Did the early episodes ever state exactly what the Bunkers' religion was? They talked about church and a Reverend a lot, but it seems like they were vague about the exact religion. In later episodes, I believe it was revealed that they were Episcopalian. It didn't really make a lot of sense for them to be Episcopal though, because Archie had such culture shock to Catholic practices, it didn't add up that he'd belong to a religion so similar to Catholicism. Ah well, as I've said before, consistency was not always these sitcoms' strong points. Any more info on this?

Originally posted by GeeBee
Did the early episodes ever state exactly what the Bunkers' religion was? They talked about church and a Reverend a lot, but it seems like they were vague about the exact religion. In later episodes, I believe it was revealed that they were Episcopalian. It didn't really make a lot of sense for them to be Episcopal though, because Archie had such culture shock to Catholic practices, it didn't add up that he'd belong to a religion so similar to Catholicism. Ah well, as I've said before, consistency was not always these sitcoms' strong points. Any more info on this?

Yes, the Bunkers were Episcopal. In one episode Edith says to a friend, "I'm Episcopal, and Archie's, well he's Archie", or something to that effect. Your right, Archie hated Catholics. In one episode he said that a friend of his had been hipnotized by a Catholic priest. The truth was that he never really went to church. He didn't like Reverend Felcher. Archie always said that he was protestant, though, so that's a clue.

Originally posted by cheers_rules
Yes, the Bunkers were Episcopal. In one episode Edith says to a friend, "I'm Episcopal, and Archie's, well he's Archie", or something to that effect. Your right, Archie hated Catholics. In one episode he said that a friend of his had been hipnotized by a Catholic priest. The truth was that he never really went to church. He didn't like Reverend Felcher. Archie always said that he was protestant, though, so that's a clue.


It just didn't add up. Archie had to have basic familiarity with his own church which is almost identical to Catholicism in ritual. When Archie was afraid that Edith was turning Catholic, he asked her, "Did you eat a cookie!?" There's not an Episcopalian in the world who would say something like that. Besides, Archie seemed too conservative and rigid to belong to a rather liberal religion. I think the Episcopal thing was an afterthought in the later seasons and not a very good one at that.

Keep in mind that there are "different" types of Episcopalians. For example, on one end of the spectrum you have very "low church" Episcopalians who view themselves as Protestant and stay away from everything they consider "Catholic." On the other end, you have extremely "high church" Episcopalians who regard themselves as Catholic and their liturgy could be seen as even MORE traditional than Roman Catholic Masses. This might help to explain the seeming confusion. My guess would be that Edith went to a very "low church" Episcopal parish, which had some of the Catholic ceremonials but not many. And, additionally, my guess is that Archie rarely went to church, if ever. Just a guess, on my part.

Signed,
Respectfully,
Dutch

Wasn't there an episode where Archie said he was Presbertyrian?

You may be thinking of the Presbyterian Hospital where Archie had his gall stones removed, and Gloria had Joey. I don't recall Archie saying he was any specific religion--he always was just a Christian when it was convenient for him or when he needed to have one of his hair-brained points "backed up" with the word of gawd.

In the episode celebrating Mike and Gloria's 2nd Anniversary, they recalled events (in flashback) leading up to Mike and Gloria's wedding. During the disputes over the ceremony, it was indicated that the Bunkers were Protestant. (They wanted their Protestant minister to perform the ceremony.)

We know the Bunkers are Protestant. ;) There are many Prostestant religions and the OP wanted to know which one the Bunkers subscribe to. We can assume it's Episcopalian due to Edith's involvement in her church. Mike is agnostic and Gloria seems not to have any interest in religion at all. In one ep she says clearly that she and Mike see very little evidence of God. They were ticked of course when Archie kidnapped Joey to be baptized. The irony being (of course) that Archie never attended church, and like I said before, he only used religion when it was "necessary" for him or when he felt fearful of retribuition from the "almighty."