What is an Anglican?
The Scriptures and the Gospels, the Apostolic Church and the early Church Fathers, are the foundation of Anglican faith and worship in the 38 self-governing churches that make up the Anglican Communion. The basic tenets of being an Anglican are:
We view the Old and New Testaments 'as containing all things necessary for salvation' and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith.
We understand 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 - are administered with unfailing use of Christ's words of institution, and the elements are ordained by him.
The historic episcopate is 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.
Anglicans trace their
Christian roots back to the early Church, and their specifically
Anglican identity to the post-Reformation expansion
of the Church of England and other Episcopal or Anglican
Churches. Historically, there were two main stages in the development
and spread of the Communion. Beginning with the seventeenth century,
Anglicanism was established alongside colonization in the United
States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.
The second stage began in the eighteenth century when
missionaries worked to establish Anglican churches in
Asia, Africa and Latin America.
As a worldwide family of churches, the Anglican Communion has more than 70 million adherents in 38 Provinces spreading across 161 countries. Located on every continent, Anglicans speak many languages and come from different races and cultures. Although the churches are autonomous, they are also uniquely unified through their history, their theology, their worship and their relationship to the ancient See of Canterbury.
Anglicans uphold the Catholic and Apostolic faith. Following the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Churches are committed to the proclamation of the good news of the Gospel to the whole creation. In practice this is based on the revelation contained in Holy Scripture and the Catholic creeds, and is interpreted in light of Christian tradition, scholarship, reason and experience.
By baptism in the
name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a person is made one
with Christ and received into the fellowship of the
Church. This sacrament of initiation is open to infants
and children as well as to adults.
Central to worship for Anglicans 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 and resurrection of Jesus Christ are recalled through the proclamation of the word and the celebration of the sacrament. Other important rites, commonly called sacraments, include confirmation, holy orders, reconciliation, marriage and anointing of the sick.
Worship is at the
very heart of Anglicanism. Its styles vary from simple to elaborate,
or even a combination. Until the late twentieth century
the great uniting text was The Book of Common Prayer,
in its various revisions throughout the Communion, and the modern
language liturgies which now exist alongside it still bear a family
likeness. Both The Book of Common Prayer and more
recent Anglican liturgies give expression to the comprehensiveness
found within the Church whose principles reflect that
of the via media in relation to its own and other Christian Churches.
Another distinguishing feature of the corporate nature of Anglicanism is that it is an interdependent Church, where parishes, dioceses and provinces help each other to achieve by mutual support in terms of financial assistance and the sharing of other resources.
To be an Anglican is to be on a journey of faith to God supported by a fellowship of co-believers who are dedicated to finding Him by prayer and service.
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