Low Church
Low Church is the opposite of High Church in Anglicanism . It is first of all a theologically intended expression that corresponds to the “high”, i.e. H. sacramental and episcopal concept of the church opposes the Catholic High Church direction with a rather Protestant - Calvinist view of the church . According to this, the church itself is not actually an object of faith, but only a consequence of the preaching of the gospel . The real way of being of the church is not world-historical and global, but local and communal, ie the community . More important than the faith of the church, its liturgy and its dogmas are the piety of the individual Christians and their way of life. The terms conversion and rebirth play a role in many cases, but not everywhere. Low Church can also present itself in a markedly open and popular church manner.
The sociological localization of both phenomena corresponds to the actually theological pair of terms, as the high church finds its supporters among the royal family, the nobility and the educated bourgeoisie, the low church among the petty bourgeoisie, small businesses and craftsmen. Almost equally far from both is the workforce, which religiously finds its home in other than Anglican denominations .
The Low Church direction was shaped by "converted" pastors such as George Thompson , Charles Simeon , John W. Fletcher and John Newton .