Anglicanism

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Anglicanism portal
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Anglicanism is a tradition 2ithin Christianity comprisin# the Church of En#land and churches
2hich are historically tied to it or ha%e similar beliefs, 2orship practices and church structures.
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1he 2ord Anglican ori#inates in ecclesia anglicana, a medie%al $atin phrase datin# to at least
8:;< that means the English Church. Adherents of An#licanism are called Anglicans. 1he #reat
ma5ority of An#licans are members of churches 2hich are part of the international An#lican
Communion.
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1here are, ho2e%er, a number of churches outside of the An#lican Communion
2hich also consider themsel%es to be An#lican, most notably those referred to as Continuin#
An#lican churches,
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and those 2hich are part of the An#lican reali#nment mo%ement.
An#licans found their faith on the &ible, traditions of the apostolic church, apostolic succession
("historic episcopate", and 2ritin#s of the Church Fathers.
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An#licanism forms one of the
branches of Western Christianity> ha%in# definiti%ely declared its independence from the Pope at
the time of the Eli3abethan 0eli#ious )ettlement.
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"any of the ne2 An#lican formularies of the
mid*8<th century corresponded closely to those of contemporary 0eformed Protestantism. 1hese
reforms in the Church of En#land 2ere understood by one of those most responsible for them,
the then Archbishop of Canterbury 1homas Cranmer, as na%i#atin# a middle 2ay bet2een t2o
of the emer#in# Protestant traditions, namely $utheranism and Cal%inism.
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&y the end of the
century, the retention in An#licanism of many traditional litur#ical forms and of the episcopate
2as already seen as unacceptable by those promotin# the most de%eloped Protestant principles.
/n the first half of the 8@th century the Church of En#land and associated episcopal churches in
/reland (Church of /reland and in En#land!s American colonies 2ere presented by some
An#lican di%ines as comprisin# a distinct Christian tradition, 2ith theolo#ies, structures and
forms of 2orship representin# a different kind of middle 2ay, or ia media, bet2een 0eformed
Protestantism and 0oman Catholicism A a perspecti%e that came to be hi#hly influential in later
theories of An#lican identity, and 2as e,pressed in the description "Catholic and 0eformed".
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Follo2in# the American 0e%olution, An#lican con#re#ations in the Bnited )tates and Canada
2ere each reconstituted into autonomous churches 2ith their o2n bishops and self*#o%ernin#
structures> 2hich, throu#h the e,pansion of the &ritish Empire and the acti%ity of Christian
missions, 2as adopted as the model for many ne2ly formed churches, especially in Africa,
Australasia and the re#ions of the Pacific. /n the 8Cth century the term Anglicanism 2as coined
to describe the common reli#ious tradition of these churches> as also that of the )cottish
Episcopal Church, 2hich, thou#h ori#inatin# earlier 2ithin the Church of )cotland, had come to
be reco#nised as sharin# this common identity. 1he de#ree of distinction bet2een 0eformed and
2estern Catholic tendencies 2ithin the An#lican tradition is routinely a matter of debate both
2ithin specific An#lican churches and throu#hout the An#lican Communion. BniDue to
An#licanism is the Book of Common Prayer, the collection of ser%ices that 2orshippers in most
An#lican churches used for centuries. While it has since under#one many re%isions and An#lican
churches in different countries ha%e de%eloped other ser%ice books, the Book of Common Prayer
is still ackno2led#ed as one of the ties that bind the An#lican Communion to#ether.
1here is no sin#le An#lican Church 2ith uni%ersal 5uridical authority, since each national or
re#ional church has full autonomy. As the name su##ests, the churches of the An#lican
Communion are linked by affection and common loyalty. 1hey are in full communion 2ith the
)ee of Canterbury and thus the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his person, is a uniDue focus of
An#lican unity. -e calls the once*a*decade $ambeth Conference, chairs the meetin# of primates,
and is President of the An#lican Consultati%e Council.
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With a membership estimated at
around EF million members
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the An#lican Communion is the third lar#est Christian communion
in the 2orld, after the Catholic Church and the Eastern +rthodo, Churches.