What is Anglicanism?
Anglicanism is a Protestant Christian tradition that emerged from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. It is the third largest Protestant denomination in the world, with 85 million members in 160 countries.
Three Streams
Anglicanism uniquely brings together three historic streams of the Christian faith into a holistic expression of the Gospel.
The Protestant stream, with its focus on the Word of God, the Holiness stream, with its commitment to the poor and marginalized, and the Anglo-Catholic stream, with its grounding in the Sacraments.
Foundation Stones
Anglicans hold to a holistic balance of faith known as the Foundation Stones:
Scriptural
Anglicans uphold the Bible as God’s word revealed, the narrative of salvation history. We understand our lives and ministry within the narrative of God’s saving grace and deliverance.
Historic
Anglicans are rooted in the sacred tradition of the 1st century church expressed in what we believe and how we practice our faith through word, liturgy and the Sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist, as well as other sacramental rites. We also recognize the historic episcopate, with our Holy Orders following the pattern of apostolic succession in the undivided Church.
Spirit-led
Anglicans recognize that as believers in Christ, we receive the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit who guides and equips us, transforming us day by day so that we better reflect Christ in our lives through word and deed.
Incarnational
In response to Christ’s Great Commandment and Great Commission, Anglicans live as Kingdom people who both proclaim and live out what Jesus taught and modeled. We engage culture, focus on the needs of others before our own, and act as God’s cooperative partners to pursue deliverance, justice and mercy for all people.
Integrated
Anglicans are united and connected not only “with the great cloud of witnesses” throughout Church history, but also with Christ followers around the world. Anglicanism is part of a global Christian faith, or, as expressed in the Nicene Creed: “the one holy catholic and apostolic church.”
Beliefs
Consistent with the Anglican Church in North America, we uphold the following faith statements:
We confess the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments to be the inspired Word of God, containing all things necessary for salvation, and to be the final authority and unchangeable standard for Christian faith and life.
We confess Baptism and the Supper of the Lord to be Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself in the Gospel, and thus to be ministered with unfailing use of His words of institution and of the elements ordained by Him.
We confess the godly historic Episcopate, locally adapted, as an inherent part of the apostolic faith and practice, and therefore integral to the fullness and unity of the Body of Christ.
We confess as proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture the historic faith of the undivided church as declared in the three Catholic Creeds: the Apostles’, the Nicene, and the Athanasian.
Concerning the seven Councils of the undivided Church, we affirm the teaching of the first four Councils and the Christological clarifications of the fifth, sixth and seventh Councils, in so far as they are agreeable to the Holy Scriptures.
We receive The Book of Common Prayer as set forth by the Church of England in 1662, together with the Ordinal attached to the same, as a standard for Anglican doctrine and discipline, and, with the Books which preceded it, as the standard for the Anglican tradition of worship.
We receive the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of 1571, taken in their literal and grammatical sense, as expressing the Anglican response to certain doctrinal issues controverted at that time, and as expressing fundamental principles of authentic Anglican belief.g