Sheryl A Kujawa-Holbrook. Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices. Editor: Thomas Riggs, 2nd Edition, Volume 1, Gale, 2015.

Overview

Anglicanism is a tradition that traces its history to the Christian church in England. It sees itself as the via media (Latin for “middle way”) between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Although the Church of England broke ties with the Catholic Church during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, the English and subsequent Anglican churches have maintained customs and a liturgy similar to those in Roman Catholicism. Also like Catholics, Anglicans believe they are connected through an unbroken succession of bishops to the early church of the apostles. The Protestant Reformation, however, has informed Anglican belief and teachings. The archbishop of Canterbury is recognized as the titular head of the Anglican Communion.

Although Anglicanism did not officially exist until after the English Reformation, its roots can be traced to 54 CE, when the Romans brought Christianity to Britain. The earliest Christian communities in Britain gave birth to several important traditions, including Celtic Christianity, Anglo-Saxon Christianity, and Norman Christianity, all of which influence contemporary Anglicanism in different ways. Christians in Britain did not adopt Roman Catholic organization until 664 CE. Anglicans claim both an ancient Catholic heritage and a strong affinity with the Protestant tradition that emerged in the 16th century. As a result of British colonial expansion and missionary activity from the 17th through the 20th century, the Church of England spread across the world, eventually resulting in a global family of interdependent churches called the Anglican Communion.

In 2013 the Anglican Communion was the third largest in the world (after Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy), with 92 million adherents worldwide. It was made up of 38 self-governing regional or national churches located in 165 countries. The Anglican population in the Africa, Asia, and South and Central America experienced rapid growth in the 20th century, and by the early 21st century the majority of Anglicans lived in the Southern Hemisphere, with the greatest concentration located in Africa, south of the Sahara.

History

Among Celtic Christians, monasteries were centers of learning and the arts and played a key role in the evangelization of tribal people throughout Britain and on the continent. In the sixth century the Irish missionary Columba brought a Celtic form of Christianity to northern England, and in 597 Pope Gregory (540-604; reigned 590-604) sent the Benedictine monk Augustine (d. 604) to the island, where he established a Roman Catholic monastery in Canterbury, later to become the primary English bishopric. From the sixth through the 16th centuries, the English church experienced conflict. At the center of the debate was its connection with Roman Catholicism versus its identification with the English monarch and people.

The English Reformation was first triggered by political beliefs and by the actions of King Henry VIII (1491-1547; reigned 1509-47) rather than by theological issues or religious practice. It is popularly understood that Henry VIII sought an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536) because she had failed to produce a male heir. When the pope refused to grant the annulment, Henry rejected the authority of the pope, declaring himself Supreme Head of an independent Church of England, separate from Rome, though he changed little in the worship ritual. The English church officially broke ties with Rome in the 1530s. The church’s move toward independence, however, was the result of a larger European development, the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, and was influenced by such Reformation leaders as Martin Luther (1483-1546), John Calvin (1509-1564), and Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531).

The Protestant Reformation revolutionized Christianity in the West, as reformers criticized the corruption of the papacy and of religious practices. In particular, the selling of indulgences, which allegedly absolved purchasers from certain sins, was seen as evidence of the Catholic Church’s widespread corruption and the need for reform. As the ideas of reformers from the European continent made their way to English universities at Oxford and Cambridge, they found a receptive audience among English academics, as well as among members of the growing middle classes, who were dissatisfied with foreign control of religious and political institutions.

At its heart the founding of the Church of England was based on the desire, on behalf of both the English monarch and his people, for a national church. The competing sympathies for a Church of England and a church loyal to Rome characterized the monarchies of Henry VIII; Mary I (1516-1558; reigned 1553-58), who sought to return the church to its Roman Catholic identity; and Elizabeth I (1533-1603; reigned 1558-1603), who, in a series of acts known as the Elizabethan Settlement, finally resolved the dispute by reestablishing the independent Church of England.

From the late 16th century through to the beginning of the 21st century, the Church of England has been the official national church, with the monarch as its supreme governor and the archbishop of Canterbury as its ecclesial head. With the establishment of English colonies in other parts of the world from the 17th through the 19th centuries, the Church of England likewise expanded beyond the British Isles as both a chaplain to, and a criticizer of, English colonialism. In 1785, as a result of the American Revolution, Anglicans in the newly created United States of America separated themselves from the Church of England, becoming the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, the first self-governing Anglican church outside of Great Britain. The Constitution of the Episcopal Church was the first democratic church constitution in the world.

The Oxford Movement (1833-54) was a major source of Catholic revival within 19th-century Anglicanism in Britain and the United States. Fueled by a small group of scholars through the study of scripture and early Christian texts, the proponents of the Oxford Movement sought to restore the Catholic tradition within Anglicanism through liturgy, theology, and spiritual life, with considerable scorn for the influence of the Protestant Reformation.

The Oxford Movement began in July 1833 with a sermon by John Keble (1792-1866) on the nature and authority of the church. Keble was responding to a bill from the English House of Commons proposing to cut the number of bishops in Ireland and appoint a reform commission. Calling the sermon “National Apostasy,” he argued that the church was a divine institution and that bishops were successors to the apostles and not subject to parliamentary interference. For some, such as leading Oxford Movement intellectual John Henry Newman (1801-1890), Roman Catholicism became an attractive alternative to Anglicanism. Newman eventually converted, leaving the Church of England behind. For others, the study of liturgy brought a renewed interest in ritual practice that resulted in riots and protests on the part of the faithful, who believed the clergy were engaged in superstition and leading their flocks toward Rome.

On the positive side, the Oxford Movement sparked a renewed interest in leading a holy life and in the sacraments of the church. They stressed the historic episcopate (office of the bishop) as the primary guarantee of apostolic succession (the means of maintaining the church’s continuous link to the original apostles) and of the traditional Catholic threefold order of ministry—bishops, priests, and deacons. The Oxford Movement led to the founding of the first Anglican religious orders since the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII and contributed to growing interest in parish outreach to the urban poor.

By the mid-19th century in England and the United States, three general movements characterized the Anglican tradition, representing “High,” “Low,” and “Broad” church constituencies. Beliefs and practices between the three groups often overlapped, and the differences were typically characterized by ritual practices. Both in England and in the United States the Oxford Movement’s proponents, identified as “High Church,” were always a minority, but a highly vocal one. The High Church tradition stressed the importance of the historic episcopate and the sacramental life of the church, particularly Eucharistic observance; contributed to the growth of the monastic orders at home and abroad; emphasized devotional life; encouraged art, architecture, and music; and brought greater beauty to the ritual life of the church.

Proponents of the Low Church movement were generally evangelicals, who stressed the superiority of Scripture, the corruption of human nature by sin, the need for repentance and personal salvation, and the need for conversion by the Holy Spirit above the importance of the historic episcopate, the sacraments, and ritual practices. Low Church Anglicans believed that the church was most aptly described as the company of all faithful people. They stressed that the Bible was the sole foundation of faith, not the sacraments. The focus in worship among Low Church Anglicans was on biblical preaching; family prayers and informal evening revivals augmented Sunday worship. Low Church Anglicans were involved throughout the world in missionary activities, as well as in education, abolition, and child labor. Women had a greater variety of roles available to them in the Low Church movement, both at home and abroad. Although Anglican women did not officially obtain the right to preach until the 20th century, they practiced religious authority as teachers, missionaries, and catechists within Low Church circles.

The compromise that developed between High and Low Church traditions became known as the Broad Church movement. Members of this movement perceived limitations in the individualistic emphasis of the Low Church tradition and in the stress on the institutional church in the High Church tradition. The term “Broad Church” came to describe an approach to doctrine and worship more flexible and tolerant than either High Church or Low Church positions. Leaders of the Broad Church movement believed that the strength of Anglicanism lay in its comprehensiveness—its broad and flexible stance on non-creedal questions—and in its tolerance for a great variety in styles of worship. In both England and the United States, leaders in the Broad Church movement embraced the new critical methods of biblical study, the ideas of German philosophers, and openness to reason as the mediator of religious truth.

They believed in the importance of public morality and social justice and viewed the church as the conscience of the nation.

Over the next century the strengths of all three movements were eventually absorbed into the mainstream. Anglican churches throughout the world continue to live out historical connections and local variations of these movements.

With the decline of the British Empire and of Western imperialism in general in the mid-20th century, foreign missions of the Church of England and of the American-based Protestant Episcopal Church in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific became autonomous Anglican churches in their own right. Consistent with the changing face of global Christianity, most early-21st-century Anglicans live in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific and are no longer primarily identified with the English culture and language.

Central Doctrines

As part of the ongoing, universal Christian Church, Anglicans hold that the Bible constitutes Holy Scripture and contains all things necessary for salvation. Although influenced by the 16th-century Reformation, Anglicans, like many Protestants, do not subscribe to a single confession of faith or statement of belief. Rather, they believe and affirm that the ancient creeds, or early Christian statements of faith—in particular the Apostle’s Creed (c. 215) and the Nicene Creed (325)—are sufficient statements of faith. In some Anglican churches the historic articulation of the Elizabethan Settlement, known as the Thirty-Nine Articles, outlines Anglican belief and practice.

Anglicans believe in and orient their lives around the two primary sacraments found in the Bible: baptism and the Eucharist. Anglicans also affirm five other “lesser” sacraments of the church: confirmation, ordination, holy matrimony, reconciliation of a penitent (confession), and unction. The authority of bishops as representative of the historic episcopate (the succession of bishops dating back to the early church) is stressed in all Anglican churches. In addition to bishops, Anglicans maintain two other orders of ministry: priests (or presbyters) and deacons. Following the liturgical renewal of the 1960s, Anglicans began to consider all baptized members of the laity as “the priesthood of all believers” with authority for ministry within the church and in daily life. As part of the Reformation inheritance, Anglicans are governed by both laity and clergy in the official bodies of the church.

Possessing neither a confession as a point of unity nor a centralized authority structure to determine beliefs and doctrine, Anglicanism allows a latitude and openness in theological outlook, following the principle lex orandi lex credendi (the law of prayer determines the law of belief). For their liturgy, however, all Anglicans use the Book of Common Prayer, first published in 1549 and subsequently revised, translated into vernacular languages, and further adapted to various cultures. Fundamental to Anglicanism is the lived experience of the local worshipping community, or parish, where the Word of God is proclaimed and the sacraments are celebrated.

Moral Code of Conduct

Although in Anglicanism the moral code of conduct is based on the Bible, most Anglicans believe that it needs to be interpreted within the unique circumstances and experiences of each local church. As a result, Anglicans read and interpret the Bible in various ways. For example, in some Anglican churches it is acceptable for church leaders to remarry after divorce, whereas other churches frown upon the practice. Polygamist men and their wives who are newly converted to Christianity are allowed to become members of some Anglican churches and not of others. Differing views on human sexuality—particularly homosexuality—have caused tension within the Anglican Communion.

Sacred Books

Anglicans hold the books of the Old and New Testaments as their sacred Scripture. In addition, they place great emphasis on the Book of Common Prayer, initially written and revised by the Church of England and subsequently adapted by other Anglican churches and translated into numerous vernacular languages. The first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) in 1549 and contained complete forms for daily and Sunday worship in English. It also set out rites for baptism, confirmation, marriage, and burials, as well as specific prayers for feasts, daily prayers corresponding to the church year, and Scripture readings from both testaments. As of 2013 the Book of Common Prayer had been translated into more than 150 different languages. Prayer books across the Anglican Communion share the same basic structure but include local variations that reflect the needs and concerns of the people.

Sacred Symbols

The cross, with or without the figure of the crucified Christ, is considered a primary sacred symbol within Anglicanism. Some Anglicans (often referred to as Anglo-Catholics, or High Church Anglicans) use symbols and ceremonies identified with Catholic practice, whereas other Anglicans (known as evangelicals, or Low Church Anglicans) are more similar to Protestants and shy away from these practices.

Early and Modern Leaders

Great leaders and thinkers of the English Reformation associated with Anglicanism include King Henry VIII, who established the independent English church; Thomas Cranmer, who compiled the first Book of Common Prayer and was a leader in the reform of the church under Henry VIII; and William Tyndale (c. 1492-1536), who first translated the Bible into English in an effort to make it more widely accessible to the laity. Major founding figures of the Episcopal Church in the United States include Samuel Seabury (1729-1796), the first American bishop. He was consecrated in Scotland and, through his service to the church in Connecticut, helped to shape the Anglican liturgy in North America. William White (1747-1836), of Christ Church in Philadelphia, was the chief architect of the structure of the Episcopal Church. White was eventually consecrated the first bishop of Pennsylvania, and he ordained the first African American Episcopal priest, the abolitionist Absalom Jones (1746-1818) of Philadelphia.

The first bishop of African American origin was James Theodore Holly (1829-1911), consecrated for the Episcopal Church of Haiti in 1874. The first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion was Barbara C. Harris (1930- ), consecrated suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts in 1989. Before her ministry as a bishop, Harris was a journalist and a civil rights advocate. Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1931- ) of South Africa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his efforts toward resolving apartheid in South Africa. He is a worldwide human-rights advocate.

Major Theologians and Authors

In addition to foundational church leaders such as Thomas Cranmer and William Tyndale, other Anglican theologians include Richard Hooker (c. 1554-1600), considered one of the originators of Anglican theology and author of Treatise on the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (1594-97). Hooker’s work formed the basis of the Anglican theological method of Scripture, reason, and tradition. Frederick Denison Maurice (1805-1872), a theologian of Christian socialism, was a social and educational reformer who first addressed the church’s response to the needs of the poor in urban areas.

Women figured prominently among early-21st century Anglican theologians. Kwok Pui Lan, an Asian feminist theologian from Hong Kong, wrote on global Christianities and the role of women in the church and throughout the world. Jenny Te Paa from New Zealand was a Maori theologian who engaged issues of colonialism within Anglicanism. She also wrote about the need for culturally sensitive theological education. Esther Mombo from Kenya was an African Anglican theologian and leader in theological education. Mombo’s writings covered such issues as church history, HIV-AIDS, evangelism, and poverty from an African perspective.

Organizational Structure

Each regional or national Anglican church is divided into dioceses, and each diocese is made up of parish churches. Dioceses are headed by a diocesan bishop, sometimes assisted by suffragan or assisting bishops. Although headed by bishops, each diocese and national church is governed by a synod, convention, or council that generally includes both lay and ordained leaders in the decision-making process.

Each of the 38 churches of the worldwide Anglican Communion is independent, but they relate to one another with mutual responsibility and interdependence as Christians belonging to a common fellowship. As the first bishop of the Church of England, the archbishop of Canterbury is the titular, or symbolic, head of the Anglican Communion. The archbishop of Canterbury hosts the Lambeth Conference every 10 years for Anglican bishops throughout the world. Since 1979 the archbishop of Canterbury has also met approximately every two years with the chief bishops (primates) of the Anglican Provinces.

Houses of Worship and Holy Places

Anglicans worship in local communities generally known as parish churches. In some parts of the Anglican Communion—particularly in the Southern Hemisphere—parishes consist of multiple congregations worshipping in basic church buildings in different locations. Anglicans are particularly proud of their cathedrals. Popular sites for both devotional visits and tourists include Canterbury Cathedral, York Minster, and Westminster Abbey in England and Washington (D.C.) National Cathedral, Grace Cathedral (San Francisco), and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine (New York) in the United States.

Anglican houses of worship vary in design according to cultural surroundings. The Anglican tradition supports the ornamentation of churches and other holy places, and this is often present even in the simplest structures. Art, murals, sculpture, mosaics, and needlework are prevalent in churches of all sizes and venues, as are carved pews, pulpits, altars, fonts, and other furniture. Larger Anglican churches and cathedrals are designed to accommodate processions and elaborate rituals. Acoustic worship spaces that support organ and choral music are also common, though in recent years the types of music and instruments played have diversified beyond traditional organ and choral music.

The main focal point of Anglican churches is the altar. Many churches also have a prominent baptismal font as a symbol of the beginning of the Christian life, which is situated in one of several places: just inside the door, in the nave in front of the congregation, in a side chapel, or in the chancel. Many Anglican cathedrals and larger churches have side chapels or interior shrines, mostly designed to commemorate a specific holy person or divine event.

What is Sacred

Anglicans view their churches and cathedrals as holy but generally do not set apart specific items for sacred worship and adoration (although individual Anglicans might do so). Anglicans hold that there is the real presence of Christ in the bread and wine of the Holy Eucharist.

Holidays and Festivals

Anglicanism follows the traditional liturgical seasons of Christianity (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost). Christmas (the birth of Jesus Christ) and Easter (the resurrection of Jesus Christ) are the two most significant holidays. Regional and national churches have appointed various days of remembrance for major and lesser saints throughout the liturgical year. Specific biblical passages to be read in worship each day and on Sundays are assigned from a regular lesson cycle, known as the lectionary. Anglican churches worldwide also celebrate patronal festivals and, in some locations, civic holidays.

Mode of Dress

Ordained individuals in the Anglican Communion usually wear clerical attire, most often black or gray (although occasionally other colors are worn) with a white clerical collar; bishops often wear purple. Liturgical dress includes a colored stole (a lengthy piece of cloth, of appropriate color for the liturgical season, worn around the neck) over an alb (a simple white gown). Other vestments include a cassock (a long black gown) worn with a surplice (a white overgarment). More ceremonial liturgical vestments, often in the color of the liturgical season, include a chasuble (an ornate garment worn during the Eucharist) and a cope (cape). Bishops often wear a cope, a miter (hat), and an Episcopal ring and carry a crosier (staff) as a sign of their office.

Dietary Practices

There are no prescribed dietary practices within Anglicanism. Some Anglicans, for reasons of personal piety, will fast from time to time, particularly during the season of Lent, on Good Friday, or before receiving the Eucharist.

Rituals

Anglican worship is based on the monastic practice of regular community prayer throughout the day. Services for morning prayer, noonday prayer, midday prayer, evening prayer, and compline (the final prayers of the day) are found in most Anglican prayer books and are used for both corporate and private worship. Sunday worship is the primary liturgical celebration for most Anglicans and includes either a morning prayer with a sermon (more frequently in Low Church, or low ceremony, parishes) or the Holy Eucharist (in most early-21st-century churches). Public services of common prayer and celebration are also provided for at significant transitions in a person’s life, such as confirmation, marriage, and funerals.

Depending on personal beliefs and practices, some Anglicans will go on pilgrimages or retreats for spiritual growth and development. Some Anglicans will also practice private confession, or the rite of reconciliation of a penitent. In North America and in parts of Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, some Anglicans have adapted the use of gender-inclusive language in the liturgy, particularly in regard to images of God.

Rites of Passage

In Anglicanism, baptism with water (usually not involving immersion), both of infants and adults, marks an individual’s entry into the universal fellowship of the church. Most Anglican churches also provide services for confirmation (in which adolescents or adults confirm their Christian beliefs) and reception (in which people from another Christian tradition are received into the Anglican faith). Confirmation and reception services are presided over by bishops and include the laying on of hands by the bishop as a sign of the rite of passage. Although the average age at confirmation was 11 or 12 for much of the 20th century, in the early 21st century the trend has been toward delaying the rite until an older age, often between ages 14 and 16, or when a person feels prepared to make an adult affirmation of faith.

It is not uncommon for individuals from other Christian traditions to convert to the Anglican faith. In the Episcopal Church as many as 50 to 60 percent of current members were received from other Christian traditions; many cite non-confessional theology and rich liturgical tradition as the main attractions of Anglicanism.

Membership

In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, the Anglican Church has been the state church, and citizens who do not profess some other religious identification have been considered part of the Anglican Church. In most other countries membership in the Anglican Church has been voluntary. Anglicans believe in the possibility of universal salvation through Jesus Christ and thus are involved in evangelistic outreach through various means, including missionary societies, Web sites, and social service.

The United Thank Offering, known as UTO (http://www.episcopalchurch.org/uto), is an international organization that funds projects that fight poverty around the world. Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation (http://www.epgr.org) offers support for churches and organizations interested in fighting poverty through the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations. Episcopal Relief and Development (http://www.episcopalrelief.org) is an organization that provides funding and disaster relief to Anglicans around the world. These organizations, and others like them, provide a means of sharing the Anglican faith with potential converts, while also performing the good works that the faith calls believers to perform.

Religious Tolerance

Anglicanism is generally considered a tolerant Christian tradition that is open to interreligious dialogue. Anglicans have been deeply involved in and committed to ecumenism (Christian unity) and the ecumenical movement. The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1886 and 1888 was an early Anglican statement of ecumenical principles. Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple (1881-1944) and Presiding Bishop Henry Knox Sherrill (1890-1980) of the Episcopal Church in the United States were significant leaders in 20th-century ecumenical councils.

Social Justice

Anglicans around the world have vigorously participated in outreach programs, expressing a concern for the social welfare of their communities. International missionary and service organizations since the 19th century have addressed various human rights issues, including education, health care, the abolition of slavery, and poverty. Anglican schools and hospitals have provided for the educational and health needs of all people, regardless of religious identification. Reflecting the global reach of the Anglican Communion and its presence in 165 countries, Anglicans have advocated international debt relief for poor countries and have played a significant role in efforts to combat the HIV/ AIDS pandemic. They have also acted to ensure the rights of indigenous peoples.

Through the Office of the Anglican Observer to the United Nations, Anglicans have supported the Millennium Development Goals, eight goals that include universal primary education and the eradication of poverty. Through the Commission on the Status of Women, Anglicans have advocated for the rights of women and girls. The international Anglican Mothers’ Union, an organization active in 83 countries, works with local and national governments on issues affecting families with the aim of supporting stable, monogamous marriage.

Social Life

The social teachings of Anglicanism are based on the Bible but are interpreted within the specific dynamics of the local culture. For example, although Anglicans traditionally consider marriage to be a lifelong, committed, monogamous relationship between a man and a women, some Anglican churches are located in countries more open to homosexuality and have developed rites for blessing same-sex unions. In other Anglican contexts, polygamy is considered a practice to ensure the protection of women and children. In 1991 the International Anglican Family Network (IAFN) was founded as a forum to exchange information on the challenges facing families in different countries and cultures. The IAFN develops resources for churches and individuals for addressing families in need. Gender roles across the Anglican Communion vary according to local culture, as does the role of women in the church.

Controversial Issues

Because Anglicanism is a worldwide Christian tradition that believes biblical teachings should be interpreted within a church’s particular cultural and social context, there is room for different interpretations of controversial issues. Disagreements over some issues—for example, abortion and remarriage after divorce—though controversial for some in the 20th century have faded from international discussion. At the beginning of the 21st century, controversial issues were debated on a local level rather than on a churchwide level.

Similarly, the ordination of women was a major source of controversy in the late 20th century, but the matter had largely been resolved by the early 21st century. Beginning in the 1970s churches across the Anglican Communion began to ordain women as deacons, then as priests, and, since 1989, as bishops. Churches that do not ordain women at all are in the minority, with many Anglican churches either ordaining women to the episcopacy or on the verge of doing so.

The role of homosexuals in the Christian community was a major source of tension within the Anglican Communion in the early years of the 21st century. On November 2, 2003, the Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson was consecrated in the United States as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire. A homosexual man living in a long-term committed relationship with another man, Robinson became the first openly gay, noncelibate bishop in the Anglican Communion. Bishop Robinson’s consecration, combined with an increasing openness toward blessing same-sex relationships in some Anglican dioceses and churches (notably the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church), exacerbated disagreements in the Anglican Communion over biblical interpretation and moral norms. Some warned of a possible schism between the Episcopal Church in the United States and other churches in the Anglican Communion. The controversy led to questions regarding the acceptable limits of Anglican diversity and how the Anglican Communion will continue to live together as a family of interdependent yet self-governing churches.

At a special primates’ meeting in 2003, called in response to the consecration of Robinson, the archbishop of Canterbury was asked to preside over a commission to provide “urgent and deep theological and legal reflection” and to report back to the primates within a year. The ensuing Windsor Report, presented to the primates at Windsor in 2004, suggested drafting an Anglican Covenant that would be approved by the individual provinces of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Covenant describes itself as “an agreement about what the family’s values are, what its purpose is, and how it lives together.” After a participatory drafting process, the text was released in December and, as of 2013, was with Anglican provinces across the world for formal consideration for adoption.

Responses to the Anglican Covenant have been mixed. Some believe that the Anglican Covenant is an effort to ensure that future contentious actions are not taken without consultation of the whole communion. This suggestion concerned many churches in the Anglican Communion that value their autonomy. To some the proposed Anglican Covenant was taken as an attempt to stifle open debate, whereas others criticized its inability to impose sanctions. As of 2013 the process of debating the Anglican Covenant was ongoing throughout the Anglican Communion. The controversy has sparked questions about the limits of theological diversity within the Anglican Communion, as well as the relationship between self-governing yet interdependent churches reflective of different cultures and regions across the world.

Cultural Impact

Anglicanism has contributed much to the development of Western civilization, especially in England and the territories of the former British Empire. The great composers William Byrd (1539-1623), George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), and Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) were Anglicans. Influential poets such as John Donne (1572-1631), George Herbert (1593-1633), William Wordsworth (1770-1850), and Christina Rossetti (1831-1894) were also Anglicans. From the 1930s to the 1960s, Anglican writers such as C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957), and Charles Williams (1909-1975) were popular with religious as well as secular audiences. For many seekers in the mid-20th century, the works of Lewis were key to unlocking the mysteries of the Christian faith in a new way during the period after two catastrophic world wars. More recently, prolific Anglican writers such as Vera Brittain (1893-1970), P. D. James (1920- ), and Madeline L’Engle (1918-2007) captured the imaginations of countless readers and have been adapted for the stage and screen.

Political leaders throughout history have been motivated by their Anglican Christian faith, including various Founding Fathers of the United States. Anglican scholars, such as Marcus Borg (1942- ), a renowned authority on the historical Jesus, have had impact beyond the academy. In many parts of the world—particularly in the West—Anglicans are identified with the cultural elite. Anglican cathedrals the world over stand as testimony to patronage of the arts and the intersection of the sacred and secular in Anglicanism.