The Anglican church began when the first Christians arrived in Britain, possibly as early as 100 A.D. British Christians were present at the early councils that defined the elements of the Christian faith. We have much in common with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, including the fact that our bishops are in the Apostolic Succession. (This means that each bishop is consecrated by other bishops who were themselves consecrated by bishops, etc. etc. right back to the first bishops consecrated by the Apostles who received Jesus Christ's "Great Commission" to carry the Gospel's Good News to all the world.) Since the Reformation we have been considered "Protestant" because we rejected the leadership of the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), yet we remain completely orthodox in our faith and practice; our liturgies date back to the 3rd and 4th centuries, the age of the Primitive Church, and our belief is based upon the Nicene Creed and other decisions of the first 7 "Ecumenical Councils" through which the early Chistians defined the Christian faith. The Anglican Church has been present in North America since the earliest years of the British Colonial Period. Following the American Revolution, the parishes in the various states joined together to form the Episcopal Church of the USA. Their first bishop, Samuel White, was consecrated in Edenburgh by the Episcopal Church of Scotland. The Episcopal Church is governed by a Constitution which is quite similar to the Constitution of the United States - - - and for good reason. Many of the men who wrote the Constitution were churchmen who also participated in the first General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Beginning in the 1880s, Anglicans were pioneers in promoting ecumenism (unity and mutual respect among different churches). We believe in the Lund Principle: that churches should do together everything that they can and do apart only those things that individual churches believe must be done apart. As a result, it is common in Latin America to find that if there is only one English language church congregation, it is likely to be Anglican (often the "Episcopal Church") because members of all churches will be welcomed and invited to participate fully in all worship services. The Anglican Church of Mexico has a history that dates from the Reformation of Juárez (1860s); it was part of the Episcopal Church in the USA during most of the 20th century until it became an autonomous Province in the world-wide Anglican Communion in 1995. While the Anglican Communion is present in most of the countries of the world, each Province is autonomous; each one can establish its own canons (laws) and form of self government. Although there is no one individual who is recognised as having authority over the bishops of the Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury is accorded a primacy of honor: he is considered to be "first among equals". As such, he is the host when the bishops of the Communion meet once every 10 years at his official residence, the Lambeth Palace, for what is called the Lambeth Conference; this is a non-legislative meeting which serves principally to unify the Church and to assist in keeping lines of communication open. The accords of the Lambeth Conference are non-binding but often exert moral persuasion upon the actions of the individual Dioceses and Provinces of the Anglican Communion. IMPORTANT NOTE:There is a difference between "ecumenical" and "non-denominational". Every member of the clergy (call them "ministers", "priests", "pastors" or whatever) must be ordained and commissioned by some church body. As such, each one belongs to some denomination. A congregation that is not affiliated with any larger body of Christians may properly be called "non-denominational" and the liturgy (worship service) that an ordained minister uses in such a congregation may indeed be "non-denominational" if it is designed to incorporate elements of the liturgies of several churches (denominations). At the present time, many "non-denominational" congregations use the Episcopal Church's "Book of Common Prayer" because of the variety of the services included and the richness and depth of expression of the prayers found there. |