What is “Anglican” and the Anglican Communion?
A. Churches like ours have their beginnings in The Church of England. The Anglican Communion is a part of the “one holy catholic and apostolic church” which is made up of 38 national churches around the world, all of which trace their origin to the Church of England. Anglicanism finds its distinctive identity in the English Reformation of the sixteenth century when the Church in England separated itself from the Church of Rome. Common prayer (reflected in The Book of Common Prayer) and the centrality of the Holy Eucharist are important to Anglican worship around the world. Today the Anglican Communion family is made up of an estimated 78 million Christians who worship in styles that vary from simple to elaborate, from evangelical to catholic, charismatic to traditional. The churches of the Communion are held together by “bonds of affection and common loyalty,” and by the “Instruments of Communion” – the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference of bishops, the Primates (the seni
