What exactly is the Anglican Communion?
The family of churches of the Anglican Communion are all “descendants” of the Church of England. When the English settled the British Empire, they brought their religion with them to new parts of the world. As British colonies became independent from England, so did their churches. In 1867 these churches began to think of themselves as a single family. Today the Anglican Communion consists of 38 autonomous churches (or “provinces”) in 164 countries. Each is an independent unit, with its own governance and cultural expressions, connected to the others by history and tradition.
