38 Provinces

Correction:
There are actually 38 Provinces, there are other extra-provincial diocese which make up the complete number of member churches.

Called to Communion - The Anglican Ideal

The Anglican Communion of Churches

The Anglican Church is a church that is designed for unity. It consists of a communion of churches (34 Provinces, 4 United Churches, and 6 other member churches), each with their own primate as head and comprising the third largest Christian Church in the world (behind Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodoxy) with more than 80 million members. The church has the historic ministerial structure of deacons, priests, and bishops. So, bishops oversee dioceses and are the symbol of unity as they were in the early church. On the national level the church meets in Synod, with three representative houses: one of laity, one of clergy, one of bishops; the bishops of each diocese must assent to any decision of the Synod for if the decision is to be enacted in that bishop's diocese.

The Instruments of Communion

The Anglican Church has four instruments of communion, which serve to unite the provinces of the Anglican Communion. The instruments of communion are:
1) The Archbishop of Canterbury - the Archbishop of Canterbury is the leader and visible head of the Anglican Communion. Unlike the Pope in Roman Catholicism, he does not have binding authority over the entire communion. Rather, he serves among the other primates as the "first among equals". To be in the Anglican Communion means to be in Communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury, or more accurately, the See of Canterbury.
2) The Lambeth Conference - the Lambeth Conference is held every 10 years upon the invitation of bishops by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Lambeth Conference typically addresses contemporary doctrinal issues and then issues resolutions for the church.
3) The Anglican Constitutive Council - the Anglican Constitutive Council is a council consisting of laity, clergy, and bishops, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as its president. It meets every two to three years and it seeks to streamline the policies and efforts of the provincial churches within the communion
4) The Primates' Meeting - the Primates' Meeting is a meeting of the provincial primates that occurs every two years to discuss current issues and to pray.

Communion in Truth: Reforming Anglicanism

The Anglican Church is currently undergoing great difficulties in maintaining communion because of the actions of the extremely liberal Episcopal Church - USA, the provincial church of the Anglican Communion in the United States. As a result of the heresies and rejection of orthodoxy within the Episcopal Church, many are leaving the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion itself is at risk. As a reaction to the rejection of the Episcopal heresies, conservative Anglican provinces are planting churches in America, and Anglicans in America have started a number of Traditional Anglican Churches that maintain Christian orthodoxy. To maintain communion, the Anglican Church must reform itself, enact discipline on the Episcopal Church-USA, and attain communion in the truth. The orthodox Anglican missions in America are currently uniting in an effort to form a new and orthodox province of the Anglican Church in North America; the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is holding its Provincial Assembly in Bedford, Texas from June 22-25, 2009 (www.united-anglicans.org).

Scripture, Tradition, Reason - The Scripture, The Sacred, The Spirit

The Anglican Church also recognizes the role of Scripture, Tradition, and Reason within the life of the church. God has given us the Scriptures as Divine revelation of Himself, he has given us the Sacred as sacramental/liturgical manifestation of Christ, and he has given us the Spirit as the illuminator of our reason and sanctifier of our soul. therefore, it is through these three avenues that the Body of Christ matures.

The 1,2,3,4,5 of The Anglican Way

The Anglican Way is outlined and explained simply by the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, of The Anglican Way - Anglicans affirm:

1) One Canon of Holy Scripture
2) Two Testaments - The Old Testament and the New Testament
3) Three Creeds - The Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian
4) Four Ecumenical Councils - Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus, Chalcedon
5) Five Centuries of Church Fathers - The Apostolic Church in worship, discipline, ministry, and mission.

The Via Media

The Anglican Church seeks to be the via media, the "middle way" between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Unlike the protestant churches, Anglicanism does not reject doctrines just to separate themselves from Roman Catholicism, not does it embrace others to differentiate itself from others. It does not forsake the ancient church or the Fathers, but seeks to honor all that is holy and good (and there is much that is holy and good) within Roman Catholicism. At the same time, however, the Anglican Church recognized the need for reform during the reformation and responded, making changes deemed necessary for complete faithfulness to the early church. To use an elementary term then, the Anglican church is truly the "best of both worlds", but, most importantly, Anglicanism is the expression of all that is both Evangelical and Apostolic, both Scriptural and Orthodox, both permanent and reformed.

The Anglican Way

The Anglican Way. Ekklesia Anglicana. The Church of England is a manifestation of the Apostolic Faith, and it is the expression of that Apostolic Faith to which I believe God has called me after a two year study of Apostolic Christianity and the early church. This blog will serve as an introduction to the basic elements of The Anglican Way.