Anglican Communion

This article is about churches in full communion with the archbishop of Canterbury. For the Christian tradition originating in the Church of England, see Anglicanism.


Anglican Communion
Canterbury Cathedral
TypeCommunion
ClassificationProtestant[note 1]
OrientationAnglican
ScriptureProtestant Bible
TheologyAnglican doctrine
PolityEpiscopal
PrimateStephen Cottrell (acting)
Secretary GeneralAnthony Poggo
RegionWorldwide
HeadquartersLondon, England
FounderCharles Longley
Origin1867
Lambeth Conference, London, England
Separated fromRoman Catholic Church
Branched fromChurch of England
SeparationsContinuing Anglican movement (1977)
Some participants in the Anglican realignment (since 2002; partial)
Members85 - 110 million (2024)
Official websiteanglicancommunion.org
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Theology
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The Anglican Communion is a Christian communion consisting of the autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion with the archbishop of Canterbury in England, who acts as a focus of unity, recognised as primus inter pares ("first among equals"), but does not exercise authority in Anglican provinces outside of the Church of England.[1] Most, but not all, member churches of the communion are the historic national or regional Anglican churches.[2][3][4][5]

With approximately 85–110 million members,[6] it is the third[7] or fourth largest Christian communion of churches globally, after the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and, possibly, World Communion of Reformed Churches.[8][n 1]

The Anglican Communion was officially and formally organised and recognised as such at the Lambeth Conference in 1867 in South London under the leadership of Charles Longley, Archbishop of Canterbury. The churches of the Anglican Communion consider themselves to be part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church, with worship being based on the Book of Common Prayer.[9] The traditional origins of Anglican doctrine are summarized in the Thirty-nine Articles (1571) and The Books of Homilies.[9]

As in the Church of England itself, the Anglican Communion includes the broad spectrum of beliefs and liturgical practises found in the Evangelical, Central and Anglo-Catholic traditions of Anglicanism; both the larger Reformed Anglican and the smaller Arminian Anglican theological perspectives have been represented.[10] Each national or regional church is fully independent, retaining its own legislative process and episcopal polity under the leadership of local primates. For many adherents, Anglicanism represents a distinct form of Reformed Protestantism that emerged under the influence of the Reformer Thomas Cranmer,[9] or for yet others, a via media between two branches of Protestantism—Lutheranism and Calvinism—and for others, a denomination that is both Catholic and Reformed.[11][12]

Most of its members live in the Anglosphere of former British territories. Full participation in the sacramental life of each church is available to all communicant members. Because of their historical link to England (ecclesia anglicana means "English church"), some of the member churches are known as "Anglican", such as the Anglican Church of Canada. Others, for example the Church of Ireland and the Scottish and American Episcopal churches, have official names that do not include "Anglican". Conversely, some churches that do use the name "Anglican" are not part of the communion. These have generally disaffiliated over disagreement with the direction of the communion.


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  1. ^ "St Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church History". 20 July 2012. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  2. ^ "The Anglican Communion". The Church of England. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  3. ^ "The Anglican Communion". The Anglican Centre in Rome. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  4. ^ Chapman, Mark D. (2015). "Anglicanism, Japan, and the Perception of a Higher Civilization in the Early Twentieth Century". Anglican and Episcopal History. 84 (3): 298–320. ISSN 0896-8039. JSTOR 43685136.
  5. ^ "Member Churches". Anglican Communion.
  6. ^ Multiple sources:
  7. ^ Multiple sources:
  8. ^ Multiple sources:
  9. ^ a b c Samuel, Chimela Meehoma (28 April 2020). Treasures of the Anglican Witness: A Collection of Essays. Partridge Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5437-5784-2. In addition to his emphasis on Bible reading and the introduction to the Book of Common Prayer, other media through which Cranmer sought to catechize the English people were the introduction of the First Book of Homilies and the 39 Articles of Religion. Together with the Book of Common Prayer and the Forty-Two Articles (which were later reduced to thirty-nine), the Book of Homilies stands as one of the essential texts of the Edwardian Reformation, and they all helped to define the shape of Anglicanism then, and in the subsequent centuries. More so, the Articles of Religion, whose primary shape and content were given by Archbishop Cranmer and Bishop Ridley in 1553 (and whose final official form was ratified by Convocation, the Queen, and Parliament in 1571), provided a more precise interpretation of Christian doctrine to the English people. According to John H. Rodgers, they "constitute the formal statements of the accepted, common teaching put forth by the Church of England as a result of the Reformation."
  10. ^ Hampton, Stephen. "Anti-Arminians: The Anglican Reformed Tradition from Charles II to George I". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
  11. ^ Anglican and Episcopal History. Historical Society of the Episcopal Church. 2003. p. 15. Others had made similar observations, Patrick McGrath commenting that the Church of England was not a middle way between Roman Catholic and Protestant, but "between different forms of Protestantism", and William Monter describing the Church of England as "a unique style of Protestantism, a via media between the Reformed and Lutheran traditions". MacCulloch has described Cranmer as seeking a middle way between Zurich and Wittenberg but elsewhere remarks that the Church of England was "nearer Zurich and Geneva than Wittenberg.
  12. ^ Avis 1998, pp. 417–419.


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