Anglican Communion

Anglican Communion the body of churches in all parts of the world that are in communion with the Church of England (see England, Church of ). The communion is composed of regional churches, provinces, and separate dioceses bound together by mutual loyalty as expressed in the Lambeth Conference of 1930. There are 44 churches in the Anglican Communion, including the Episcopal Church in the United States, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Church in Wales, the Church of Ireland (see Ireland, Church of ), and the Nippon Sei Ko Kwai (Japan). There are nearly 77 million members worldwide (1997); in the late 20th cent. the communion experienced tremendous growth in Africa. Worship is liturgical and is regulated by the Book of Common Prayer and its revised alternates; about half of the churches ordain women as well as men as priests.

The consecration in 2003 of an openly homosexual priest as a bishop by the Episcopal Church and the blessing of gay unions by the U.S. and Canadian churches led to tensions within the communion, especially with more conservative African churches, some of which broke their ties the Episcopal Church; the 1998 Lambeth Conference had rejected homosexual practice as incompatible with the Bible and refused to advise blessing same-sex unions and ordaining individuals involved in such unions. In 2005 the two North American churches were asked to withdraw from the Anglican Consultative Council, which they did voluntarily, attending as observers in June, 2005. In September, however, the Anglican Church of Nigeria removed explicit references to being in communion with the Church of England from its constitution, again raising the possibility of a schism in the Anglican Communion.

Following the Episcopal Church's call in 2006 for a moratorium on the consecration of openly homosexual bishops, a move that many Anglican conservatives regarded as inadequate, the archbishop of Canterbury proposed that Anglicans adopt a formal covenant concerning their shared beliefs, a suggestion that seemed likely to exclude the Episcopalians from full membership in the Anglican Communion or split the American church. Homosexuality is not the only issue dividing the communion, however; the ordination of women as priests and bishops is also a subject on which the churches are split. A 2007 proposal by the Anglican primates to establish a separate vicar for conservative American parishes was strongly opposed by Episcopal bishops, who regarded it as foreign interference in their provincial affairs and contrary to the principles of the Episcopal Church and the nature of the Anglican Communion.

Nigerian primate Peter Akinola subsequently installed a Virginia bishop as leader of a conservative North American Anglican group, despite a request not to do so from the archbishop of Canterbury. In 2008 conservative Anglicans met in Jerusalem and formed their own organization, but did not break completely with the Anglican Communion. Many conservatives, however, did not attend the subsequent Lambeth Conference (July, 2008).

Bibliography: See S. Neill, Anglicanism (4th ed. 1977); G. J. Cumings, A History of Anglican Liturgy (2d ed. 1980).

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.

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.