The Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is a group of national churches around the world that share a common tradition inherited from the Church of England. This communion is rooted in the 2000 years of catholic and apostolic traditions and thought springing directly from the teachings of Jesus Christ himself and the witness of the early apostles. While members of the The Anglican Communion are autonomous in their governance, we are bound together by tradition, Scripture, and the inheritance we have received from the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual head of the communion that has some 80 million members, making it the second largest Christian body in the world.
The Church of England is a protestant church formed during the reformation and dedicated to the via media or middle way between the Roman Catholic Church and the churches of the protestant reformation. From this early church comes the Anglican doctrine which seeks to find a balance among Scripture, tradition, and reason.
The Episcopal Church of the USA was formed after the American Revolution. Today it has between two and three million members. The term 'episcopal' means to have bishops. Bishops in the Episcopal Church are elected by individual dioceses and are consecrated into the Apostolic Succession. This succession is considered a witness to an unbroken line of Church leadership beginning with Christ's commission of Peter.
