Split in Church of England

[ICantSpellDawg]

FYI this is a problem MANY other Christians have with Catholicism because they believe christ was the only intercessor between man and God.

"In Christian practice, intercessory prayer is the act of one person praying for or on behalf of another"

"Intercession in liturgical Protestant churches (as well as in the Anglican Church) is a regular part of the worship service, often spoken by one or more people with the congregation responding, "Hear our prayer." Protestant intercession is usually by the living and for the living, although many Anglo-Catholics and Lutherans share the Roman Catholic belief in the Communion of Saints (see above)."

"There is some evidence of a Jewish belief in intercession, both in the form of the paternal blessings passed down from Abraham to his children, and 2 Maccabees, where Judas Maccabaeus sees the dead Onias and Jeremiah giving blessing to the Jewish army."
- Wiki on intercession.

Do you ever ask your mother and father to pray for someone? What about a friend? Why would it be different to ask someone who is no longer alive? We are supposed to pray for the dead, why not pray along with them? Remembrances are a big part of Christianity - you just need to make sure that you are doing it in a way Not insulting to God. To invoke their name in the hopes of achieving an outcome isn't what I'm talking about. Praying in community with them is another thing altogether. Praying with them because they are a patron of a specific thing gives you perspective on that thing as well as it brings you into a prayer community with those passed.

I'm saying that a number of Anglo-Catholics respect the more appropriate way of asking saints to pray for them or loved ones. You arn't asking for any god-like treatment from them, just for them to pray to God as you or your family would while you reflect on their experiences. Individual Anglican/Episcopal churches are free to decide their own opinions on the issue and many are in line with Rome.

I don't think that the differences are as substantial as some may claim.