Anglican theological variety

It occurs to me that there may be some friends reading this blog who are mystified by the frequent discussions of internal Anglican affairs. For those who aren’t familiar with Anglican practice, a brief word on the variety within our Communion might be in order. Anglican clergy and the parishes they serve can generally be broken down into three “parties.” There is the “High Church” or Anglo-Catholic tradition (probably 80% of our priests and parishes here in Fort Worth fall into this group), the Evangelical or “Low Church” tradition (about 20% of our diocesan clergy), and the “Broad Church” or Latitudinarian custom. These “Broad Church” types are today in the US mostly on the theologically liberal end of the spectrum, and here in Fort Worth we really don’t have very many—or perhaps any—of them, but they are the dominant voice in ECUSA nationally. It was once the case that Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals were at odds on many points, especially about worship practice and equipment (Anglo-Catholics are into “smells and bells” on the ceremonial side and emphasize the “Real Presence of Christ” in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, while Low Churchmen tend to prefer simplicity in worship and emphasize the homily in a Morning Prayer context). But as the Broad Church party began drifting farther and farther to the left theologically, High and Low Churchmen began to realize that they had more in common theologically with each other (esp. in their common high regard for the authority of Holy Scripture and the creeds of the Church) than they did with their Broad Church brothers, who typically thought of themselves as “reasonable” types in the "middle." IMHO, the dominant “Broad Church” party in ECUSA today has more in common with theological liberals in such “progressive” Protestant denominations as the UCC and the Disciples of Christ (though admittedly with a “higher” liturgical sensibility than is typical in those congregationalist denominations) than they do with Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals within the Anglican Communion. The recent much-publicized troubles in world-wide Anglicanism stem from this disconnect within the Anglican family between “classical” Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals and the “progressive” leadership of ECUSA. I hope this brief discussion helps. You can't tell the players without a program!