How the four strands of Anglicanism might respond to a Carlson‑style “demon attack” in the rector’s office rather than on television.

• Reformed Anglican
  
  • First steps: Take the story seriously but calmly; obtain medical and psychological evaluation, especially for sleep disorders, panic, or self‑harm.
    
  • Theological frame: Emphasise that Scripture gives clear but narrow criteria for possession and that most dark experiences fall under temptation, suffering, or fear rather than inhabiting demons.
    
  • Pastoral response: Preach Christ’s victory over evil, encourage repentance and trust, deepen the person’s life in Word, prayer, and fellowship; reserve language of “possession” for cases that clearly match the New Testament pattern.
    
• Anglo‑Catholic
  
  • First steps: Listen in depth; consult GP/doctor and, where appropriate, a psychiatrist; involve the diocesan deliverance adviser if concerns persist.
    
  • Theological frame: Acknowledge that personal evil is real; insist that discernment happens within the Church’s ordered life, under episcopal oversight, not by private hunch.
    
  • Pastoral response: Offer confession, anointing, the Eucharist, and simple prayers for protection in the parish; use any formal exorcistic rite quietly and rarely, as a last resort and never as spectacle.
    
• Charismatic Anglican
  
  • First steps: Pray with the person, asking the Holy Spirit for discernment; gently explore any involvement with occult practices, unforgiveness, or patterns of sin that might be seen as “open doors.”
    
  • Theological frame: Affirm that spiritual attack is possible, but teach that not every frightening experience is demonic and that believers are not helpless pawns but those who stand in Christ’s authority.
    
  • Pastoral response: Combine deliverance‑style prayer (renunciation of evil, commanding any oppression to leave in Jesus’ name) with strong emphasis on ongoing discipleship, community, and submission to local and diocesan oversight.
    
• Liberal / Progressive
  
  • First steps: Explore the story through the lenses of stress, trauma, and symbolic meaning; encourage the person to speak with a doctor or therapist about sleep and mental health.
    
  • Theological frame: Read “demons” as language for inner and social forces that wound and fragment; focus on how fear, guilt, or systemic pressures might be surfacing in the experience.
    
  • Pastoral response: Offer non‑judgmental listening, perhaps guided reflection or spiritual direction; locate hope in God’s presence within suffering, and in practical steps toward healing, rather than in deliverance language.

Placed side by side, the contrasts are sharp—but so are the convergences. In every case, the parishioner is not mocked; medical and psychological realities are not ignored; and the goal is not to cultivate a taste for the sensational, but to draw a frightened soul into deeper truth, sanity, and holiness before God.