What is an Anglican?

The word “Anglican” simply means “Of England,” and it describes the apostolic succession and theological ethos we have received from English Christians going all the way back to the first century. Our liturgical maturation reached its fullness with the publication of the Book of Common Prayer in the 16th century. This text defines English Catholic worship and prayer and is deeply rooted in the liturgies we received from the Ancient Fathers, going back to the Apostles themselves. All of this to say, we are simply Catholic Christians rooted in English spirituality, committed to upholding the teachings of the Undivided Church.

This way of life is best summarized by Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher who stated, “The Anglican Communion has no particular thought, practice, creed, or confession of its own. It has only the Catholic faith of the ancient Catholic Church, as preserved in the Catholic creeds, and maintained in the Catholic and Apostolic constitution of Christ’s Church from the beginning. It may licitly teach as necessary for salvation nothing but what is read in the Holy Scriptures as God’s Word written or may be proven thereby. It therefore embraces and affirms such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the Scriptures, and thus to be counted apostolic. The Church has no authority to innovate; it is obliged continually, and particularly in times of renewal or reformation, to return to ‘the faith once delivered to the saints.'”