I remember when Queen Elizabeth II was alive, she was described as “notoriously Low Church” which I found odd since one of her relatives started the CoE/Angican Church. Yes, I’ve noticed how bottom basement Low Church the entire Royal Family is. If one didn’t know any better, one would think they were fundamentalists or Southern Baptists. They follow no Anglican protocol.

When I went through Confirmation Class to become part of the Anglican Church, I/we were instructed what to do during Mass or Evensong or other liturgies, and we were educated about why Anglicans do what they do. It all made perfect sense to me and one of the guys in my Confirmation Class said, “You know, one has to really pay attention during the LIturgy in order to do what we have been instructed or suggested that we do. You can’t just doze off. You have to be an active participant such as watching for the processional crosses and listening to the Liturgy.” I told him: You’re absolutely correct. I had some past experiences as a musician in Southern Baptist churches, so as I told him: It’s not like being in a Southern Baptist or some fundamentalist church where they do nothing but sit and stand and sing hymns (which may be sung seated). Some of the Anglican protocol we were taught included: Anglicans bow deeply — not nod as I see some lazy people do in the States — to the processional cross(es) and we bow or genuflect (if there’s a reserved sacrament) before entering the pew. If the Vigil candle is lit — yes one has to look for that and each church has the Vigil candle in a different location — it means there’s a reserved sacrament so one genuflects before entering and existing the pew. In the States, if anyone genuflects at all, I’ve seen some lazy females do a curtsy as if she thinks The Queen is present rather than a genuflection. When we pass the High Altar, we’re supposed to bow or genuflect and we bow during the Gloria. We knell during a part of The Nicene Creed. And there are other things that we do during a Liturgy. This applies to priests as well as the people in the pews.

But over the years, I’ve seen videos of liturgies from the CofE (Saint Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in London and at Westminster Abbey) and I’ve seen none of what I described above. In fact, I’ve seen the opposite.

Yesterday, in one video of a Liturgy from a University Chapel of the CoE, I saw a girl run from one side to the other passing the High Altar and she completely ignored the High Altar.

As for incense? None.

This is all quite surprising considering that the Church of England (CoE) is the “Mother Church” of the worldwide Anglican Communion. One might think they would strive to set an example of Anglican protocol, but that’s not the case at all from what I’ve seen. They could easily be mistaken for Southern Baptists. For those who don’t know, Southern Baptists don’t do anything during their “service” as they call it.

In the States, choristers bow to the High Altar before entering the pew. In the CoE, choristers walk into the pew without bowing to the High Altar. The same for the priests. I’ve yet to see any priest bow in the CoE. The priests and some people bow during the Gloria during the canticles in the States. Nobody bows during the Gloria in the CoE. What is going on?

It’s as if they have lost themselves and abandoned what we were taught in Confirmation Class. Why is this? There are some Anglo-Catholic churches in England which I will assume will be an exception to what I’ve described here, but I don’t know for a fact without seeing them.

Why Anglicans do what they do.

Some might try to make lame excuses for why Anglicans don’t do what they are supposed to do or it was suggested that they do in Confirmation Class. I see no need for excuses. And I know all about — what’s known as — Broad Church and that each church is different. But that doesn’t take away from what I’ve said here. Nevertheless, one still wonders what has happened to the CoE and its parishoners and priests that they would abandon what they were instructed to do in following Anglican protocol? Especially the priests. Shouldn’t they be setting an example? Why be an Anglican when one acts like a Southern Baptist? And they don’t do anything but sit, stand and sing.

How interesting. As I completed writing this, Alfred Hitchcock Presents came on television and the scene was either a Roman Catholic or Anglican parish. The priest and acolytes genuflected to the High Altar. As people proceeded to leave the church, each person genuflected at the side of the pew as they left. In another scene, as the offering was about to be collected, the guy with the offering basket genuflected to the High Altar before beginning the collection of the offering. That’s nothing like it is today from what I’ve seen.

Update (December 2023): Well, I like to be as accurate as possible so I thought I should add this: I have seen one of the choristers of The Queen’s College, Oxford, bow to the High Altar before and after his reading one of the Lessons during Choral Evensong. Although none of the choristers bowed or genuflected to the High Altar when they proceeded into the Choir stalls.

Update (December 2023): Viewing Choral Evensong at Ripon Cathedral, they did follow Anglican protocol by having the choristers and priests bowing altogether in place to the High Altar after they arrived in the Choir stalls. That was good to see.