Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail: Why Evangelicals Are Attracted to the Liturgical Church

Rating:
Summary: An eye-opener
Review: A line from Robert Webber's book that may startle both evangelicals and Anglicans alike reads, "As I meditate on my worship experience in the Episcopal tradition, I find I am drawn to it because it is so thoroughly evangelical." This book tells his story and the story of several others at Wheaton College who found themselves drawn to the Anglican tradition. For a time I lived in a foreign country and a city where the best choice for worship was the Anglican church; otherwise, as a good card-carrying evangelical, I may never have set foot in one. What I found was eye-opening to me, and I was thrilled to find that Robert Webber has written a book that puts this experience into words.

Liturgy is evangelical? Absolutely. As Webber points out, in the average Anglican service, more Scripture is read than at most community Bible churches. Responsive readings invite people to interact with the Word. The atmosphere of doctrinal litmus-testing that is so readily apparent in most evangelical churches takes a backseat, allowing honest study and inquiry-people can come to God first before they must seek approval from the congregation. The "point" of the service is worship and communion with God (not least because communion/Eucharist happens every week), and not entertainment by the worship team and pastor. The worship and activities of the church are tied to a rich historical tradition, thus freeing them from the mood of the moment, whatever the modern culture or a particular congregation feels comfortable with. Webber explains these things well though doesn't go into much of the historical or structural detail of the Anglican church (for this try _What is Anglicanism?_ by Urban T. Holmes III).

Of course, perfection is God's alone and any church or tradition will fall short. In the U.S. in particular, Anglicanism has often wandered far from historical and Scriptural roots. (One glance at Bishop Spong's books will confirm this!) Anglican churches that hold to high-church forms feel much more foreign to me than the little provincial church I called home for a time. But we should take this and any opportunity to see our own tradition more clearly, its positives and negatives. Unlike Webber and the others who tell their stories in the book, I haven't become an Anglican, but what I discovered and find well-documented by it is that there is something missing in evangelical worship which we would do well to reclaim. Our brothers and sisters in the liturgical church can help us do it, and in this little readable book Webber gives an apologetic and an explanation in terms we understand. Hurrah for the Body of Christ!

Rating:
Summary: A must read for evangelicals wanting more
Review: If your experience in the evangelical tradition leaves you wanting more then this is the book for you. Webber explains in a succinct and lucid manner his personal journey from an evangelical (Baptist, Bob Jones graduate, Presbyterian minister, and Wheaton professor) to an Anglican. The second half of the book is devoted to six others who have similar stories. This book is not really an apology for Anglicanism, but the story of seven writers who looked at their spiritual lives in the evangelical tradition and found them wanting. They eventually discovered fulfillment in the Anglican Church. The writers are not hostile to their former traditions and do not take an elitist view of their journeys. Still, they do point out some of the problems of modern evangelical worship and doctrine. Also, the writers are traditional Anglicans; they are not associated with the more liberal side of the Church. As a lifelong evangelical who is now a communicant member in the worldwide Anglican Communion, it is almost as if Webber and his friends were telling my story. I just wish I could have found this book sooner. I highly recommend it!

Rating:
Summary: A Sign of Change
Review: The transference of allegiances from one Christian tradition to another can often be a source of pain the converts' friends and family. A particular sore point is when one leaves for a Church that is viewed in one's former tradition as "highly suspect." Robert E. Webber understands these emotions well. Webber, a former Bob Jones University graduate who left the Evangelical Protestant movement for Anglicanism, was one of the first in a wave of prominent Evangelicals discovering liturgical worship. Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail is not as much a call for all Evangelicals to make a similar move, but an explanation - using his own experience as an example - as to why an Evangelical would make such a move. The overall tone is very irenic and seeks to promote a greater understanding among faithful Christians of all traditions.

The first part of the book is a description of Webber's conversion to Anglicanism. Rather than giving a strictly chronological telling of his trek, he approaches it from six different aspects of the Christian Faith (mystery, worship, sacraments, spiritual identity, the Church, spirituality) he came to believe were inadequately expressed in Evangelical Protestantism. The turning point in much of his discussion was his discovery of the Church Fathers. In them, he saw a far more balanced vision of Christianity - one he found expressed well in Anglicanism and the worship of the Book of Common Prayer.

The second part of the book consists of the personal testimonies of converts to Anglicanism. Although generally kind towards their former homes, it is obvious the deficiencies of modern Evangelical Protestant worship had taken its toll. A strong point here is each of the testimonies are sufficiently different in background and experience to avoid repetition of the same points. This also gives a sampling of the breadth of the movement to historic Christianity.

Webber returns to finish with a call for Evangelicals and those in the liturgical Churches to grow to know each other better as fellow Christians. While pointing out the factors leading to his move to Anglicanism, Webber recognizes strengths in Evangelicalism (strong personal faith, commitment to orthodoxy, love of Scripture, and concern for mission and evangelism) that would benefit the liturgical Churches. He predicts a convergence of traditions in the next century as the old wounds of the Church finally begin to heal.

In the nearly twenty years since the publication of Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail, much has happened relating to the points Webber raised - and many of his predictions now seem prophetic. The move to the historical Churches has grown considerably with Evangelical converts bringing their strengths with them to their new homes. Also, there have been many points of honest discussion and a detente of sorts along the ecclesiological front lines (although like other cessations of hostilities it is neither appreciated or observed by all).

Oddly though, Webber's own Anglicanism has not been a major beneficiary. Although the Anglican Communion is growing rapidly in Africa and Asia - where it is orthodox in its beliefs - the Episcopal Church (the U.S. province of the Anglican Communion) has declined and is increasingly both apostate and irrelevant. An obvious choice for a Protestant looking for a liturgical Church, its political correctness is anathema to someone looking for the faith once delivered. Thus most of the converts to historic Christianity have ended elsewhere.

Webber is not to blame for the folly of his Church. His book was the first sign of an important change in the Christian landscape. Although in some points it is now dated, Evangelicals on the Canterbury Trail still affords the reader a rich understanding of both Christian worship and spirituality and a glimpse on the early stages of a significant movement of God.

Rating:
Summary: Webber understood my spiritual journey
Review: Without ever meeting Robert Webber, I was convinced that when I did, he would understand how I maintained my evangelical theology but not the mainstream US evanglical style. When I was faced with major trauma in my life, I found that my traditional spiritual experience was insufficient to explain my personal spiritual yearnings. I could put no label on them but reading this book, was if Dr.Webber had walked in my shoes and had found new life within a different worship framework that I knew. This book will help the conservative Christian understand why anyone might seek the Anglican tradition of worship. I experienced the Lord deeper within this worship style and especially through the music and the Eucharist than I had ever done in my younger life. I recommend this book with no reservations.