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The '''Anglican Communion''' is a confederation of national churches, each considered independent, yet sharing [[Full Communion]] with one another and the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], who is the spiritual (although not administrative) head of the Communion.  The Anglican Communion maintains the traditional three-fold hierarchy of clergy: Bishops, Priests and Deacons.  In some member churches, women have been admitted to one or more of these orders, whereas some member churches have maintained an all-male clergy.  Beyond the three-fold order, though the administration and leadership of each national church is decided by that particular church.  In the Church of England, for example, the Queen appoints Bishops.  In the Episcopal Church (USA), on the other hand, bishops are elected by diocese and then confirmed by the House of Bishops.
+
The '''Anglican Communion''' is a confederation of regional churches, each considered independent, yet sharing [[full communion]] or, in some cases, impaired communion, with one another and the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], who is the spiritual (although not administrative) head of the Communion.  The Anglican Communion maintains the traditional three-fold hierarchy of clergy: Bishops, Priests and Deacons.  In some member churches, women have been admitted to one or more of these orders, whereas some member churches have maintained an all-male clergy.  Beyond the three-fold order the administration and leadership of each regional church is decided by that particular church.  In the Church of England, for example, the Queen appoints Bishops.  In the Episcopal Church (USA), on the other hand, bishops are elected by diocese and then confirmed by the triennial General Convention, or standing committees of advice in the majority of the diocese (depending on when a bishop-elect is chosen by a diocese).
  
Of particular interest to Orthodox inquirers is the current [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] the Most Reverend and Right Honorable Rowan Williams, formerly Archbishop of Wales.  Dr. Williams, an academic, has written two books on the spirituality of [[iconography]] ("The Dwelling of the Light: Praying With Icons of Christ" and "Ponder These Things: Praying With Icons of the Virgin") and did his doctoral thesis on the theology of Orthodox theologian [[Vladimir Lossky]].
+
Of particular interest to Orthodox inquirers is the current [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Williams, formerly Archbishop of Wales.  Dr. Williams, an academic, has written two books on the spirituality of [[iconography]] (''The Dwelling of the Light: Praying With Icons of Christ'' and ''Ponder These Things: Praying With Icons of the Virgin'') and did his doctoral thesis on the theology of Orthodox theologian [[Vladimir Lossky]].
  
Other major thinkers to come out of the Anglican Communion have been reformers John and Charles Wesley, convert to [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] Cardinal John Henry Newman, social activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and authors Dorothy Sayers and [[C. S. Lewis]].
+
Other major thinkers to come out of the Anglican Communion have been reformers and founders of the Methodist Church John and Charles Wesley, convert to [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholicism]] Cardinal John Henry Newman, social activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and authors Dorothy Sayers and [[C. S. Lewis]].
  
==Anglican Theology==
 
  
Within Anglicanism there is a wide variety of theological thought.  Some Anglicans would be comfortable under the general heading of "Protestant" whereas others would shun this title in favor of "Anglo-Catholic." In actuality, Anglicanism has had a remarkable ability to hold together people of varying views on many theological issues, some of them quite majorBishop [[Kallistos Ware]], himself a convert to Orthodoxy from Anglicanism, writes in ''The Orthodox Church'' that "There are individual Anglicans whose faith is virtually indistinguishable from that of an Orthodox; but there are others within the Anglican communion, on the extreme liberal wing, who openly repudiate fundamental elements in the doctrinal and moral teaching of Christianity" (p. 321).
+
==Relationship with Orthodox Christians==
 +
===Anglican/Orthodox Organizations===
 +
Largely through the initiative and work of Oxford Movement figure Father John Mason Neale, in 1863 there was formed the '''Anglican and Eastern Churches Association'''This organization publishes a journal (''Eastern Churches News Letter'')and encourages interaction of Anglican and Orthodox Christians, particularly through encouraging pilgrimagesIn 1928 an organization with similar goals, the '''[[Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius]]''' was formed and also publishes a journal (''Sobornost'').  In the 1960s an international commission of Orthodox and Anglican clergy and theologians entitled the Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission was formed and has issued two historic statements which will be addressed below.
  
Among the more "orthodox" or conservative Anglican voices have been author and apologist [[C. S. Lewis]] and Archbishop of Canterbury Michael RamseyOn the other hand, Anglicanism has been the home of such extreme liberal theologians as Bishop John Spong, author of ''Why Christianity Must Change or Die''.
+
[[Raphael of Brooklyn]] was for two years the Vice President of the "Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Association", but resigned in protest following a series of events that led him to examine Anglican doctrine, and conclude it was incompatible with that of Eastern OrthodoxySpecifically, Anglican clergy, on the basis of his membership in the association, had been poaching members of Antiochian Orthodox Parishes, citing the existence of the association as proof of a non-existent episcopal endorsement from St. Raphael, and encouraging members thereof to take the sacraments exclusively at Anglican churches.  In response to this unethical behavior, St. Raphael of Brooklyn undertook an extensive review of Anglican doctrine, and concluded it was fundamentally incompatible with that of Orthodoxy, and in an encyclical, [http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/Liturgy/Raphael.html  forbade his parishioners from attending Anglican and other non-Orthodox services].  
  
==History==
+
===Agreed statements===
 +
In the 1960s, largely through the ecumenical work of Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey and Patriarch [[Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople]], both the Anglican Communion and the Orthodox Churches established commissions to consider Anglican-Orthodox relations.  Between 1973 and 1976 an "Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission" met which led to the '''Moscow Agreed Statement''' which dealt with "the Knowledge of God, the Inspiration and Authority of Holy Scripture, Scripture and Tradition, the Authority of the Councils, the ''Filioque'' Clause, the Church as the Eucharistic Community, and the Invocation of the [[Holy Spirit]] in the Eucharist."
  
Christianity reached England by the middle of the second century.  As St. [[Bede]] relates in his ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'', in 156 a British King by the name of Lucius wrote to Eleutherus, bishop of Rome, asking to be made a Christian(Bk 1, Chap 4)  With the work of missionaries throughout the first few centuries AD, Christianity spread and took root.
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In 1984 the Commission again produced a joint doctrinal work entitled '''Dublin Agreed Statement'''.  This one dealt with the Mystery of the Church, the Holy Trinity and worship and tradition.
  
In 596 Pope [[Gregory the Great]] decided to send a mission to the Anglo-Saxons in the British Isles.  He chose a to send a group of Benedictine monks, under the leadership of St. [[Augustine of Canterbury]] (not to be confused with [[Augustine of Hippo]]).  Augustine and his fellow monks arrived in Kent in 597 and eventually a see city was set up in Canterbury, Augustine being the first Archbishop.  It is said that that when they arrived they were "carrying a silver cross and an image of Jesus Christ painted on a board, which thus became, so far as we know, 'Canterbury's first icon.'" (''Lesser Feasts and Fasts'' p. 252)
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Another report was released by the Commission in 2006, including all of the interim agreements since 1989.  It is entitled '''The Church of the Triune God: The Cyprus Agreed Statement'''.
  
With Augustine and those who came after him, the British Isles were slowly put under the authority of the Church of RomeAs with the rest of the Western Church, this authority increased over the next 500 years.
+
At the time of the first agreed statement, the hope of the Commission had been for the eventual reunion of the Anglican and Orthodox Churches.  However, in between the two, a major development in Anglicanism changed the direction of the Commission.  In 1978 both the [[Episcopal Church U.S.A.]] and the Lambeth Conference put forth positions accepting the ordination of womenThis drastically changed the understanding of the Commission.  Following the Lambeth Conference in 1978, it had now come to be seen, in the words of co-chairman Archbishop Athanagoras, "simply as an academic and informative exercise, and no longer as an ecclesial endeavour aiming at the union of the two churches."
  
In the 16th century, as Western Continental Europe was struggling with the Protestant Reformation, the winds of change would eventually sweep England as well. However, as the Continental Reformation would begin in matters of religion and lead to matters of politics, the English Reformation would begin in matters of politics and end in matters of faith.
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As there is much theological variation within Anglicanism, Bishop [[Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia]] has explained rightly when he writes, "The Orthodox Church, however deep its longing for reunion, cannot enter into closer relations with the Anglican communion until Anglicans themselves are clearer about their own beliefs" (Ware, p. 321).
  
{{stub}}
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==Anglican-Orthodox Resources==
 +
The following resources may be of interest to the Orthodox Christian who wants to know more about Anglicanism, or the Anglican who wants to know more about Orthodoxy.
  
==Member Churches==
+
* ''Anglican-Orthodox Dialogue: The Dublin Agreed Statement 1984'' (ISBN 0881410470)
 +
* ''The Church of the Triune God: The Cyprus Agreed Statement 2006'' (ISBN 6000000061)
 +
* Billerbeck, Franklin.  ''Anglican-Orthodox Pilgrimage'' (ISBN 0962271357)
 +
* Pinnington, Judith.  ''Anglicans and Orthodox: Unity and Subversion (1559-1725)''. Forward by Rowan Williams.  (ISBN 0852445776)
 +
* ''St. Andrew Service Book''. Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, 1996.  (This is the service book for the [[Western Rite]] Vicarate, which includes the [[Liturgy of St. Tikhon of Moscow|Liturgy of St. Tikhon]] and Matins and Vespers, which are based upon the old Anglican liturgies)
 +
* Williams, Rowan.  ''The Dwelling of the Light: Praying With Icons of Christ'' (ISBN 0802827780)
 +
* Williams, Rowan.  ''Ponder These Things: Praying With Icons of the Virgin'' (ISBN 1580511244)
  
The national churches below are all self-governing members of the Anglican CommunionThere are Anglicans in other countries, however. In these cases, the parishes are under the jurisdiction of one of the national churches. The "Primates" (head bishops) of each national church meet periodically to discuss matters of faith and disciplineIn addition, every 10 years (1988, 1998, etc.) the Anglican bishops from around the world are gathered to Lambeth Palace (home of the Archbishop of Canterbury) for the "Lambeth Conference."  The decisions of the Lambeth Conference are seen as advisory, not binding, on the member churches.
+
==Sources==
 +
*''Anglican-Orthodox Dialogue: The Dublin Agreed Statement 1984''Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1985.
 +
*Bede. ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People.'' New York: Penguin, 1990.
 +
*Bernadin, J.B. ''An Introduction to the Episcopal Church'' (Rev. Ed.). Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse, 1983.
 +
*''The Book of Common Prayer''. New York: Church Hymnal Corporation, 1979.
 +
*''Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2003''New York: Church Hymnal Corporation, 1993.
 +
*Ware, Timothy. ''The Orthodox Church'' (New Edition). New York: Penguin, 1997.
  
''(This list is not exhaustive)''
+
==External links==
 +
* [http://www.anglicancommunion.org/ The Anglican Communion Secretariat]
 +
* [http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ The Episcopal Church USA]
 +
* [http://www.anglicansonline.org/ Anglicans Online]
 +
* [http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/ Official Website of the Archbishop of Canterbury]
 +
* [http://www.sobornost.org/ The Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius]
 +
* [http://justus.anglican.org/resources/pc/orthodoxy/index.html Project Canterbury: Writings on Anglicanism & Orthodoxy]
 +
* [http://justus.anglican.org/resources/pc/nonjurors/langford1.html The Non-Jurors and the Eastern Orthodoxy] by the Rev. H. W. Langford
 +
* [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/inq_anglican.aspx The Orthodox Christian Information Center: Page for Anglican Inquirers into Orthodoxy]
 +
* [http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/hawaweeny.aspx Pastoral Direction and Instruction on Orthodox/Episcopal Relations and Ministrations in America (1912)] by St. [[Raphael of Brooklyn]]
 +
* [http://www.episcopalchurch.org/6947_9598_ENG_HTM.htm Statement on the Anglican-Orthodox Dialogue from the Episcopal Church Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations]
  
*The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia
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[[Category:Non-Orthodox]]
*The Anglican Church of Australia
 
*A Igreja Episcopal do Brasil
 
*The Church of the Province of Burundi
 
*The Anglican Church of Canada
 
*The Episcopal Church of Cuba
 
*The Church of England
 
*Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
 
*The Church of North India
 
*The Church of South India
 
*The Church of Ireland
 
*Nippon Sei Ko Kai (Holy Catholic Church in Japan)
 
*The Anglican Church of Kenya
 
*The Anglican Church of Korea
 
*La Iglesia Anglicana de México
 
*The Church of the Province of Myanmar
 
*The Church of the Province of Nigeria
 
*The Church of Pakistan
 
*The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea
 
*The Philippine Episcopal Church
 
*The Lusitanian Church of Portugal
 
*The Province of the Episcopal Church of Rwanda
 
*The Scottish Episcopal Church
 
*The Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church
 
*The Church of Sri Lanka
 
*The Episcopal Church of the Sudan
 
*The Church of the Province of Tanzania
 
*The Church of the Province of Uganda
 
*The Episcopal Church in the United States of America
 
*The Church in Wales
 
 
 
==Anglican Schisms==
 
 
 
Several times throughout the history of Anglicanism, there have been movements which led to schism.  The various resulting bodies have maintained their Anglican heritage to differing degrees.  Among these groups are the various Methodist churches, the Reformed Episcopal Church, the Anglican Catholic Church and the Anglican Church in America.
 
 
 
==Movements Within Anglicanism==
 
  
===The Methodist Movement===
+
[[ro:Comuniunea Anglicană]]
 
 
===The Oxford Movement===
 
 
 
==Relationship with Orthodox Christians==
 
 
 
===Agreed Statements===
 
In the 1960s, largely through the ecumenical work of Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey and Patriarch Athanagoras of Constantinople, both the Anglican Communion and the Orthodox Churches established commissions to consider Anglican-Orthodox relations.  Between 1973 and 1976 an "Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission" met which led to the '''Moscow Agreed Statement''' which dealt with "the Knowledge of God, the Inspiration and Authority of Holy Scripture, Scripture and Tradition, the Authority of the Councils, the ''Filioque'' Clause, the Church as the Eucharistic Community, and the Invocation of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist."
 
 
 
In 1984 the Commission again produced a joint docrinal work entitled the '''Dublin Agreed Statement'''.  This one dealt with the Mystery of the Church, the Holy Trinity and worship and tradition.
 
 
 
At the time of the first agreed statement, the hope of the Commission had been for the eventual reunion of the Anglican and Orthodox Churches.  However, in between the two, a major development in Anglicanism changed the direction of the Commission.  In 1978 both the [[Episcopal Church U.S.A.]] and the Lambeth Conference put forth positions accepting the ordination of women.  This drastically changed the understanding of the Commission.  Following the Lambeth Conference in 1978, it had now come to be seen, in the words of co-chairman Archbishop Athanagoras, "simply as an academic and informative exercise, and no longer as an ecclesial endeavour aiming at the union of the two churches."
 
 
 
==Current Issues Within Anglicanism==
 
 
 
==External Links==
 
 
 
http://www.anglicancommunion.org <br>
 
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org <br>
 
http://www.anglicansonline.org <br>
 
 
 
{{stub}}
 
 
 
[[Category:Non-Orthodox]]
 

Latest revision as of 15:39, September 2, 2019

The Anglican Communion is a confederation of regional churches, each considered independent, yet sharing full communion or, in some cases, impaired communion, with one another and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the spiritual (although not administrative) head of the Communion. The Anglican Communion maintains the traditional three-fold hierarchy of clergy: Bishops, Priests and Deacons. In some member churches, women have been admitted to one or more of these orders, whereas some member churches have maintained an all-male clergy. Beyond the three-fold order the administration and leadership of each regional church is decided by that particular church. In the Church of England, for example, the Queen appoints Bishops. In the Episcopal Church (USA), on the other hand, bishops are elected by diocese and then confirmed by the triennial General Convention, or standing committees of advice in the majority of the diocese (depending on when a bishop-elect is chosen by a diocese).

Of particular interest to Orthodox inquirers is the current Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Williams, formerly Archbishop of Wales. Dr. Williams, an academic, has written two books on the spirituality of iconography (The Dwelling of the Light: Praying With Icons of Christ and Ponder These Things: Praying With Icons of the Virgin) and did his doctoral thesis on the theology of Orthodox theologian Vladimir Lossky.

Other major thinkers to come out of the Anglican Communion have been reformers and founders of the Methodist Church John and Charles Wesley, convert to Roman Catholicism Cardinal John Henry Newman, social activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and authors Dorothy Sayers and C. S. Lewis.


Relationship with Orthodox Christians

Anglican/Orthodox Organizations

Largely through the initiative and work of Oxford Movement figure Father John Mason Neale, in 1863 there was formed the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association. This organization publishes a journal (Eastern Churches News Letter)and encourages interaction of Anglican and Orthodox Christians, particularly through encouraging pilgrimages. In 1928 an organization with similar goals, the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius was formed and also publishes a journal (Sobornost). In the 1960s an international commission of Orthodox and Anglican clergy and theologians entitled the Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission was formed and has issued two historic statements which will be addressed below.

Raphael of Brooklyn was for two years the Vice President of the "Anglican and Eastern Orthodox Association", but resigned in protest following a series of events that led him to examine Anglican doctrine, and conclude it was incompatible with that of Eastern Orthodoxy. Specifically, Anglican clergy, on the basis of his membership in the association, had been poaching members of Antiochian Orthodox Parishes, citing the existence of the association as proof of a non-existent episcopal endorsement from St. Raphael, and encouraging members thereof to take the sacraments exclusively at Anglican churches. In response to this unethical behavior, St. Raphael of Brooklyn undertook an extensive review of Anglican doctrine, and concluded it was fundamentally incompatible with that of Orthodoxy, and in an encyclical, forbade his parishioners from attending Anglican and other non-Orthodox services.

Agreed statements

In the 1960s, largely through the ecumenical work of Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey and Patriarch Athenagoras I (Spyrou) of Constantinople, both the Anglican Communion and the Orthodox Churches established commissions to consider Anglican-Orthodox relations. Between 1973 and 1976 an "Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission" met which led to the Moscow Agreed Statement which dealt with "the Knowledge of God, the Inspiration and Authority of Holy Scripture, Scripture and Tradition, the Authority of the Councils, the Filioque Clause, the Church as the Eucharistic Community, and the Invocation of the Holy Spirit in the Eucharist."

In 1984 the Commission again produced a joint doctrinal work entitled Dublin Agreed Statement. This one dealt with the Mystery of the Church, the Holy Trinity and worship and tradition.

Another report was released by the Commission in 2006, including all of the interim agreements since 1989. It is entitled The Church of the Triune God: The Cyprus Agreed Statement.

At the time of the first agreed statement, the hope of the Commission had been for the eventual reunion of the Anglican and Orthodox Churches. However, in between the two, a major development in Anglicanism changed the direction of the Commission. In 1978 both the Episcopal Church U.S.A. and the Lambeth Conference put forth positions accepting the ordination of women. This drastically changed the understanding of the Commission. Following the Lambeth Conference in 1978, it had now come to be seen, in the words of co-chairman Archbishop Athanagoras, "simply as an academic and informative exercise, and no longer as an ecclesial endeavour aiming at the union of the two churches."

As there is much theological variation within Anglicanism, Bishop Kallistos (Ware) of Diokleia has explained rightly when he writes, "The Orthodox Church, however deep its longing for reunion, cannot enter into closer relations with the Anglican communion until Anglicans themselves are clearer about their own beliefs" (Ware, p. 321).

Anglican-Orthodox Resources

The following resources may be of interest to the Orthodox Christian who wants to know more about Anglicanism, or the Anglican who wants to know more about Orthodoxy.

  • Anglican-Orthodox Dialogue: The Dublin Agreed Statement 1984 (ISBN 0881410470)
  • The Church of the Triune God: The Cyprus Agreed Statement 2006 (ISBN 6000000061)
  • Billerbeck, Franklin. Anglican-Orthodox Pilgrimage (ISBN 0962271357)
  • Pinnington, Judith. Anglicans and Orthodox: Unity and Subversion (1559-1725). Forward by Rowan Williams. (ISBN 0852445776)
  • St. Andrew Service Book. Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, 1996. (This is the service book for the Western Rite Vicarate, which includes the Liturgy of St. Tikhon and Matins and Vespers, which are based upon the old Anglican liturgies)
  • Williams, Rowan. The Dwelling of the Light: Praying With Icons of Christ (ISBN 0802827780)
  • Williams, Rowan. Ponder These Things: Praying With Icons of the Virgin (ISBN 1580511244)

Sources

  • Anglican-Orthodox Dialogue: The Dublin Agreed Statement 1984. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1985.
  • Bede. Ecclesiastical History of the English People. New York: Penguin, 1990.
  • Bernadin, J.B. An Introduction to the Episcopal Church (Rev. Ed.). Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse, 1983.
  • The Book of Common Prayer. New York: Church Hymnal Corporation, 1979.
  • Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2003. New York: Church Hymnal Corporation, 1993.
  • Ware, Timothy. The Orthodox Church (New Edition). New York: Penguin, 1997.

External links