High Church

The term "high church" refers to beliefs and practices of ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology, generally with an emphasis on formality and resistance to "modernisation". Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originated in and has been principally associated with the Anglican/Episcopal tradition, where it describes Anglican churches using a number of ritual practices associated in the popular mind with Roman Catholicism. The opposite is low church. Contemporary media discussing Anglican churches tend to prefer evangelical to "low church", and Anglo-Catholic to "high church", though the terms do not exactly correspond. Other contemporary denominations that contain high church wings include some Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches.

Because of its history, the term "High Church" also refers to aspects of Anglicanism quite distinct from the Oxford Movement or Anglo-Catholicism. There remain parishes that are "High Church" and yet adhere closely to the quintessentially Anglican usages and liturgical practices of the Book of Common Prayer.

High Church Anglicanism tends to be closer than Low Church to Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Christian teachings. In contrast, the Evangelical wing of Anglicanism is closer to Protestant thinking. Although the conservatives tend to look favourably on Roman Catholicism and the Orthodox churches, some in the High Church tradition are sympathetic to practices that, according to both official Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian teachings, are anathema, such as the ordination of women.

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