Anglicanism

The form of CHRISTIANITY represented by the Church of England and churches in other parts of the world in "communion" or offi cial association with it. In the early 1530s King Henry VIII (1491–1547) of England wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536). The pope refused to grant him an annulment, so Henry and Parliament, in the Act of Supremacy of 1534, declared the English church to be independent of the PAPACY and the King to be the earthly head of the church, with the Archbishop of CANTERBURY remaining its ecclesiastical leader. Henry preserved Catholic teachings and practices. After Henry's death, strong forces favored the more radical changes of the Protestant REFORMATION. Henry's daughter Elizabeth I (1533–1603) mediated between Catholic traditionalism and Protestant reform. Under her the Church of England as we know it took shape. Anglican churches see themselves as pursuing a middle way between ROMAN CATHOLICISM and PROTESTANTISM. Since Elizabeth's time several movements have stressed one side or the other of its rich heritage. In the 18th century the Church of England experienced revivals that emphasized conversion experiences. A leader in this movement was John WESLEY (1703–91). He never actually left the Church of England, but his followers established an independent METHODISM. In the 19th century the Oxford Movement sought to reaffi rm the Catholic identity of the Anglican tradition. English colonization from the 17th through the 19th century helped spread Anglicanism overseas. Originally Anglicanism was the established or offi - cial religion of the American colonies of Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. After the Revolutionary War, American Anglicans formed an independent Episcopal Church (see EPISCOPALIANISM). This church was in communion with the Church of England but did not pledge allegiance to the British throne. Since then other Anglican churches have arisen throughout the world. They are referred to collectively as the Anglican Communion. The churches of this communion are independent but recognize the Archbishop of Canterbury as "fi rst among equals." Their bishops meet roughly every 10 years, in what are called Lambeth Conferences, after the name of the Archbishop of Canterbury's headquarters in London. Anglicans have not defi ned themselves by a detailed set of beliefs, as some churches have. They do, however, generally respect a set of Thirty- Nine Articles adopted in the 1560s. According to these and other statements, Anglicans acknowledge the BIBLE as the ultimate authority in matters of faith. Unlike adherents of FUNDAMENTALISM, they have generally been open to modern methods of biblical interpretation. They also acknowledge the Apostles' Creed and Nicene CREEDS, and they teach the views of the TRINITY and the INCARNATION developed in the ancient church. Anglicans have defi ned themselves much more by practice than by belief. In doing so, they have emphasized WORSHIP as central to the church's work. The most important document of the church has always been the Book of Common Prayer. Renowned for its beautiful language, it translates into English revised versions of the worship services used before the Protestant Reformation. It has forms for the administration of the traditional seven SACRAMENTS, of which BAPTISM and the EUCHARIST are said to be most important. Another distinctive mark of the Anglican churches is their emphasis on bishops. They have preserved the apostolic succession of bishops. That is, their line of bishops is claimed to extend without a break back to the APOSTLES. Besides bishops the Anglican churches have both priests and deacons. Since the 19th century they have also had their own MONKS AND NUNS. One question sparked much controversy in the late 20th century: Could women be priests and bishops? The majority of Anglicans decided that they could. In the United States the fi rst woman priest was ordained in the 1970s and the fi rst woman bishop in 1989. In England the fi rst woman priest was not ordained until 1994. More recently, the questions of ordaining homosexuals and of blessing same-sex unions or performing marriages for such couples have divided the Anglican Communion and several churches within it. At the 1998 Lambeth Conference, difference of opinion on the role of women and homosexuality, and on liberal versus conservative doctrinal and moral questions generally, were evident between Anglican churches in Western and developing countries. Churches in Britain, North America, Australia, and New Zealand tended to be liberal on such matters, though there were signifi cant conservative factions within them. Churches in Asia, Africa, and Latin America tended, like their societies, generally to be traditional in their values regarding gender and family. The latter churches were largely founded by missionary outreach from the older churches in the 19th century, but they are now growing far more rapidly than the parent churches under their own indigenous leaders. At the conference, exchanges on gender and sexuality were sometimes heated, and resolutions favoring the more liberal attitudes often failed. Since 1998, the division has become more pronounced. After the consecration of an openly homosexual priest, the Reverend V. Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire in the United States in 2003, talk began of a possible split in the Anglican Communion. However, the Anglican Communion has historically found ways to embrace a variety of points of view and forms of practice. Its 21st-century situation is signifi cant for several reasons, above all because the Anglican Communion, more than most denominations, now includes as equal partners sizable national churches in diverse parts of the world. It can serve as a sort of laboratory illustrating the tensions and prospects in what has been called the "New Christendom." More and more in the 21st century, the demographics of the Christian religion are changing, so that its real center of vitality and numerical strength is not in Europe and North America but instead in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Clashes are bound to occur because of the different values and cultural background of the older versus the younger but maturing wings of the religion. The test for Anglicanism, as it experiences these confl icts, will be to show whether common bonds can be found that are stronger than the differences.