The Anglican Church

The Anglican Church

The name “Anglican” means “of England”, but the Anglican Church exists worldwide, with ca. 80 million Anglicans across the world.  It is the third largest Christian communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

The Anglican Communion is organized as an international association of Churches consisting of the Church of England and of national and regional Anglican Churches with full autonomy and in communion with it, specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury. As the religious head of the Church of England, he has no formal authority outside that jurisdiction, but is recognized as symbolic and spiritual head of the worldwide communion and is considered, among the other Primates, as primus inter pares. He chairs and presides the “Instruments of Communion”: the meeting of the Primates, the Anglican Consultative Council.

There are 38 Churches in the Anglican Communion, primarily located in the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States, Canada, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The Anglican faith is based on the Holy Bible and the Articles of Religion. Practices and rituals are primarily found in the Book of Common Prayer, a compilation of liturgy first introduced in 1549 by Archbishop of Canterburry Thomas Cranmer and revised numerous times since - a simplification of the Latin liturgy translated into English. Much diversity of worship has recently developed around the world, with many different Prayer Books being issued.