Anglicanism: The 'American Catholic Church'

The title 'American Catholic Church' or its variant 'The Holy Catholic Church in America' was proposed as a name for the American branch of Anglicanism at the turn of the 20th century at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. It was used unofficially in many pamphlets and books to describe the position of the Episcopal Church. It was particularly loved and promoted by Bishop Charles C. Grafton, the saintly Bishop of Fon du Lac, Wisconsin. The Diocese of Quincy, for example, is, in fact, not officially named 'Episcopal' or 'Anglican' at all: it is legally incorporated as the 'Catholic Diocese of Quincy.' The aforementioned title would make an excellent one because it possesses a precedence of historical use in the Anglican Communion - the Anglican Churches of Japan, China, and Southeast Asia use the title 'Holy Catholic Church' instead of 'Anglican' because they believe themselves, and rightly so, to be the authentic Apostolic Churches in those regions of the world. Additionally, some races and cultures no longer want to be identified strictly as 'Anglican' because of the colonial history of the past and theological and moral error presently found in the Communion. 'Reformed,' in the American setting at least, is definitely identified with Calvinism and is therefore, I believe, misleading to those unfamiliar with our tradition. Christians of strong Catholic ethos are unlikely to gravitate to a Church which bears the label of 'Reformed,' no matter how the term is defined. The Spanish Anglican Church, which bears the name of Reformed, is deeply evangelical in tone and origin, governed and organised by the Church of Ireland from its first days. Our Name, like everything else it seems, is going to be a very sensitive matter indeed.