High Church

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High Church

Anglican Communion

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June 29, 2026

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The term "High Church" refers to a movement within the Anglican Communion that emphasizes the Catholic heritage of the church. This movement, also known as Anglo-Catholicism, emerged from the 19th-century Oxford Movement, which aimed to revive Catholic theology and practices within the Church of England.1

High Church adherents give significant importance to episcopal church government, sacraments, and liturgical worship. This emphasis has historically been present in the Church of England since the time of Queen Elizabeth I. While often opposed by Anglican Evangelicals who focus on the Protestant aspects of Anglicanism, High Church practices remain a significant element within the Anglican Communion. The term "High Church" itself dates back to the late 17th century, signifying a particular emphasis on these traditional and liturgical elements.12

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Anglicanism
Comprehensiveness in doctrine and practice
…of thought and practice, including High Church, Anglo-Catholic, Low Church or Evangelical, and others. The various churches of the Anglican Communion, though autonomous, are bound together by a common heritage and common doctrinal and liturgical concerns, and there has always been a considerable amount of interchange of ecclesiastical personnel.
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…of thought and practice, including High Church, Anglo-Catholic, Low Church or Evangelical, and others. The various churches of the Anglican Communion, though autonomous, are bound together by a common heritage and common doctrinal and liturgical concerns, and there has always been a considerable amount of interchange of ecclesiastical personnel.
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Anglo-Catholicism
Anglo-Catholics are sometimes called high churchmen, in that they give a “high” place to the importance of the episcopal form of church government, the sacraments, and liturgical worship. The term High Church was first used about the end of the 17th century to express this particular emphasis within the…
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Anglo-Catholics are sometimes called high churchmen, in that they give a “high” place to the importance of the episcopal form of church government, the sacraments, and liturgical worship. The term High Church was first used about the end of the 17th century to express this particular emphasis within the…
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The Episcopal Church
Early history to the 20th century
… heritage of the church (High Church), became influential in the Episcopal Church in the 1840s. Though it enriched the worship services and spiritual discipline of the church, it caused considerable controversy, because many Episcopalians preferred to emphasize the Protestant heritage (Low Church). In later years the promotion of liberal…
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… heritage of the church (High Church), became influential in the Episcopal Church in the 1840s. Though it enriched the worship services and spiritual discipline of the church, it caused considerable controversy, because many Episcopalians preferred to emphasize the Protestant heritage (Low Church). In later years the promotion of liberal…
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Christianity
Church polity
The High Church tradition, on the other hand, values episcopal polity as an essential element of the Christian church that belongs to the church’s statements of faith. The episcopal branch of the Methodist Church has also retained the bishop’s office in the sense of the Low…
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The High Church tradition, on the other hand, values episcopal polity as an essential element of the Christian church that belongs to the church’s statements of faith. The episcopal branch of the Methodist Church has also retained the bishop’s office in the sense of the Low…
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