Anglican Communion

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Anglican Communion. The Church in communion with, and recognizing the leadership of, the see of Canterbury. It consists of the Church of England (the only part retaining state establishment), independent Churches or Provinces throughout most of the world, and a few ‘extraprovincial’ dioceses under the jurisdiction of the Abp. of Canterbury or another Anglican Primate or his see.

For the first 250 years after the Reformation, the Anglican Communion, except for the Episcopal Church of Scotland (disestablished in 1689) consisted solely of the one (state) Church of England, Ireland, and Wales. Priests working overseas were placed under the jurisdiction of the Bp. of London. After the consecration of S. Seabury by Scottish bishops in 1784, an Act of Parliament was passed in 1786 making possible the consecration in England of bishops for sees in other parts of the world. Further American bishops were consecrated by the English Archbishops and in 1789 the Episcopal Church in the United States of America became an autonomous body in communion with the see of Canterbury. In 1787 the first colonial bishop was consecrated, with jurisdiction over British N. America. Bishoprics were established in India (1814), Australia (1836), New Zealand (1841), and other parts of the British Empire. Provincial organization began in 1835, and gradually complete independence of the jurisdiction of the Canterbury was secured by those dioceses with provincial organization; by the second half of the 20th cent. this extended almost everywhere. In Britain the Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1869 and that of Wales in 1920. Overseas Churches within the British Empire were disestablished in the 19th and 20th cents. Outside the British Empire a few Anglican sees were founded, e.g. in China, Japan, and South America.

Anglican bishops meet periodically as a body at the Lambeth Conference (q.v.). In 1969 the Anglican Consultative Council, which includes clerical and lay as well as episcopal representatives from each Church or Province, was established as an advisory body. The Primates have met regularly since 1979.

See also ANGLICANISM.

Anglican Communion Autonomous, episcopal, protestant Churches in fellowship with the Church of England. Its origins go back to 1534, when the British Parliament rejected the role of the papacy and recognized the King, Henry VIII, as the ‘Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England’. Subsequently, most of the English population became members of the new Church. Sister Churches were soon established in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and throughout the British Empire in subsequent centuries. The twentieth century has seen the emergence of a consciousness from a body of loosely connected churches as a worldwide Protestant Church, even though it has continued to emphasize the importance of consensus and discussion instead of the establishment of a unitary, authoritarian structure. The Communion recognizes the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who presides over the decennial Lambeth Conference (since 1857), the principal meeting of Anglican bishops. However, his leadership is more titular than real. The recommendations of the Lambeth Conferences are not binding to the individual parts of the Communion, so that its coherence and unity is dependent on consultation and consensus. During the twentieth century, its relationship with the Roman Catholic Church improved, and communion was established between the Church of England and the Lutheran Churches in the early 1990s. The Communion has around seventy-three million members, principally in Britain, Nigeria, Uganda, Australia, and North America. In 2003 the Church split over the ordination of a practising homosexual as Bishop of New Hampshire (USA), which triggered threats of schism.

http://www.anglicancommunion.org

Anglican Communion Fellowship of 37 independent national or provincial worldwide churches, many of which are in Commonwealth nations and originated from missionary work by the Church of England. An exception is the Episcopal Church in the USA, founded by the Scottish Episcopal Church. There is no single governing authority, but all recognize the leadership of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Worship is liturgical, based on the Book of Common Prayer. Once a decade, the bishops of the Communion meet at the Lambeth Conference. The 1968 Conference established a Consultative Council to discuss issues that arise between conferences. In 1982 diplomatic ties with the Roman Catholic Church were restored. In 1988 the Conference passed a resolution in support of the ordination of women as preists. Today, there are c.70 million Anglicans organized into c.30,000 parishes.