Roman Catholic Layman Drawn to Anglican Use

From The Living Church-

A Roman Catholic layman hopes that the Vatican’s provision for Anglicans may also create a liturgical space for Catholics who love Anglican forms of worship.

Shane Schaetzel has founded Anglican Use Catholics of Springfield, Mo., to explore how many people share his desire for such an arrangement.

Mr. Schaetzel told The Living Church that within Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States, traditionalists who wish to worship in English have precious few places to go.

“I can’t think of any liturgy that better addresses that issue than Anglican Use,” he said.

Mr. Schaetzel said he grew up in a non-practicing Lutheran home and became a member of the evangelical Calvary Church for about eight years. He discovered Christianity’s Jewish roots and began reading the Fathers of the early Church, which led him to spend two years as a member of St. James’ Church, Springfield.

“I was extremely happy with the Episcopal parish we were attending,” he said. “When we left, it was a bittersweet experience. We left behind this church that we loved and this liturgy that we loved.”

Mr. Schaetzel had theological reservations about the Episcopal Church’s ordaining women to the priesthood, and deeper reservations still about its understanding of human sexuality. By the spring of 2000, he and his wife became Roman Catholics. While Mr. Schaetzel gained a greater theological confidence in Rome, he also bumped up against the post–Vatican II environment of contemporary music and more colloquial styles of prayer.

“I often felt I was in a Lutheran parish rather than a Catholic one,” he said.

He found some solace in a Tridentine Mass celebrated at St. Agnes Cathedral, Springfield.

“I have been attending the extraordinary form pretty frequently now,” he said. “That has been an oasis for me.”

When the Vatican announced that it would welcome Anglican pilgrims into its ecclesial life and allow them to keep aspects of their patrimony, Mr. Schaetzel began asking friends whether that might also apply to former Anglicans already within Rome’s embrace. To test the idea further, he’s inviting kindred spirits to gather together for prayer that does not include Communion.

“Let’s get Christians praying together,” he said, describing his project. “Let’s do that with Anglican Use Evening Vespers, and then let the Holy Spirit do what he wants to do.”

Regardless of how this venture turns out, Mr. Schaetzel said, he is committed to Roman Catholicism.

“I have reconciled my faith with Rome. I can never unreconcile it,” he said.

“This group, whether it thrives or fails, is not of consequence to me,” he said of his fledgling experiment. “I feel convicted that I have to give it a try.”

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2010/1/11/roman-catholic-layman-drawn-to-anglican-use