Anglican Church

Historic Roots

Patricia Bays writing in ‘Being Anglican”, says:
“Anglicans are Christians whose worship traditions, organizational structures, and practices of living the faith have evolved form those of the branch of the [Catholic] Church that in 16th century England declared its autonomy in matters of administration and interpretation of faith”.

The roots of the Christian Church in England extend back to the time of Roman occupation.  Constantine, a fourth century Roman Emperor who declared Christianity to be the official religion of the Roman Empire, had been converted to the faith by his British-born mother, Helena.  Celtic and Roman patterns of Christianity emerged over the next centuries, before Roman uniformity in the church was enforced by the eighth century. 

By the sixteenth century, when nationalism and the protestant reformation began in Europe, Britain was part of the Catholic Church, but not part of the Roman Empire .  King Henry initially won the praise from Pope Leo, and was named ‘Defender of the Faith’, but his desire to provide a male successor to the throne led to a political crisis. This led to the Church of England separating from the authority of the Pope. 

The church, which had existed in Britain for 13 centuries was nationalized.  The traditional catholic structure of bishops-priests-and deacons was maintained but clergy were allowed to marry.  As well, the Church in England came under the influence of the Protestant reformation by the mid sixteenth century.  After a century of swaying between Protestant and Roman influences, the Anglican Church was firmly established as a Reformed (Protestant) Catholic Church by the mid 17th century.  It was then that the ‘Book of Common Prayer’ was written.  Books of Worship based on this Book of Common Prayer a prayer book still serve as a benchmark for all Anglican worship. 

The Anglican Church has tried to embrace many varieties of religious and theological perspectives, to discover the ‘via media’, a ‘middle way’ which would welcome all into worship and life. Today, there are nearly one million Anglicans in Canada, making it the third largest denomination in our country.  There are 70 million Anglicans throughout the world in what is known as the Anglican Communion. Although the Anglican Church grew out of the ‘Church of England’, today the majority of Anglicans are black, and in Africa, the Anglican Church is the fastest growing Christian Church. 

Worship

Worship is central to Anglican identity. Anglicans all use a Prayer Book, in traditional or revised form which is based on the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.  Tradition is important for Anglicans! While Services of Morning and Evening Prayer were often the main services in Anglican Churches for several generations, in the pasty forty years Holy Communion has been re-asserted as the principal service of worship. Music and sung liturgy are important to Anglican worship, as is a strong sense of drama and use of symbolic objects and action. 

Sacraments

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are recognized as the essential sacraments for salvation, though the Church also recognizes five ‘lesser’ sacraments or rites (confirmation, ordination, marriage, reconciliation and unction) as helpful in the ministry of the church. 

Clergy

The Anglican Church uses a ‘threefold’ ministry: bishops, priests, and deacons. Deacons are invited to a ministry of pastoral care, preaching and service. Priests exercise the ministry of deacons, and also are responsible for administration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Bishops exercise all the ministry of deacons and priests, and are called as well to a ministry of oversight (care for a diocese, and for the wider church, and for all the clergy and lay people of a diocese.)

Structure

The Anglican Church is an Episcopal church.  That means that a bishop is responsible for each basic unit of the church, the diocese. The selection of a new bishop is done by vote of both clergy and lay people of that diocese. In a diocese, parishes are formed, and priests and deacons are invited by the bishop, after discernment by the parish and potential candidates, to share in the leadership of ministry.   

Membership in the church is with the “Anglican Church of Canada’, not first of all a local church.  A local parish or church is the place where Anglicans ‘exercise’, or live out their membership in the Anglican Church.  The Diocese that our parish, known as the “West Coast Mission’ belongs to is the Diocese of British Columbia (which covers Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands). Our bishop, Rt. Rev. James Cowan, and the diocesan offices are located in Victoria.  

Beliefs

Unlike the United, Presbyterian or Lutheran Churches, the Anglican Church does not have a specific statement of beliefs (like the Westminster Confession or Augsburg Confession) which all members must accept. 

Instead, Anglican theology is ‘shaped’ by three principles:
a) Scripture (“Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation”);
b) Reason (God’s gift of the intellect and the use of study and scholarship); and
c) Tradition (the collective wisdom of them church, received and taught through the centuries, including the historic creeds)….

It is actually the Book of Common Prayer and Book of Alternative Services, the Anglican books of worship, that contain the best resources to understand (sometimes by inference) Anglican theology.

Growing Edges

a) Social Justice
It was English evangelical Anglicans such as William Wilberforce who led the struggle to abolish slavery and improve working conditions in the midst of the industrial revolution. Anglicans remain in the forefront of justice related ministry. 

Examples of this leadership are the work of Desmond Tutu’s work in South Africa, and Palestinian Anglican Hannah Ashawi in seeking just relations in the holy land, and the work of (retired) Archbishop Peers and others in Canada in seeking new ways of relating with our First Nations people. 

Anglicans participate on its own and as part of the ‘PLURA’ (Presbyterian / Lutheran / United / Roman Catholic / Anglican) Churches in a variety of mission, aid and development initiatives, in Canada and around the world. 

b) Ecumenical Ministry
The first steps in reaching out to other church families (denominations) were taken in the 1880s when the ‘Lambeth Quadrilateral’ set out principles for ecumenical dialogue. 

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Anglican discussed merger with the United Church, and although that did not happen, it has created a legacy of dialogue and joint programs.  Shared Ministries, such as our parish here on the Coast, are part of the continuing ecumenical dialogue with the United Church. 

In 2001 a covenant was finalized between the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.  These churches are now described as being in ‘Full Communion’, able to transfer memberships freely, use each other’s forms of worship, and call ministers from either church.

In Conclusion

In drawing things together, the following is the official mission statement for the Anglican Church: 

As a partner in the worldwide Anglican Communion and in the universal church, we proclaim and celebrate the gospel of Jesus Christ in worship and action. We value our heritage of biblical faith, reason, liturgy, tradition, bishops and synods, and the rich variety of our life in community. We acknowledge that God is calling us to greater diversity of membership, wider participation in ministry and leadership, better stewardship in God’s creation, and a stronger resolve in challenging attitudes and structures that cause injustice.

Guided by the Holy Spirit, we commit ourselves to respond to this call in love and service and so more fully live the life of Christ. Perhaps Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said it best, when he describes Anglican thought and practices as “a rather untidy system, but very lovable