitefield. Anglican minister George Whitefield is considered by many to be one of the greatest Gospel preachers in history. He was the Billy Graham of his day, and reached a greater percentage of England and America than even Rev. Graham has. Benjamin Franklin was impressed by Whitefield's preaching. The famous Baptist preacher, C. H. Spurgeon, called Whitefield his role model.		You may have read the children’s classic “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardobe” by C.S. Lewis. Among his many works which became classics, he also wrote "The Screwtape Letters," a fictional correspondence between a lower ranking demons and his supervisor in how to halt and frustrate a human's following of Jesus. The movie "Shadowlands" with Anthony Hopkins is based on his life. Lewis wrote the often quoted premise that everyone must make a decision about Jesus of Nazareth, and that all decisions really fall into only three categories. Either a person consider Jesus a Liar, a Lunatic, or Lord: In his famous book Mere Christianity, Lewis makes this statement, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us." Thousands of people around the world have come to know and follow Jesus as Lord through books he wrote. Lewis was good friends with J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote the trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings." Tolkien was the person who helped Lewis, who was an angry atheist, to understand and surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord.