Anglican/Episcopalian

The beginnings of Anglicanism saw the seeds sown for the emergence of a self-consciousness as a Church that is a via media between Protestantism and Catholicism.

Early Anglicanism was influenced by doctrines associated with the Protestant Reformation, especially the Reformed branch, and also by the polity and liturgy of pre-Reformation western Christianity.

Although Anglicanism lacks a single founder, it had many early contributors. Among them, three stand out whose contributions were crucial: King Henry VIII, Thomas Cranmer, and Queen Elizabeth I.

Anglicanism holds that the Bible, both Old Testament and New Testament, are the primary authority for the Church. The books of the Apocrypha are to be read for examples of right living.

Anglican writings commonly seek to locate Anglican identity in the tradition's history. Also, the outgrowths of extreme theological diversity in Anglicanism have brought new questions about historical Anglican authority structures.

From the 16th-century Elizabethan Settlement to the Restoration in the late 17th century, the English Church developed slowly and with great upheaval into an Anglican ethos with both Protestant and Catholic elements.

Numerous groups have broken permanently from the established Church of England, and several identifiable groups within Anglicanism have emerged, including Liberal Catholics, Anglo-Catholics, and Evangelicals.

Anglican missionary efforts followed the expansion of the British Empire, but also was an imperialistic instrument in its own right. Anglicanism also became indigenized and evolved according to local traditions.

Anglicanism spread through the expansion of the British Empire and through missionary efforts. It has become a worldwide communion with diversity in language, liturgy, and ethos.

The dominant characteristic of modern Anglicanism has been the rise of liberalism and reactions against it. Schism has resulted and the future of the Anglican Communion is uncertain.

The Anglican approach to the Christian sacred narrative is distinctive in its doctrinal diversity, its theological method (scripture, tradition, reason), and its focus on the Church's visible unity.

There is one God in a unity of three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Son became incarnate, Jesus Christ, for the salvation of humankind. Good and fallen angels also exist.

The purpose of human existence is to love and serve God. Original humanity did this naturally, but fallen humanity cannot, except (incompletely in this life) by grace through faith.

God is all-powerful and all-good, and did not create evil. God granted freedom of choice to angels and humans, and evil entered creation through the rebellious use of that freedom.

Salvation is given by God's grace and received through faith in Christ. At judgment day all people will be resurrected bodily, the faithful to eternal life, the unfaithful to eternal death.

Anglican corporate worship takes place weekly on the Lord's Day (Sunday), and follows a calendar of feast days, holy days, and seasons, commemorating individuals and also events in the life of Christ.

While some Anglicans have no concept of sacred space, many regard a space as sanctified when it is set apart for sacred activities, such as the Eucharist. Anglo-Catholic Church architecture retains elements from medieval designs, transformed for modern worship.

The Book of Common Prayer is the main book of Anglican rites and ceremonies. Anglican ceremonies are centered on the great sacraments of Eucharist and baptism, as well as other sacramental rites.

Anglicanism encourages formal, corporate prayer and Bible reading through forms set forth in the Book of Common Prayer. Daily individual prayer and Bible reading, and also informal corporate devotional gatherings, are also encouraged.

The cross is the leading symbol in Anglicanism. After a history of disputes and trends, Anglican churches today range from austere to heavily ornamented with symbolic materials.

In Anglican ministry, bishops are the chief pastors of their respective dioceses. Priests are the pastors of local parishes and celebrants of the Eucharist. Deacons are assisting ministers.

The Anglican Communion is experienced in local parishes, which are joined into regional dioceses, which in turn compose geographical provinces. The strict geographical organization of Anglicanism is being challenged by theological division.

Good works follow necessarily from faith, but sin also continues. Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience are all sources of moral authority, with the result that differing ethical views abound.

The original theocratic Anglican societal vision of a godly state has given way to diverse visions with common ground on freedom of conscience and biblical principles such as human dignity.

Women may now be ordained as Anglican priests in most places, although there is still some disagreement, and controversies over the Church's stance on homosexual practices are dividing the Church.