Plenty of people ask that before they ask anything else, and it’s a fair place to start. It does matter, though not every difference matters the same amount. The Episcopal Church descends from the Church of England and belongs to the worldwide Anglican Communion. Bishops oversee it, and the Book of Common Prayer orders its worship. Churches of Christ follow the New Testament alone, have nothing above the local congregation, and keep worship simple. Some of what separates the two is style, and that part matters very little. Some of it is authority, and that part decides everything else.
The Real Split Is Over Where a Church Gets Its Instructions
The Episcopal Church’s own website calls the Scriptures its foundation, “which we interpret through reason and tradition.” The Book of Common Prayer holds what the church calls its “core worship and devotional texts.” At most Eucharist services the congregation recites the Nicene Creed, an ancient summary of the Christian faith. Episcopalians honor the Scriptures and confess Jesus as Lord. That’s real common ground.
The question churches of Christ keep coming back to is narrower. Does the Bible need help? “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If God’s book leaves you complete, nothing needs to be bolted onto it, so we use no prayer book and no creed. The Episcopal Church carries forward a tradition that came through the Church of England and was formally organized in America in 1789. Churches of Christ are trying to go back behind every later tradition to the church Jesus said He’d build (Matthew 16:18), and simply be that church.
Bishops and Dioceses, or a Congregation With No One Above It
Episcopal is a word about government. It comes from the Greek episkopos, meaning overseer. Bishops really are the frame of the whole structure. Congregations belong to dioceses, regions of many churches, and each diocese elects its bishop. A presiding bishop leads the national church, which is a member of the Anglican Communion.
Look for that frame in the New Testament and it isn’t there. Overseer, elder and shepherd are three names for the same local office. Paul called for the elders of a single church and told those very men to oversee and shepherd the flock among them (Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5-7; 1 Peter 5:2). Nothing bigger shows up. So a church of Christ has no diocese and no headquarters, just a congregation with its own elders and one head above it: “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23).
That independence cuts both ways. With no one over the congregations, no congregation can speak for the rest of them. This page describes what non-institutional churches of Christ generally teach and practice, and it’s what you’ll find with us at Temple Terrace.
What You’d Notice on an Episcopal Sunday, and on Ours
Episcopal worship follows the written services of the Prayer Book, and the church notes that about 70 percent of that book is Scripture. Style varies by parish. In the church’s own words, “Some use elaborate ceremonial elements; some worship very simply.” The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion, is what the church calls “the principal act of Christian worship,” and it’s commonly part of weekly Sunday worship. That weekly communion is something we share.
Our worship is simple and scripture based . Everybody sings, nothing is played, because singing is the command the New Testament gives to every person in the room: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). That’s what a cappella means, voices only. Prayers sound like people talking to God. The preaching stays in the text. Members give contributions as they’ve decided in their own hearts (2 Corinthians 9:7), and the Lord’s Supper comes every first day of the week, as it did for the first Christians. “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them” (Acts 20:7). “To break bread” most likely refers to the Lord’s Supper there. It’s a memorial meal, and it proclaims the Lord’s death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:26).
Baptism Is the Clearest Fork in the Road
The Episcopal Church baptizes people of all ages, babies included. Water is poured over the head at the font, or the person is fully immersed. For an infant, parents and godparents make the promises on the child’s behalf. The church confesses “one baptism for the forgiveness of sins,” and it treats baptism with real seriousness.
We believe the scriptures teach baptism by immersion, for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). So both churches connect baptism with forgiveness. We part over who gets baptized and how, for two reasons from the text. Faith and repentance come before baptism in the New Testament, and a baby can’t do either yet. And baptism there is a burial: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Water poured over someone’s head doesn’t bury them. Nor do we find anyone in the New Testament answering that call on another person’s behalf.
So How Do You Decide?
Not by which sanctuary is prettier or which service feels familiar. The Bereans were commended for checking even an apostle against the Scriptures every day (Acts 17:11), and we’d want the same test applied to us. Read it slowly for yourself. Let the New Testament settle it.
Sit With Us on Temple Terrace Highway
If you’ve wondered for a while where church fits in your life, we’d be glad to open the Bible with you. The Temple Terrace church of Christ meets at 8001 Temple Terrace Highway, just off I-75. Guest parking is on the left, just after the immediate right turn into the lot. You’ll be among genuine, imperfect people who are still becoming who God made them to be. You were made for more than wondering.
Plan your visit and we’ll watch for you.
If you want the Bible’s own answer about being saved, start here.
When we meet:
- Sunday: Worship 9am, Bible Class 5pm
- Wednesday: Bible Class 7pm