The two principle white vestments are the Cassock-Alb or the Surplice. The Cassock-Alb is a single garment. The Surplice is always worn over a cassock (see next).
Some Anglican clergy favour a double-breasted cassock (known as a Sarum cassock), often with an external button at chest level on which to hook an academic hood (which is worn as part of the choir habit). However, many clergy, especially most Anglo-Catholic clergy, choose the single breasted cassock.
There's no “dress code” for church. Some people dress informally, and others more formally. Wear what feels comfortable to you. All kids are welcome.
Catholic (both Eastern and Western), Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran Christians generally use the crucifix in public religious services.
These services consist of psalms, Bible readings, and prayers; and may include a sermon. They may be with or without music. While some parts of the services are always the same, others change. At the Holy Eucharist, for example, two or three Bible selections are read.
Anglicanism is both Reformed AND Catholic
Anglicans tend to define their church as both catholic and reformational, or both catholic and evangelical. Here's the fun part though: when we say 'catholic' we don't mean we are “Roman Catholic,” and when we say 'reformed' we don't necessarily mean we are all “Calvinists.”
Newcomers are always welcome at any Anglican church. There are no membership fees and you don't have to fill in any forms. Anyone can attend any Anglican service and see what happens.
15 Alcohol is not regarded as unacceptable within the Church of England today. Alcohol is routinely served at Church social occasions. The Anglican rite of Communion uses alcoholic wine.
On both Sundays (Gaudete in Advent and Laetare in Lent), rose is worn to remind us that the season of preparation is coming to a close and the great feast is swiftly approaching.
This colour can also imply that the clergy holds a specific position in the church. At times, one Bishop may wear a purple clergy shirt in the presence of a senior Bishop, so that there can be the distinction between the two. Purple is also used for services of repentance.
Anglicans believe that Christ is present in both the bread and wine. Once you have communed return to your seat. You are invited to kneel and pray, listen to the music, or sit silently.
Anglicans believe that the Christian life involves regular praise and prayer, both private and public, and that Christians must practise what they preach and pray - both on Sundays (the day when Anglicans normally gather for worship) and every day, as they seek to live out their worship.
Pumps are a great choice to wear with a shift dress, a pencil skirt or pants. Other pieces to stay away from are shorts, leggings, tight or short dresses and skirts, sandals, flip flops, and of course, see through blouses.
Sectarian Dress
Notable among these are the Shakers, Amish, Hasidic Jews, Hutterites, and several conservative Mennonite groups. Fossilized fashion has been explained as a sudden "freezing" of fashion whereby a group continues to wear certain clothing long after it has gone out of style for the general population.
Green is the colour worn most often during liturgies in Ordinary Time. It symbolises the graces that draw people into the life of God. Most of the Church's year is Ordinary Time.
So… on The Day of Pentecost in the church year, fifty days of Easter and ten days after the Ascension, the clergy wear RED vestments to signify the work of the Spirit. It is also a custom in many churches for the people in the congregation to wear RED on the Day of Pentecost as well.
The emblem of the Anglican Communion. It was designed by Canon Edward West of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.
The Anglican Church rejects the Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory while affirming that salvation is based solely on Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross, without the addition of human works. The church professes belief in the three Christian creeds: the Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed.
The unpardonable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
The Anglican tradition is full of hidden treasures, among the chief of which is the discipline of private confession, now usually called the Reconciliation of a Penitent. Forgiveness, of course is basic to the Christian way of life, as we seek to do God's will and fall short of doing it.
Anglicanism forms one of the branches of Western Christianity, having definitively declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. Many of the new Anglican formularies of the mid-16th century corresponded closely to those of historical Protestantism.
It has been said that the Anglican Communion rests on the three pillars of Faith, Reason and Tradition. The unique strength of Anglicanism lies in our attempts to hold in balance these three aspects of our belief.
Churches of the Anglican Communion have no restrictions on the marriage of deacons, priests, bishops, or other ministers to a person of the opposite sex. Early Anglican Church clergy under Henry VIII were required to be celibate (see Six Articles), but the requirement was eliminated by Edward VI.