The Anglican Communion is an international association of national Anglican Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith. Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 meaning the English Church. Adherents of Anglicanism are churches. There is no single "Anglican Church" with universal juridical authority as each national or regional church has full autonomy. As the name suggests, the Anglican Communion is an association of these churches in full communion The Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity see full communion between local Churches as uniting them into a single Church. Other Western denominations apply the term instead to practical arrangements entered into by Churches and communities that fully maintain their distinct identities with the Church of England The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches. The Church also extends to the Isle of Man via the Diocese of Sodor and Man, while the Channel Islands form part of the (which may be regarded as the mother church of the worldwide communion) and specifically with its principal primate Primate is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. Depending on the particular tradition, it can denote either jurisdictional authority (title of authority) or ceremonial precedence (title of honour), the Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the see that churches must be in communion with in order to be a part of the Anglican Communion.[1] The status of full communion means that there is mutual agreement on essential doctrines, and that full participation in the sacramental life of each national church is available to all communicant The Eucharist, also called Holy Communion or The Lord's Supper and other names, is a Christian sacrament, generally considered to be a commemoration of the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his disciples before his arrest and eventual crucifixion. The consecration of bread and a cup within the rite recalls the moment at the Anglicans.

With approximately 77 million members, the Anglican Communion is the third largest communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church,[note 1] is the world's largest Christian church, and claims over a billion members, representing approximately half of all Christians[note 2] and one-sixth of the world's population. The Catholic Church is a communion of the Western Rite and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches ( and the Eastern Orthodox Churches The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world, estimated to number between 225-300 million total members. It is considered by its adherents to be the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago. The Church is composed of numerous self-.[2][3] Some of these churches are known as Anglican, explicitly recognising the historical link to England (Ecclesia Anglicana means "Church of England"); others, such as the American The Church was organized shortly after the American Revolution when it was forced to break with the Church of England on penalty of treason as Church of England clergy were required to swear allegiance to the British monarch, and became, in the words of the 1990 report of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Group on the Episcopate, "the first and Scottish The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian denomination in Scotland and a member of the Anglican Communion, although it itself has pre-Anglican origins. It consists of seven dioceses in Scotland. Like all Anglican churches, it recognises the primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who does not however have any formal authority in Scotland. It Episcopal churches, or the Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland is a Christian church, an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion, operating across the island of Ireland. Like other Anglican churches, it considers itself to be both Catholic, and also Reformed in that it does not accept the jurisdiction of the Pope or some Roman Catholic doctrine. In fact, in the Preamble and, prefer a separate name. Each church has its own doctrine Anglicanism does not possess an agreed-upon confession of faith like the Presbyterian Westminster Confession, nor does it claim a founding theologian like a John Calvin or a Martin Luther, or a central authority such as the Roman Catholic magisterium, to set the parameters of acceptable belief and practice. The universally agreed-upon foundations and liturgy A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to their particular traditions. The word may refer to an elaborate formal ritual such as the Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy and Catholic Mass, or a daily activity such as the Muslim salat and Jewish services. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy is a communal, based in most cases on that of the Church of England; and each church has its own legislative process and overall episcopal polity Episcopal polity is a form of church governance which is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop . This episcopal structure is found most often in the various churches of Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and other Eastern Church, and Anglican lineage. Some churches founded independently, under the leadership of a local primate.

The Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, the see that churches must be in communion with in order to be a part of the Anglican Communion, religious head of the Church of England, has no formal authority outside that jurisdiction, but is recognised as symbolic head of the worldwide communion. Among the other primates he is primus inter pares When not used in reference to a specific title, it may indicate that the person so described is technically equal, but looked upon as an authority of special importance by their peers. In some cases it may also be used to indicate that while the person described appears to be an equal, they actually are the group's unofficial or hidden leader, which translates "first among equals".

The Anglican Communion considers itself to be part of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church The Four Marks of the Church, sometimes referred to as the Marks of the Church or the Marks of the True Church, are a group of four characteristics describing the Universal or Catholic Church as established by Jesus Christ. They were constantly reiterated by the Church Fathers, and they are also acknowledged by several Protestant denominations, as and to be both Catholic and Reformed. For some adherents it represents a non-papal Catholicism, for others a form of Protestantism Protestantism is a movement within Christianity that originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the principal traditions within Christianity, together with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Anglicanism and Nontrinitarian Christianity, both of which are significantly influenced by Protestantism, though without a dominant guiding figure such as Luther Martin Luther changed the course of Western civilization by initiating the Protestant Reformation. As a priest and theology professor, he confronted indulgence salesmen with his 95 Theses in 1517. Luther strongly disputed their claim that freedom from God's punishment of sin could be purchased with money. His refusal to retract all of his writings, Knox John Knox was a Scottish clergyman and leader of the Protestant Reformation who is considered the founder of the Presbyterian denomination. He was educated at the University of St Andrews and worked as a notary-priest. Influenced by early church reformers such as George Wishart, he joined the movement to reform the Scottish church. He was caught, Calvin John Calvin né Jean Cauvin was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he suddenly broke from the Roman Catholic Church in the 1520s. After religious tensions, Zwingli Huldrych Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland. Born during a time of emerging Swiss patriotism and increasing criticism of the Swiss mercenary system, he attended the University of Vienna and the University of Basel, a scholarly centre of humanism. He continued his studies while he served as a or Wesley John Wesley (28 June [O.S. 17 June] 1703 – 2 March 1791) was an Anglican cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, with founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield. In contrast to George Whitefield's Calvinism (.[4] For others, their self-identity represents some combination of the two. The communion encompasses a wide spectrum of belief and practice including evangelical Note that the term "Evangelical" does not equal Fundamentalist Christianity, although the latter is sometimes regarded simply as the most theologically conservative subset of the former. The major differences largely hinge upon views of how to regard and approach scripture , as well as construing its broader worldview implications. While, liberal The theology of liberal Christianity was prominent in the biblical criticism of the 19th and 20th centuries. The style of scriptural hermeneutics within liberal theology is often characterized as non-propositional. This means that the Bible is not considered a collection of factual statements but instead documents the human authors' beliefs and, and catholic The terms Anglo-Catholic and Anglo-Catholicism describe people, beliefs and practices within Anglicanism that affirm the Catholic, rather than Protestant, heritage and identity of the Anglican churches.

Contents

Ecclesiology, polity, ethos

Main article: Anglican doctrine Anglicanism does not possess an agreed-upon confession of faith like the Presbyterian Westminster Confession, nor does it claim a founding theologian like a John Calvin or a Martin Luther, or a central authority such as the Roman Catholic magisterium, to set the parameters of acceptable belief and practice. The universally agreed-upon foundations

The Anglican Communion has no official legal existence nor any governing structure which might exercise authority over the member churches. There is an Anglican Communion Office in London, under the aegis of the Archbishop of Canterbury, but it only serves a supporting and organisational role. The Communion is held together by a shared history, expressed in its ecclesiology Ecclesiology is the study of the theological understanding of the Christian church. Specific areas of concern include the church's role in salvation, its origin, its relationship to the historical Christ, its discipline, its destiny, and its leadership. Ecclesiology is, therefore, the study of the church as a thing in itself, polity Polity was originally a term used by Aristotle to describe a political system that is a combination of an aristocracy and a democracy. Today, polity is used as a general term referring to the political organization of a group. It can be used to describe a loosely organized society such as a tribe or community, but can mean any political group and ethos Ethos (ἦθος, ἔθος, plurals: ethe (ἤθη), ethea (ἤθεα)) is a Greek word originally meaning "accustomed place" (as in ἤθεα ἵππων "the habitat of horses", Il. 6.511), "custom, habit", equivalent to Latin mores and also by participation in international consultative bodies.

Three elements have been important in holding the Communion together: First, the shared ecclesial structure of the component churches, manifested in an episcopal polity Episcopal polity is a form of church governance which is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop . This episcopal structure is found most often in the various churches of Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and other Eastern Church, and Anglican lineage. Some churches founded independently maintained through the apostolic succession Apostolic succession is the doctrine in some of the more ancient Christian communions that the succession of bishops, in uninterrupted lines, is historically traceable back to the original Twelve Apostles Within Catholic Christianity it "is one of four elements which define the true Church of Jesus Christ" and legitimizes the existing of bishops and synodical A synod is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. An ecumenical council is so named because it is a synod of the whole church (or, more accurately, of what those who call it consider to be the whole church.) government; second, the principle of belief expressed in worship, investing importance in approved prayer books and their rubrics; and third, the historical documents and standard divines that have influenced the ethos of the Communion.

Originally, the Church of England was self-contained and relied for its unity and identity on its own history, its traditional legal and episcopal structure and its status as an established church An established church is a church officially sanctioned and supported by the government of a country, e.g. the Church of England and the Church of Scotland in the United Kingdom. Such a sanction is discouraged in some countries, such as the United States, where this is covered by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the state. As such Anglicanism was, from the outset, a movement with an explicitly episcopal polity Episcopal polity is a form of church governance which is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop . This episcopal structure is found most often in the various churches of Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and other Eastern Church, and Anglican lineage. Some churches founded independently, a characteristic which has been vital in maintaining the unity of the Communion by conveying the episcopate's role in manifesting visible catholicity and ecumenism.

Early in its development, Anglicanism developed a vernacular prayer book, called the Book of Common Prayer The Book of Common Prayer is the common title of a number of prayer books of the Church of England and of other Anglican churches, used throughout the Anglican Communion. The first book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English Reformation following the break with Rome. Prayer books, unlike books of prayers,. Unlike other traditions, Anglicanism has never been governed by a magisterium The Magisterium is the "teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church". The word is derived from Latin magisterium, which originally meant the office of a president, chief, director, superintendent, etc. or teaching, instruction, advice nor by appeal to a founding theologian The term 'Theology' literally means the study of God, deriving from the Greek word theos, meaning 'God', and the suffix -ology from the Greek word logos meaning "the character of one who speaks or treats of [a certain subject]", or simply "the study of a certain subject". It now means the science of God or of religion,, nor by an extra-credal summary of doctrine (such as the Westminster Confession of the Presbyterian Presbyterianism refers to a number of different Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, and organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Bible and the necessity of grace through faith in Christ Church). Instead, Anglicans have typically appealed to the Book of Common Prayer and its offshoots as a guide to Anglican theology and practice. This had the effect of inculcating the principle of lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of belief") as the foundation of Anglican identity and confession.

Protracted conflict through the seventeenth century with more radical Protestants Protestantism is a movement within Christianity that originated in the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. It is considered to be one of the principal traditions within Christianity, together with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Anglicanism and Nontrinitarian Christianity, both of which are significantly influenced by Protestantism, on the one hand and Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church,[note 1] is the world's largest Christian church, and claims over a billion members, representing approximately half of all Christians[note 2] and one-sixth of the world's population. The Catholic Church is a communion of the Western Rite and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches ( who still recognised the primacy of the Pope The Pope is the Bishop of Rome and as such is the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church (that is, all Latin Rite and Eastern Rite churches which are in full communion with the Roman Pontiff). The Pope is also head of state of Vatican City. The current (265th) pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in papal conclave on the other, resulted in an association of churches that were both deliberately vague about doctrinal principles, yet bold in developing parameters of acceptable deviation. These parameters were most clearly articulated in the various rubrics A rubric is a word or section of text which is written or printed in red ink to highlight it. The term derives from the Latin: rubrica, meaning red ochre or red chalk, and originates in Medieval illuminated manuscripts from the 13th century or earlier. In these, red letters were used to highlight initial capitals , section headings and names of of the successive prayer books, as well as the Thirty-Nine Articles The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion were established in 1563 and are the historic defining statements of Anglican doctrine in relation to the controversies of the English Reformation; especially in the relation of Calvinist doctrine and Roman Catholic practices to the nascent Anglican doctrine of the evolving English Church. The name is commonly of Religion. These Articles, while never binding, have had an influence on the ethos of the Communion, an ethos reinforced by their interpretation and expansion by such influential early theologians as Richard Hooker Richard Hooker was an Anglican priest and an influential theologian. Hooker's emphases on reason, tolerance and inclusiveness considerably influenced the development of Anglicanism. He was the co-founder (with Thomas Cranmer and Matthew Parker) of Anglican theological thought, Lancelot Andrewes Lancelot Andrewes was an English clergyman and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chichester, Ely and Winchester and oversaw the translation of the Authorized Version (or King James Version) of the, John Cosin, and others.

With the expansion of the British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a, and hence the growth of Anglicanism outside Great Britain Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest in Europe. With a population of approximately 58.9 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Ireland is to its west, and it is surrounded by over 1000 smaller islands and islets and Ireland Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɪrlənd/ , locally [ˈaɾlənd]; Irish: Éire, pronounced [ˈeːɾʲə] ( listen); Ulster Scots: Airlann, Latin: Hibernia) is the third-largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of, the Communion sought to establish new vehicles of unity. The first major expression of this were the Lambeth Conferences The Lambeth Conferences are decennial assemblies of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place in 1867 of the communion's bishops, first convened by Archbishop of Canterbury Charles Longley in 1867. From the outset, these were not intended to displace the autonomy of the emerging provinces of the Communion, but to "discuss matters of practical interest, and pronounce what we deem expedient in resolutions which may serve as safe guides to future action."

Chicago Lambeth Quadrilateral

One of the enduringly influential early resolutions of the conference was the so-called Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888. Its intent was to provide the basis for discussions of reunion with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, but it had the ancillary effect of establishing parameters of Anglican identity. Its four principles are:

  1. "The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as 'containing all things necessary to salvation', and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith."
  2. "The Apostles' Creed, as the Baptismal Symbol; and the Nicene Creed, as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith."
  3. "The two Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself - Baptism and the Supper of the Lord - ministered with unfailing use of Christ's words of Institution, and of the elements ordained by Him."
  4. "The Historic Episcopate, locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God into the Unity of His Church."

Instruments of Communion

The Anglican Communion uses the compass rose as its symbol, signifying its worldwide reach and decentralized nature. It is surmounted, like ecclesiastical coats of arms, by a bishop's mitre; in the centre is a cross of St. George recalling the communion's origins in the Church of England. The Greek motto, Ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐλευθερώσει ὑμᾶς ("The truth will set you free") is a quotation from John 8:32. It was designed by Edward Nason West, Canon of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.

As mentioned above, the Anglican Communion has no international juridical organisation. The Archbishop of Canterbury's role is strictly symbolic and unifying; and the Communion's three international bodies are consultative and collaborative, their resolutions having no legal effect on the independent provinces of the Communion. Taken together, however, the four do function as "instruments of communion", since all churches of the communion participate in them. In order of antiquity, they are:

  1. The Archbishop of Canterbury (ab origine) functions as the spiritual head of the Communion. He is the focus of unity, since no church claims membership in the Communion without being in communion with him. The present incumbent is Dr Rowan Williams.
  2. The Lambeth Conference (first held in 1867) is the oldest international consultation. It is a forum for bishops of the Communion to reinforce unity and collegiality through manifesting the episcopate, to discuss matters of mutual concern, and to pass resolutions intended to act as guideposts. It is held roughly every ten years and invitation is by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
  3. The Anglican Consultative Council (first met in 1971) was created by a 1968 Lambeth Conference resolution, and meets usually at three year intervals. The council consists of representative bishops, clergy, and laity chosen by the thirty-eight provinces. The body has a permanent secretariat, the Anglican Communion Office, of which the Archbishop of Canterbury is president.
  4. The Primates' Meeting (first met in 1979) is the most recent manifestation of international consultation and deliberation, having been first convened by Archbishop Donald Coggan as a forum for "leisurely thought, prayer and deep consultation."

Since there is no binding authority in the Communion, these international bodies are a vehicle for consultation and persuasion. In recent years, persuasion has tipped over into debates over conformity in certain areas of doctrine, discipline, worship, and ethics. The most notable example has been the objection of many provinces of the Communion (particularly in Africa and Asia) to the changing role of homosexuals in the North American churches (e.g., by blessing same-sex unions and ordaining and consecrating gays and lesbians in same-sex relationships), and to the process by which changes were undertaken. Those who objected condemned these actions as unscriptural, unilateral, and without the agreement of the Communion prior to these steps being taken. In response, the American Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada answered that the actions had been undertaken after lengthy scriptural and theological reflection, legally in accordance with their own canons and constitutions and after extensive consultation with the provinces of the Communion.

The Primates' Meeting voted to request the two churches to withdraw their delegates from the 2005 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council, and Canada and the United States decided to attend the meeting but without exercising their right to vote. They have not been expelled or suspended, since there is no mechanism in this voluntary association to suspend or expel an independent province of the Communion. Since membership is based on a province's communion with Canterbury, expulsion would require the Archbishop of Canterbury's refusal to be in communion with the affected jurisdiction(s). In line with the suggestion of the Windsor Report, Dr Williams has recently established a working group to examine the feasibility of an Anglican covenant which would articulate the conditions for communion in some fashion.[5]

Provinces of the Anglican Communion

All thirty-eight provinces of the Anglican Communion are independent, each with its own primate and governing structure. These provinces may take the form of national churches (such as in Canada, Uganda, or Japan) or a collection of nations (such as the West Indies, Central Africa, or Southeast Asia). They are, in alphabetical order:

A world map showing the Provinces of the Anglican Communion (Blue). Also shown are the Churches in full communion with the Anglican Church: The Nordic Lutheran churches of the Porvoo Communion (Green), and the Old Catholic Churches in the Utrecht Union (Red).

In addition, there are six extra-provincial churches, five of which are under the metropolitical authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

History

See also: History of the Anglican Communion

The Anglican Communion is a relatively recent concept. The Church of England (which until the 20th century included the Church in Wales) initially separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1538 in the reign of King Henry VIII, reunited in 1555 under Queen Mary I and then separated again in 1570 under Queen Elizabeth I (the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated Elizabeth I in 1570 in response to the Act of Supremacy 1559). The Church of England has always thought of itself not as a new foundation but rather as a reformed continuation of the ancient "English Church" (Ecclesia Anglicana) and a reassertion of that church's rights. As such it was a distinctly national phenomenon. The Church of Scotland separated from the Roman Catholic Church with the Scottish Reformation in 1560, and the split from it of the Scottish Episcopal Church began in 1582, in the reign of James VI of Scotland, over disagreements about the role of bishops.

The oldest-surviving Anglican church outside of the British Isles (Britain and Ireland) is St. Peter's Church, in St. George's, Bermuda, established in 1612 (though the actual building had to be rebuilt several times over the following century). This is also the oldest surviving Protestant church in the New World. It remained part of the Church of England until 1978, when the Anglican Church of Bermuda separated. The Church of England was the state religion not only in England, but in her trans-Oceanic colonies.

Thus the only member churches of the present Anglican Communion existing by the mid-18th century were the Church of England, its closely-linked sister church, the Church of Ireland (which also separated from Roman Catholicism under Henry VIII), and the Scottish Episcopal Church which for parts of the 17th and 18th centuries was partially underground (it was suspected of Jacobite sympathies).

However, the enormous expansion in the 18th and 19th centuries of the British Empire brought the church along with it. At first all these colonial churches were under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. After the American Revolution, the parishes in the newly independent country found it necessary to break formally from a church whose Supreme Governor was (and remains) the British monarch. Thus they formed their own dioceses and national church, the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, in a mostly amicable separation.

At about the same time, in the colonies which remained linked to the crown, the Church of England began to appoint colonial bishops. In 1787 a bishop of Nova Scotia was appointed with a jurisdiction over all of British North America; in time several more colleagues were appointed to other cities in present-day Canada. In 1814 a bishop of Calcutta was made; in 1824 the first bishop was sent to the West Indies and in 1836 to Australia. By 1840 there were still only ten colonial bishops for the Church of England; but even this small beginning greatly facilitated the growth of Anglicanism around the world. In 1841 a "Colonial Bishoprics Council" was set up and soon many more dioceses were created.

In time, it became natural to group these into provinces, and a metropolitan appointed for each province. Although it had at first been somewhat established in many colonies, in 1861 it was ruled that, except where specifically established, the Church of England had just the same legal position as any other church. Thus a colonial bishop and colonial diocese was by nature quite a different thing from their counterparts back home. In time bishops came to be appointed locally rather than from England, and eventually national synods began to pass ecclesiastical legislation independent of England.

A crucial step in the development of the modern communion was the idea of the Lambeth Conferences, as discussed above. These conferences demonstrated that the bishops of disparate churches could manifest the unity of the church in their episcopal collegiality, despite the absence of universal legal ties. Some bishops were initially reluctant to attend, fearing that the meeting would declare itself a council with power to legislate for the church; but it agreed to pass only advisory resolutions. These Lambeth Conferences have been held roughly decennially since 1878 (the second such conference) and remain the most visible coming-together of the whole Communion.

Ecumenical relations

For more details on the on-going dialogue between Anglicanism and the wider Church, see Anglican communion and ecumenism.

Apostolic Succession

The Anglican Communion hold that Apostolic Succession is a core element of the validity of clerical ordinations. The Roman Catholic Church does not recognize most Anglican orders (see Apostolicae Curae). Some Eastern Orthodox Churches have issued statements to the effect that Anglican orders could be accepted, yet still have reordained converts from the Anglican clergy; other Orthodox Churches have rejected Anglican orders altogether. Orthodox bishop Kallistos Ware explains this apparent discrepancy as follows:

Anglican clergy who join the Orthodox Church are reordained; but [some Orthodox Churches hold that] if Anglicanism and Orthodoxy were to reach full unity in the faith, perhaps such reordination might not be found necessary. It should be added, however, that a number of individual Orthodox theologians hold that under no circumstances would it be possible to recognize the validity of Anglican Orders.[6]

Controversies

See also: Homosexuality and Anglicanism and Anglican realignment

One effect of the Communion's dispersed authority has been that conflict and controversy regularly arise over the effect divergent practices and doctrines in one part of the Communion have on others. Disputes that had been confined to the Church of England could be dealt with legislatively in that realm, but as the Communion spread out into new nations and disparate cultures, such controversies multiplied and intensified. These controversies have generally been of two types: liturgical and social.

The first such controversy of note concerned that of the growing influence of the Catholic Revival manifested in the so-called ritualism controversies of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Later, rapid social change and the dissipation of British cultural hegemony over its former colonies contributed to disputes over the role of women, the parameters of marriage and divorce, and the practice of contraception and abortion. More recently, disagreements over homosexuality have strained the unity of the Communion as well as its relationships with other Christian denominations. Simultaneous with debates about social theology and ethics, the Communion has debated prayer book revision and the acceptable grounds for achieving full communion with non-Anglican churches.

References

  1. ^ The Archbishop of Canterbury is the Focus for Unity
  2. ^ Analysis: Damage done to Episcopal church - USATODAY.com
  3. ^ Major Branches of Religions
  4. ^ Avis, Paul (1988). "What is 'Anglicanism'?". in S. Sykes and J. Booty (eds). The Study of Anglicanism. London: SPCK. pp. 417–19.
  5. ^ Archbishop of Canterbury: address to General Synod on the Anglican Communion, ACNS 4164, July 7, 2006
  6. ^ Excerpts from the Orthodox Church by Bishop Kallistos Ware

See also

External links

Churches in the Anglican Communion

Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia · Australia · Bangladesh · Brazil · Burundi · Canada · Central Africa · Central America · Congo · England · Hong Kong and Macau · India, North · India, South · Indian Ocean · Ireland · Japan · Jerusalem and the Middle East · Kenya · Korea · Melanesia · Mexico · Myanmar · Nigeria · Pakistan · Papua New Guinea · Philippines · Rwanda · Scotland · South East Asia · Southern Africa · Southern Cone · Sudan · Tanzania · Uganda · USA · Wales · West Africa · West Indies — extra-provincial churches

Churches in full communion: Mar Thoma Syrian Church · Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches · Philippine Independent Church

Categories: Anglicanism | Christian group structuring | Catholics not in communion with Rome

 

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