From Presbyterian to Anglican

One of my music professors at Huntingdon College was an organist at St. John's Episcopal Church in Montgomery, AL which was the parish Jefferson Davis, the president of the confederacy, attended. I attended a service at St. John's so I could hear my professor play the organ. I was blown away by the beauty and reverence of the service and thought, "This is what is missing in the Presbyterian church." I knew that most of the theology being taught in the Episcopal church was either watered-down Christianity or liberal theology, from which I had just escaped in the Methodist Church. I did not want to go back to a weak theology, but I thought the worship to be an appropriate way to approach a holy God. I wanted a church that was Reformed in her theology and used the Book of Common Prayer for worship. I moved to Escondido, CA to go to Westminster Theological Seminary and while searching for a church to attend in California I heard about a denomination called the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) and I decided to go and see what it was like. It was just what I was looking for. The priest was Reformed in his theology and they used the Book of Common Prayer in worship. Finally, I found a church that was both reformed and liturgical. (I found out later that "Reformed" in Reformed Episcopal refers not to Reformed theology but to the reforming of the Episcopal Church from the Anglo-Catholic tractarian movement - though many in the REC are reformed in their theology.) After joining the REC, I found out about their seminary, Cranmer Theological House, in Shreveport, LA and decided to transfer and pursue an Anglican education. It was at Cranmer Theological House that I was first introduced to anything Orthodox.