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-
The Rev. Ed McNeill Senior Pastor St. James Anglican Church An Anglican is a member of the Anglican Church, or more properly the Anglican Communion. The word “Anglican” derives from the word “Angles” meaning English, and indeed the Anglican Church began in England. Today, many centuries later, The Anglican Communion is made up of 38 Provinces that include 77 million members in 164 countries. Some Provinces, such as the Anglican Church of Canada, are national churches, while others cover several countries. The Worldwide Anglican Communion is the world’s third largest Christian Denomination and the largest and most unified Protestant denomination. In the summer of 2006 the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams very helpfully identified three things that when held together make Anglicanism distinct from other Christian denominations and contribute to the essential character of our church. Other denominations share one or two of these things. What makes Anglicanism unique is the balanced
An Anglican is a member of The Anglican Communion which is a branch of Christianity that encompasses the Church of England and many other world-wide Churches which trace their spiritual succession back to the Archbishop of Canterbury. These member Churches are known as being a part of the “Anglican Communion” The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual figurehead of the “Anglican Communion” and is based in ‘The Church of England’. The Anglican Church was formally organized in 1539 when The Church in England became Independent from Rome under the reign of Henry VIII. The Anglican Church considers itself a “bridge Church” between Catholic and Protestant, being both and neither at the same time. The Anglican Church encompasses the traditions, rites, sacraments, and creeds of the ancient Holy Catholic Church which it is a part of, holding strong to the authority of the priesthood and necessity for bishops in apostolic succession. Yet, it also considers itself Protestant in that their is
Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher once wrote: “Anglicanism has no peculiar thought, practice, creed or confession of its own. It has only the Catholic Faith of the ancient Catholic Church, as preserved in the Catholic Creeds and maintained in the Catholic and Apostolic constitution of Christ’s Church from the beginning.” It may licitly teach as necessary for salvation nothing but what is read in the Holy Scriptures as God’s Word written or may be proved thereby. It therefore embraces and affirms such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the Scriptures, and thus to be counted apostolic. The Church has no authority to innovate: it is obliged continually, and particularly in times of renewal or reformation, to return to “the faith once delivered to the saints.” To be an Anglican, then, is not to embrace a distinct version of Christianity, but a distinct way of being a “Mere Christian,” at the same time evangelical, apostolic, catholic, reformed, and Spi
