[Jerry D]

Hi everyone. The topic of Religion in Everwood had been discussed in this thread, but as I had mentioned here recently, resurrecting old threads here can cause issues with the servers here, so I'm starting this discussion topic about Everwood and Religion. This topic was briefly discussed in the Greenies thread, and Rachel contributed some excellent posts about this topic, so I'd like to continue that discussion here.

Religion played a fairly prominent role on Everwood because we saw that Ephram and Delia followed the religion of their mother, who was Jewish, and Delia's Bat Mitzvah figured prominently in the Series Finale of the show. We saw other religious themed episodes on the show, like Blind Faith, where a Reverend with failing eyesight called on God and his congregation to allow him to be able to see his bride to be on their wedding day, and in the episode where Andy called out in despair to God in church to "help him get his joy back."

I think that this is a good topic to discuss and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's thoughts on it.

[jediwands]

Thanks for starting it, Jerry!

[Librarianx01]

Nice thread

I'd like to also note Harold speaks to God when Rose is in surgery (?) for her cancer. Religion shows up in pockets in the show but in many ways that make it feel accessible but not down your throat.

[Jerry D]

Originally Posted by Librarianx01 (View Post) Nice thread I'd like to also note Harold speaks to God when Rose is in surgery (?) for her cancer. Religion shows up in pockets in the show but in many ways that make it feel accessible but not down your throat.

That's very true.

It wasn't really clear to me what religion the Abbott's were. My impression was that most of the citizens of Everwood were of a generic Protestant Denomination, as they all seemed to be parishioners of the church that The Reverend Keyes was the pastor of, but I'm not sure.

[Librarianx01]

Yes I agree it was a generic "Christian" (probably Protestant, though my truth is I don't know much about it) religion. The reverend was there for a few episodes but went away by season 4 Nobody seemed overly religious, though Andy did take his children to church a few times (I can't remember if it was just because of the reverend or not), and Harold prayed in the bathroom during Rose's surgery. Ephram and Delia identify as Jewish, but not overly so. It seemed like Julia raised them to be culturally Jewish rather than religious (which is like a lot of reform Jews these days). I had sort of wished we saw a holiday episode with both Hanukkah and Christmas represented but maybe that was too much of an ask I know Delia did complain about being an angel in the school winter play, so maybe that episode had something about Hanukkah (I can't remember anymore).

It's interesting to look at Everwood against its sister show, Gilmore Girls, which really had no religion. Berlanti was pretty great about being so ahead of his time on what he portrayed on the show (medical cases, characters, etc.) and it's nice to know religion too was a part of it. (I did some googling and saw Berlanti and his husband raise their children with Hanukkah and Christmas so maybe this was all reflective of his own growing up!)

[Jerry D]

I believe that when Andy took his children to church it was to see the Reverend Keyes and I remember that the Abbott's were also at the service where the Reverend Keyes asked the people to pray for him to keep his sight until his wedding day. The very fact that the Reverend Keyes was getting married obviously ruled out him being a Catholic Priest, so he was obviously some type of Protestant Minister.

On the other hand, at the end of Season One's Episode 20, we saw Harold walk into a Catholic Church and go to confession after he had performed that abortion on the girl who had originally gone to Andy for help, so maybe the Abbott's were Catholic. That was such a powerful scene, because Harold was against abortion on principle, but he had made a vow to his father to help anyone who came to him in that situation.

[jediwands]

Based on the old religion thread, the group stated the Abbott’s were Catholic and Hannah was Episcopalian. I need to rewatch to remember everything but I do recall moments stating/inferring this was the case. Catholicism and Episcopalian is pretty close too. Yes, Harold going to confession proves he was Catholic. A Protestant is not going to do that.

[jediwands]

There’s this exchange too:

Bright: [about the ski trip] I gotta go! It's...it's a church thing...to cleanse my soul. Harold: Oh please! I delivered a baby that was the product of last year's bacchanal. It's just an excuse for your friends to drink and exchange hickeys. It does more damage to the Catholic church's reputation than the crusades.

Bright mentioned Church even jokingly and Harold refers back to the Catholic Church. He’s not going to do that if not Catholic. Harold went to Confession. There’s other moments too indicating the Abbott’s are definitely Catholic. But yes, most of the Townies seemed to be a Protestant Denomination. It is stated that Hannah is Episcopalian.

[Librarianx01]

Ah, I forgot Hannah was Episcopalian. I looked up the differences between Episcopalian and Catholicism because I was curious - in an Episcopalian church, a woman can be ordained in some churches as a priest, they reject having the Pope's authority over the universal church, and that they talk to G-d directly as opposed to going to church and confessing... This makes more sense for me with Hannah's characters and little moments - she talks to G-d a lot, has that whole religion discussion with Bright, etc. Oh and interesting, Episcopalians are allowed to use birth control.

And it made sense the Abbotts were Catholic. Harold going to confession, the abortion plotline/struggle (beliefs vs medical needs), the ski trip, all make sense for his character. And I could see the Abbott kids being dragged to church as children and being grumpy about it (especially Bright).

[Jerry D]

Ah, thanks Michelle and Rachel.

Episcopalians are basically the American version of the Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church, which was formed in England by Henry VIII in 1534 when he declared himself to be the Head of the Church in England because Cardinal Wolsey had failed to secure an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Later, in 1867, the Anglican Communion was formed, and The Episcopal Church is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and is based in the United States.

The Episcopal Church's practices and even the structure of its Mass is very similar to the practices and structure of the Mass of the Roman Catholic Church, except that their ministers can marry and they have a much more tolerant policy towards LGBTQ people and they also have a less stringent policy about abortion that the Roman Catholic Church does.

[jediwands]

^ Exactly.

Here's a winded but appropriate way to differentiate between the two faiths:

Question I would like to know what is different with Episcopalianism compared to Roman Catholic?

Answer Maureenmaher, Please note the following written by an Episcopal Bishop. "...What is the difference between Anglicanism and Roman Catholicism? In many respects, there are no differences between the two churches. They are both Christian churches, springing from the same ancient source as the Eastern Orthodox churches. As such, Anglicans and Roman Catholics read the Bible with not only the two Testaments but also the Apocrypha, those books of the Hebrew Bible written in Greek. Both churches recite the Nicene and Apostles Creeds. Both administer Baptism and Confirmation, and celebrate the Holy Communion, as well as the four other sacramental rites of Penance, Matrimony, Anointing of the Sick, and Holy Orders. Their clergy are ordained deacon first, then priest, unless they are called to be perpetual deacons. From the priests bishops are chosen and consecrated by no fewer than three bishops belonging to a scrupulously conserved line of bishops that reaches back to the earliest churches. There are Roman Catholic and Anglican shrines to Mary. Some Anglicans pray the rosary. Both churches maintain calendars of saints, with special prayers and readings for their feast days. Both churches have orders of men and women religious, vowed celibates who live in monasteries and convents. If you were to visit an Anglican parish (they both use the term for a congregation) and then a Roman Catholic parish, you would observe many other similarities. In the United States, at least, the liturgies are almost identical, as are the customary vestments worn by the clergy and lay assisting ministers. The differences are in the details, for the most part. These differences flow from one central issue: who is in authority. The Roman Catholic Church has over the centuries steadily increased the power and prestige of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome. In our day, the combination of an extraordinarily gifted pope, John Paul II, with the mass media and globalization, have raised the office of pope to its highest level ever. The peripatetic pontiff has traveled far more than any of his predecessors. When he visits a country, it is to speak, not to listen, however. His bishops around the world act more as his prefects than as overseers of the regional Christian community. St Augustine's famous saying, Roma locuta causa finita est (Rome has spoken and that settles the matter) has never been more true than today. Despite the attempts of Vatican II to create local synods at the diocesan and national levels, they serve still in a purely advisory capacity. No other body has any authority over the pope, either. For example, when Pope Paul VI issued the encyclical Humanæ Vitæ forbidding birth control, he ignored the recommendations of the commission he had appointed to advise him. The Vicar of Christ holds all the reins. Authority flows from him down and outward. The churches of the Anglican Communion have resolutely sought to disperse that absolute authority among several places. A famous report on authority in Anglicanism spoke of this peculiarly Anglican view of authority, which flows, it says, from the edges to the center. Each Anglican Church belongs to the Anglican Communion because it is in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury and seeks to uphold the catholic faith and reformed order inherited from the Church of England. Yet each one is independent. The Archbishop has no legal authority outside of the Diocese of Canterbury. He serves as spiritual leader and symbol of unity. The laity have real power at all levels of the Anglican churches (though with local variations). Anglicans look to their diocesan and national synods of bishops, clergy and laity to interpret matters of faith and order. Unlike the Church of Rome, with its admirable clarity of decision-making, the Anglican churches are messy and often disagree with each other. For instance, some churches ordain women to all three orders of ministry. Many do not at all, and the Church of England ordains women to the diaconate and the priesthood, but not the episcopate at this time of writing. Women bishops were present at the 1998 Lambeth Conference, the worldwide gathering of Anglican bishops every ten years. But since the decisions of Lambeth have no authority other than as recommendations, their presence was not disruptive. This 'messiness' means that Anglicans have greater latitude officially than Roman Catholics do both individually and in their dioceses and national churches. In general, the laity are expected to use the resources of the church, especially regular common worship, in developing a Christ-like character, and ability to reason morally. The different emphases present in Christianity find their adherents among Anglicans. Thus some Anglicans have elaborate liturgies modeled on medieval English worship. Others emphasize evangelistic preaching and relatively simple worship. Still others show the influence of the Pentecostal movement, or the iconography of the Eastern churches. Some Anglicans are mystic; others are intensely concerned with social justice. Moreover, each national church adapts the faith and order to its own culture. Since Roman Catholics tie membership in their church to the person and authority of the pope, they do not ordinarily allow intercommunion. They do not recognize the validity of Anglican Orders, and so re-confirm and re-ordain Anglican converts. Anglicans on the other hand tend to practice open communion, and do not re-confirm or re-ordain Roman Catholic converts, because they recognize Roman Orders as valid. The difference is being in communion with the pope for Roman Catholics, and for Anglicans, it is adhering to the catholic faith as it has been inherited from the earliest Christians. One permanent feature of Anglicanism has been seeking to restore the faith and order of the primitive church. This is the principle of its reformation, while Rome's counter-reformation was to restore and enhance the medieval concept of papal authority. In the most recent document of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Consultation (the ecumenical body devoted to helping the two churches come closer), entitled The Gift of Authority, Anglicans are asked to consider the role of the Bishop of Rome in the life of their churches, while Roman Catholics are asked to begin to take seriously the collegiality of synods called for in Vatican II. Perhaps this too emphasizes in a nutshell the differences between these two churches, both branches of the early church, so close and yet so far..." Source: Anglicans Online Essays | Pierre Whalon | Differences between Anglicanism and Roman Catholicism I hope this helps answer some of your questions. Ray

Maybe it is why Harold and Hannah had a little bond whenever it came to faith... their respective religions were very similar.

[Jerry D]

That's really interesting information! Thanks Michelle!

[jediwands]

I went to college with someone who is Episcopalian. She said her brother and sister-in-law ended up getting married in a Catholic Church because they loved the look/everything about the Church. They live in a very Irish Catholic area in Chicago. They both grew up Episcopalian. They joked that it was “close enough” getting married in a Catholic Church they really loved.

I had no idea how close the two religions were until I was told this story and then researched on my own.

[Jerry D]

I love old and traditional Catholic Churches, rather than modern Catholic Churches. They were so ornate and magnificent. The Catholic Church in Downtown Houston, Annunciation Catholic Church was built in the 19th Century with Romanesque architecture and it's magnificent.

[Jerry D]

I re-watched the scene where Harold explained to Andy why he was willing to perform an abortion: to honor his father's memory. Both Treat Williams and Tom Amandes did an incredible job in that scene, especially when Andy tried to thank Harold for being willing to do something that went against his religious beliefs and his basic nature and Harold stopped him and he said that he was just doing it to fulfill the promise that he had made to his father. What incredible acting on both their parts.