On the whole, I don’t disagree with you. I would think that anyone steeped in the orthodoxy and orthopraxy of the Anglican church, the Baptists, or the Assemblies of God would experience no small amount of dissonance attending one of the other sects.

On the other hand, it seems to me that the deeper you go in your faith and indoctrination, the more the complexities rise to the surface to reveal themselves as simply that: surface complexities. There are many fundamental core issues that present enough commonality that there is much room for dialog and movement. I retreated at a Trappist monastery for a week and enjoyed a deep, transforming time of worship there. I have worshipped with Anglicans. I have worshipped with Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians. I think Lang’s point is that worship is a core fundamental, and I agree with her on that.

For example, the first Anglican service I ever attended was an ordination service where one of the ordinands was an ordained Assemblies of God minister who was being ordained into the Anglican diaconate prior to his ordination later this year into priesthood. You can read about my brief dialog with Jack here:

“The Anglican Mission in America, Tasty Bread, and Tradition”

And I like these words from Paul W. Lewis, Ph.D. regarding this potential for dialog between our sects:

“We still recognize that Pentecostals are dominantly Orthodox with Western church roots from the Protestant branch. The common Pentecostal consensus is that Pentecostal theology and hermeneutics is benefited by and benefits from interaction with and in dialogue with other traditions of Christianity.[20] For example, Pentecostals should (and have been in) dialogue with Roman Catholics on the miraculous, with Wesleyans on the quadrilateral and experience, and with Eastern Orthodox believers on the imago dei and the Holy Spirit. Whereas Pentecostals have much to learn about many theological and ethical issues that other traditions have been deliberating for centuries, the Pentecostals can assist in the discussions on experience, missiological practices, and charismatic worship among other areas. This is the hope of the present and future dialogues between Pentecostalism and other Christian traditions.”

From: “100 Years of Theology“

Regards,

Rich
BlogRodent