High Church applies to denominations such as Catholicism, Episcopalianism, Lutheranism, the Orthodox church, etc.
Low Church denominations would include most Baptist incarnations, Pentecostalism, the snake handlers, etc. By the definition of what an evangelical church truly is, and how evangelicals worship, as opposed to how say, the Catholic worships, is what marks the Evangelical as belonging to a low church religion and the Episcopalian as belonging to a high church religion.
It’s more of a word used in the South, because in general, there is a correlation between religious preference and social status. Outside of actual preachers, in general, members of low church denominations tend to be lower on the social heirarchy than members of high church denominations. Of the two major Protestant faiths in the South, numerically speaking, the Baptists have the numbers, but, in general, Methodists tend to have more money and more affluence, and, it is also true that Baptists who are in the Southern upper class tend to often reject certain elements of Baptist social teaching (such as those regarding alcohol)
It also has a meaning theologically speaking, but I’m not a theologian so I can’t go into that.
I see.
"Low Church," okay.
“Low Church” is a neutral term that describes a type of worship that does not follow a prescribed order of service, that does not follow certain liturgical patterns, and does not make use of developed ritual or ceremony. On the other hand, you have the term, “High Church”, which describes a type of worship emphasizing the liturgical, ceremonial, and traditional elements in worship. The two terms are descriptions of differing attitudes towards worship.
The terms actually came about in the Anglican church in the 16th & 17th centuries, but have come to refer, in a more general way, to how any church worships.
By the way, I’m always amused when I see “snake handlers” lumped in with Baptists and other Protestants, when there might at the very most be about 2000 people who indulge in this practice. It’s hardly a significant or accepted movement.
Now, I’m reading this post, and wondering how on earth we got to a discussion about high church/low church on a thread about Mormonism? You never know where these threads will wander!