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Communication
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Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion Our Faith
Anglican/Episcopal churches uphold and proclaim the Catholic and Apostolic faith, proclaimed in the Scriptures, interpreted in the light of tradition and reason. Following the teachings of Jesus Christ, Anglicans are committed to the proclamation of the good news of the Gospel to all creation. Our faith and ministry have been expressed through the Book of Common Prayer, received and adapted by local churches, in the Services of Ordination (the Ordinal), and in the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, first expounded at the missionary Conference in Chicago in 1886, and revised by the Lambeth Conference of 1888. The quadrilateral sets out four essential elements of the Christian faith:
- The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as “containing all things necessary to salvation”, and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith.
- The Apostles’ Creed, as the baptismal symbol; and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith.
- The two Sacraments ordained by Christ himself - Baptism and the Supper of the Lord - ministered with unfailing use of Christ's words of institution and of the elements ordained by Him.
- The Historic Episcopate, locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God into the unity of His Church. Central to Anglican worship is the celebration of the Holy Eucharist (also called the Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper or the Mass). In this offering of prayer and praise, the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ are made a present reality through the proclamation of the Word, and the celebration of the Sacrament. Anglicans celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism, with water in the name of the Trinity, as the rite of entry into the Christian Church, and celebrate other sacramental rites, including Confirmation, Reconciliation, Marriage, Anointing of the Sick and Ordination.
Common prayer is at the heart of Anglicanism. Its styles may vary from the simple to the elaborate, from evangelical to catholic, charismatic to traditional. The various Books of Common Prayer give expression to a comprehensiveness found within the churches, which seeks to chart a via media in relation to other Christian traditions.
Our Churches
Deriving from the ancient Celtic and Saxon churches of the British Isles, Anglicanism found its distinctive identity in the sixteenth and seventeenth century Reformation, when the separate Church of England, along with the Church of Ireland and the Scottish Episcopal Church, came into being. At the time of the American Revolution, an autonomous Episcopal Church was founded in the United States, and later Anglican or Episcopal churches were founded across the globe as a result of the missionary movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Many of these were given autonomy as Provinces in the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In South Asia, the United Churches, formed between Anglican and several Protestant traditions, also joined the Anglican Communion, as did churches elsewhere such as the Spanish Episcopal Reformed Church and the Lusitanian Church of Portugal. Today, the Anglican Episcopal family consists of an estimated 78 million Christians who are members of 44 different churches. These make up 34 provinces, 4 United Churches, and 6 other churches, spread across the globe.
The Anglican Communion Office
St Andrew’s House
16 Tavistock Crescent
Westbourne Park, London W11 1AP, UK
Tel: [+44] (0)20 7313-3900
Fax: [+44] (0)20 7313-3999
www.anglicancommunion.org
aco@anglicancommunion.org
The Compass Rose
is the symbol of the Anglican Communion. As pictured on the front of this leaflet, it is centred on the Cross of St George, and with the biblical motto “The Truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). The Compass Rose itself bears witness to the mission of the Anglican Communion as it extends this message to all corners of the globe.
Canterbury Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Christ, Canterbury, England, is the Mother Church of the Anglican Communion. Daily prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist stand at the heart of its ongoing ministry, and the Archbishop is present at Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. The work of the Cathedral was recently extended with the development of the International Study Centre, which welcomes pilgrims and students from across the world. The ministry of the Cathedralis led by the Dean (the Very Revd Robert Willis) and Chapter of Canterbury.
www.canterbury-cathedral.org
Tel: +44 (0)1227 762-862
The Instruments of Communion
The churches of the Anglican Communion are held together by bonds of affection and common loyalty, expressed through links with the “Instruments of Communion” - the Archbishop of Canterbury as the focus for unity, the Lambeth Conference, the Primates Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council.
The Archbishop of Canterbury
The churches are all in communion with the See of Canterbury in the Church of England, and thus the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his person and ministry, is the unique focus of Anglican unity. He calls the Lambeth Conference, and Primates Meeting, and is President of the Anglican Consultative Council. The 104th Archbishop of Canterbury in succession to Saint Augustine, the Most Revered and Right Honourable Rowan Williams, was enthroned in February 2003.
The Lambeth Conference
Every ten years or so, the Archbishop of Canterbury invites the bishops of the Anglican Communion to join with him in prayer, study and discernment. At the last Lambeth Conference in 1998, over 800 bishops were welcomed to the Conference which was held in Canterbury. The next conference is being planned for 2008.
The Primates Meeting
Since 1979, the Archbishop of Canterbury has also invited the primates (the presiding bishop, archbishop or moderator) of each of the 38 provinces, to join him in regular meetings for consultation, prayer and reflection on theological, social and international matters. These meetings take place approximately every eighteen months to two years.
The Anglican Consultative Council
In 1968 the bishops of the Lambeth Conference requested the establishment of a body representative of all sections (bishops, clergy and laity) of the churches, which could co-ordinate aspects of international Anglican ecumenical and mission work. With the consent of the legislative bodies of all the provinces, the Anglican Consultative Council was established, and has met regularly since.
ACC Meetings
Limuru, Kenya (1971) • Dublin, Eire (1973) •
Trinidad (1976) •
London, Ontario (1979) • Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England (1981) •
Badagry, Nigeria (1984) • Singapore (1987) • Lampeter, Wales(1990) •
Cape Town, South Africa (1993) • Panama (1996) • Dundee, Scotland (1999) • Hong Kong (2002) • Nottingham, England (2005).
Thet Anglican Communion Office
There is a permanent secretariat, based in London, which serves the Instruments of Communion. The secretariat is responsible for organising all meetings of the conciliar Instruments of Communion, as well as the Commissions and Networks of the Communion. Funding comes from the Inter-Anglican budget, supported by all member churches according to their means.
They are also invited to contribute to special projects, such as the Personal Emergencies Fund and the Anglican Episcopal World Christmas Appeal. The ACO is based at St Andrew’s House, London, under the leadership of the Secretary General, the Revd Canon Kenneth Kearon. St Andrew’s House offers a small number of rooms as accommodation for pilgrims and visitors.
Communications
The ACO publishes Anglican Episcopal World - a regular magazine containing articles and news from across the Communion - which is produced in print and on the Anglican Communion website. Updates to the Anglican Cycle of Prayer(daily prayer intentions for the Communion) can be found in the magazine and also on the Anglican Communion website. ACNS is the electronic Anglican Communion News Service, available by email subscription and on the website.
PROVINCES
The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
The Anglican Church of Australia
The Church of Bangladesh
The Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil
The Province of the Anglican Church of Burundi
The Anglican Church of Canada
The Church of the Province of Central Africa
The Anglican Church of the Central America Region
The Anglican Church of the Congo
The Church of England
Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
The Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean
The Church of Ireland
Nippon Sei Ko Kai - The Anglican Communion in Japan
The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East
The Anglican Church of Kenya
The Anglican Church of Korea
The Church of the Province of Melanesia
The Anglican Church of Mexico
The Church of the Province of Myanmar (Burma)
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)
The Church of North India
The Church of Pakistan
The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea
The Episcopal Church in the Philippines
The Episcopal Church of Rwanda
The Scottish Episcopal Church
The Church of the Province of South East Asia
The Church of the Province of Southern Africa
The Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America
The Church of South India
The Episcopal Church of the Sudan
The Anglican Church of Tanzania
The Church of the Province of Uganda
The Episcopal Church (United States of America)
includes overseas dioceses in Taiwan, Haiti, Colombia, Honduras,
Dominican Republic and Ecuador
The Church in Wales
The Church of the Province of West Africa
The Church in the Province of the West Indies
Extra-Provincial Diocese and other churches
The Anglican Church of Bermuda
The Anglican Church in Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
The Episcopal Church of Cuba
The Lusitanian Church (Portugal)
The Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church
Falkland Islands
Churches in Communion
The Mar Thoma Syrian Church • The Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht • The Philippine Independent Church.
The Church in China is a “post denominational” Church whose formation included Anglicans in the Holy Catholic Church in China. Anglicans/Episcopalians, in certain parts of the Communion, are in full communion with some Lutheran Churches.
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