Yes, if you attempted to participate in an Anglican Communion service, you have technically committed apostasy! You should not receive Holy Communion until you have been to confession.
The key differences between the Anglican and Episcopal Church lie in their governance structures and geographical locations. The Anglican Church is the global communion of churches that trace their roots to the Church of England, while the Episcopal Church is the branch of the Anglican Communion in the United States. The Anglican Church is more decentralized, with each province having its own leadership, while the Episcopal Church has a more centralized structure with a presiding bishop. Additionally, the Anglican Church has a broader international presence, while the Episcopal Church is primarily based in the United States.
On the whole, unless an Anglican is of the Catholic tradition in the Anglican Church (ie, they are catholic to all intents and purposes except they reject the authority of the pope), then Anglicans do not go to confession. That does not mean that they do not confess their sins! At almost every Anglican service there is an act of confession and absolution, and Anglicans take sin just as seriously as Catholics. However, the vast majority of Anglicans do not see the need to confess to a priest as an intermediary, but confess directly to God, as per the early Church practices and reject entirely the Catholic tradition of 'having' to go to confession on, say, a weekly basis. Instead they confess their sins when they need to, directly to God, whether as part of a service or not.
The Anglican church is a worldwide group of churches that are, what is called,, 'in communion with each other'. In other words, they are all part of the Anglican denomination (as opposed to Roman Catholic, Lutheran, baptist, Methodist, and so on). The Episcopalian Church in the USA is one of these Anglican churches. Episcpalian simply means 'having bishops in its heirarchy'. Other Anglican churches include many churches in Africa, the church of England, the Scottish Episcopalian Church, The Church in Wales, the Church of Ireland, The Church in Europe and so on.
The Anglican Church tries to be a universal Church at the same time as it lacks the disciplined hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. General decisions for the Anglican Communion as a whole are made by consensus or vote, with individual bishops having considerable latitude in implementing or opposing those decisions. Two decision that have been welcomed by some bishops but strenuously opposed by others, are the ordination of women as priests and the the ordination of homosexuals as priests. Some conservative ministers who feel they can not accept these decisions have chosen to leave the faith and become priests in the Roman Catholic Church.
The reforms of the Anglican church include having the worship service in the language of the people, and an emphasis on scripture reading. The latter came about because of the printing press, so more people had access to Bibles.
The Episcopal Church is the American province of the Anglican Communion. When the Anglican Church came to America, the church was re-named after the American Revolution in order to distinguish itself from the English Church (The Church of England). The Term 'Episcopal' was chosen since the Anglican Church has an 'episcopal' governmental structure. The word 'episcopal' or 'episcopos' is Greek for 'bishop.' Thus all churches that are governed by bishops have an 'episcopal' structure. It seemed like a logical choice of term to identify the new Anglican province in the America's. Thus, the name 'The Episcopal Church' was chosen. However, it's full legal title, which is used on formal documents and resolutions is 'The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America'However, for the sake of ease, this title is used solely on legal documents and resolutions. In the 1950's there was great debate as to drop the term 'protestant' from the title. The argument was that the Anglican Church came out of The English Reformation as opposed to the Protestant Reformation. The English Reformation, which gave birth to the Anglican Communion, broke ties with Rome over politics, not theology. The Protestant Reformation, which was started by Martin Luther, began as an uprising due to theological corruption in the Roman Church. Ultimately the resolution was passed, and the term 'protestant' was dropped from the title. Currently, the church is known best as just 'The Episcopal Church'. ---- ; Main Entry : epis·co·pal ; Pronunciation : \i-ˈpis-kə-pəl, -bəl\ ; Function : adjective ; Etymology : Middle English, from Late Latin episcopalis, from episcopus bishop - more at bishop ; Date : 15th century 1: of or relating to a bishop2: of, having, or constituting government by bishops3capitalized : of or relating to The Episcopal Church representing the Anglican communion in the United States
The key differences between the Episcopal Church and the Church of England lie in their governance structures and historical backgrounds. The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the Anglican Communion, while the Church of England is the established church in England. The Episcopal Church has a more decentralized structure with bishops having more autonomy, while the Church of England is more centralized with the Archbishop of Canterbury as its spiritual head. Additionally, the Episcopal Church allows for more diversity in theological beliefs and practices compared to the Church of England.
Catholics believe that the priest, acting in the person of Christ, actually changes the bread and wine, whole and entire, into the Body and Blood of Our Blessed Lord, Jesus Christ. After this change, called Transubstantiation, nothing of the bread and wine remains but their outward accidents. Anglicans are protestants, who believe any number of things, some of which might look like the Catholic belief, but they do not have a valid priesthood.
Simply find an Anglican Church and start attending it. Anglican Churches can be found all over the world, and, as the Church of England represents just two provinces (Canterbury and York) of the worldwide Anglican Church, you will certainly find an Anglican church in Germany. Most churches are to be found listed in the local directories or yellow pages with most large cities having at least one Anglican church.Once you start attending, then I suggest that you have a word with the minister about your intentions and he or she will then help and guide you. However, 'conversion' into the Anglican church is much easier than 'conversion' into the Catholic Church. If you have been baptised a Catholic then the Anglican Church recognises this baptism as valid (unlike the Catholics do for Anglicans) so any sort of 're-baptism' would not be necessary. You may wish to discuss confirmation with the minister, although, again, this is not necessary. For most Catholics wishing to 'convert' all that would be required would be a commitment to attend worship and to take part in worship, and eventually be asked to be placed on the 'electoral roll' - the 'membership list' of the church in question.One last thing - unlike Anglicans attending a Catholic Church, in most Anglican Churches all Christians who would normally take communion in their own church (whatever denomination) would be welcome to receive in both kinds (bread and wine) in the Anglican Church as, unlike the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church on the whole does not invoke any special properties in the bread and wine - for Anglicans the miracle is in their receipt in faith and not in the elements themselves. Therefore, as a Christian, you would be most welcome to receive as for Anglicans the decision to receive is seen as a covenant between you and God alone and not what rules that the Church heirarchy has dreamt up.
There are probably more similarities between Anglicans and Catholics than differences.Both Angican and Catholic Christians subscribe to the Church's Creeds - statements of belief that were established by the early church to avoid heresies. These creeds include the following beliefs: -God made heaven and earth at creationJesus Christ is the Son of God, begotten of the Father being of one substance with the Father who was also at Creation.Jesus was incarnate of a Virgin, he suffered, died for our salvation, and on the Third Day rose again, ascending into heaven. He will return one day as judge.The Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity and with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified.God spoke and still speaks through prophets.Baptism is one of the sacraments ordained by Christ for the remission of sinsAt the end of times, we believe in the resurrection of the dead, and everlasting life.The Anglican Church, like the Catholic Church, has, as its central liturgy the Holy Communion Service (called the 'mass' in the Catholic Church). It is organised similarly to the Catholic Church, having Bishops and Archbishops, priests and deacons, and, like the Catholic Church, can trace its line of succession through the history of the Anglican Church through its formation from the Catholic Church, to the original 12 apostles.Despite the many differences, most of which are non-scriptural and peripheral anyway, the main beliefs of the Christian Church through the Creeds are accepted in both Anglican as well as Catholic Churches, and, therefore, both churches are Orthodox in their beliefs.The Differences include the following:-Anglicans do not recognise the Pope as the Head of the Church. Most do not accept the transubstantiation of the bread and wine at the mass (Holy Communion) into the actual body and blood of Christ, but regard them as symbolic instead. Anglicans on the whole do not pray to saints, do not regard the Virgin Mary with the same veneration as Catholics, do not require their priests to be celibate, do not believe in the concepts of purgatory or limbo. In the Anglican Church, any visitor who would normally receive Holy Communion in a different church (whether or not it is Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, URC or whatever) are welcome to receive the bread and wine in an Anglican church. In a Catholic Church, one must be a Catholic if one is to be invited to receive. In an Anglican church all receive the bread and wine; in a Catholic Church only the bread is normally received by the members of the congregation.(Note that non-Catholics are not physically barred from Catholic Communion, although this could occur in some distinct circumstances, such as excommunication.)
To properly conduct communion at church, the minister or priest typically blesses the bread and wine, representing the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The congregation then receives the elements, usually by coming forward to the altar or having them passed down the pews. It is important to approach communion with reverence and understanding of its significance in the Christian faith.
Yes, as long as you are not in a state of mortal sin. To be able to receive Holy Communion worthily one must not be in mortal sin, believe that the consecrated bread and wine are really the Body and Blood of Christ, and have fasted for one hour before receiving Holy Communion. If your wife is not Catholic, she may not receive Holy Communion, but you can. The above is absolutely true within the Catholic Church. However you can both receive communion if you attend a non-catholic Church (such as an Anglican Church) as Anglicans recognise any communicant member of any other denomination as having the right to receive communion within their own church.