We're Asians. So Why Call Ourselves Anglo-Catholic?

Why Must We Follow English Tradition? Why Not Follow Asian Traditions? We Are Asians!

This is a question I have heard before, and I understand why. We are Asians. Why, then, do we call ourselves Anglo-Catholic? Why do we hold on to a tradition that came from England, when our faces, our languages, and our ancestors belong to Asia?

There is a common but mistaken understanding that Christianity must be tied to local culture — that it must be "flavored" according to where it is planted. Since we are Asians, the thinking goes, we need an Asian Church. It is true that we refuse to be work with local culture? Far from it. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself incarnated into the world, taking on the culture and language of his time, so that he could speak to the people, serve mankind, and lead them into salvation.

However, if we read enough history — not only Church history — we will see that we, as human beings, are not immune to error. We hunger for divine revelation, for connection to something beyond ourselves. The ancient religious institutions, not only the Church but the Temple of Israel and its people, have always understood that historic tradition plays a vital role in preserving the truth God has revealed to mankind.

So when we say we stand in the English tradition, or call ourselves Anglo-Catholic, this is not meant to sound pompous or lofty. Neither are we trying to be a museum gallery, sealed off from the world we actually live in. We are always working to find ways to connect with people, and through that, to help people connect with God. But there is something deeper, something more essential, behind why we want to preserve what God has given to the English people.

Firstly: A Tradition Connected to Jesus Christ and the Apostles

It is crucial that our practice as a Church remains connected to Jesus Christ and the Apostles. It is naive to think that Church practice simply appears out of nowhere. It is even more dangerous to have practices invented by human beings, detached from that source. The Bible itself warns us of the danger of human tradition.

When we hold firmly to the English tradition, we are not exalting English culture or the English language for its own sake. We are asserting something else entirely — that our Church carries legitimate authority, a real and traceable connection to our Lord Jesus Christ and his Apostles. Christians who lack such a connection, however sincere they may be, leave open a real question about the authenticity of what they practice.

The English tradition is far older than most people realize. Christianity had already reached Britain by the 3rd century, under Roman rule. We know this because in the year 314 AD, three British bishops — from London, York, and Lincoln — traveled all the way to a Church council in Arles, France, alongside bishops from across the Roman world. This means Britain already had an organized Church with its own bishops less than 300 years after the time of the Apostles, at a time when Christians elsewhere were still recovering from persecution. Later, in 597 AD, St. Augustine of Canterbury was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to strengthen and formalize this mission, landing in Kent and beginning the work that shaped the English Church we know today. So when we speak of the English tradition, we are not talking about something invented in modern times, or even in the Reformation. We are talking about a living connection to the Apostles that stretches back over 1,700 years — planted in Britain while the Roman Empire itself was still standing.

Secondly: Preserved Through Formal Succession

Since the days of the Old Testament, the people of God ensured that his revelation and teaching were preserved and carried forward through formal succession. We see the same instinct even in Chinese culture, in the relationship between master and apprentice. Consider students of Wing Chun, the Chinese martial art. Today, practitioners identify themselves by naming the lineage of masters who taught them — not out of vanity, but as a way of showing authenticity and honoring those who passed the art down to them. Each lineage develops its own character over time, yet it still holds to the fundamentals laid down by its founder.

In the same way, our Christian faith traces its root back to Jesus Christ, who entrusted his authority to the Apostles he chose. This is not sentimentality. It is how we know that what we have received is the same thing that was handed down, and not something else wearing its name.

Thirdly: Guarding Against False Teachers

We are not naive about the threat of false teachers. Our Lord warned us of them in Scripture, and history has shown us plenty of examples since. We know that the devil and his followers can perform signs and wonders in the name of God while being wolves in sheep's clothing. Being able to identify ourselves within a tradition and lineage that has an unbroken connection to our Lord Jesus is one of the ways we guard our authenticity against such deception.

Not a Competition of Cultures

None of this is meant to turn cultural heritage into a competition. This is not English versus Asian. The point of calling ourselves Anglo-Catholic, as I have tried to explain above, is to make sure that what we practice and teach comes genuinely from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Could Anglo-Catholicism one day become Asianized? It is possible. But such things must be done with great care, never rushed. Looking at the ancient Church, we see that this kind of change rarely happened for the sake of flavoring the faith to satisfy cultural pride. It happened out of practicality, and it happened gradually, almost naturally, as the faith was lived out among the people over time, a very long time.

Our focus, then, is not culture in itself. Our focus is to connect people to the authentic teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, without adulteration — whatever language we speak, and whatever tradition carries us there. To let people we are Anglo-Catholics is to help people identify us as authentic group of Christians connected to our Lord Jesus Christ and the holy Apostles he ordained.