My sentiments exactly

I am so glad I came to Anglo-Catholicism from the evangelical world, where a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is paramount. And thankfully, I have found that everything about the teaching we get and the fellowship we have keeps Jesus Christ at the heart of worship. So I so much agree with this post by Fr. Ed Tomlinson over at The Anglo-Catholic (my bolds).

It is not unusual for our liturgical passion and dedication to public devotion to be misunderstood. Some assume we are too churchy and, where Anglo-Catholicism is unhealthy, they have a point! For when a dedication to devotion does not come from the heart, and is not leading people to a genuine relationship with Jesus, Anglo-Catholicism fosters religion, even religiosity, at the cost of living faith. A strange ‘church-moth’ is created in the place of a disciple; one who loves mass but rarely sees beyond the externals to the life changing message of the Gospel. This danger being real, the Anglo-Catholic must guard against closing hearts when falling on knees.

Another criticism of our dedication to public devotion is that we are too inward looking and precious. Again this warning might have substance in places where a worshipping community have become completely out of touch with the people that they serve. I have certainly met one or two horrific examples of clergy who genuinely seem more concerned with the correct length of lace on their albs than in evangelism, mission and fostering faith in others. Such people need to remember that worship exists to ‘send us out in the power of the Spirit’. They should also reflect on the fact that Corpus Christi processions once involved taking Jesus through every street in the parish! Looking inward is healthy and important but only if it leads to us looking outwards as well as inwards.

So two criticisms exist which Anglo-Catholics must take on the chin, for where we have become disconnected from the living Gospel they hold water. Daily mass, daily offices, the angelus, rosary, ejaculatory prayers and all else are of no use whatsoever if they do not lead us to Jesus. But where this does happen then devotion to daily worship becomes a wonderful, life-giving and life-affirming thing. Indeed I would argue that devotion to worship set alongside living faith is the catalyst for discovering a true life of fruitful prayer. And it is certainly worth noting that most religious communities within the Anglican fold are the product of this type of living Anglo-Catholicism.