The Split In The Anglican Church

The Anglican Community is the largest single denomination of Protestants. It was founded in England, by Elizabeth I, and was called the"Church of England". It includes America's Episcopal Church because, when America declared independence, the Anglican Church in America was separated from the rest and renamed the Episcopal Church.

The Anglican Church was formed as a compromise in England, after England joined the Protestant movement that had been underway in continental Europe, between the remaining Catholics and the Puritans who wanted nothing to do with Catholicism. This division can still be seen in that some Anglican churches are said to be more "high church", with more of the pomp and ceremony of Catholicism, and some more "low church" or Puritan. 

The new Anglican Church kept much of the familiar structure of the Catholic Church. It was governed by two archbishops in England, one in York in the north and the senior one in Canterbury in the south. Although Protestant, Anglican church leaders are still called "priests", rather than "ministers".

The Anglican Community has it's strongest presence in the Commonwealth countries, although this is not a strict rule and the two organizations are not connected. More than a quarter of the nations of the world are members of the Commonwealth. This includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and, Canada. Some Commonwealth countries have the British monarch as their sovereign. On Canadian currency, for example, the monarch is featured but does not wear a crown. Commonwealth countries do not have embassies in each other because they are not really "foreign" countries, instead they have "high commissions".

As a native of Britain, I have always considered the Commonwealth as an extended family. But it not the "British Commonwealth", we are all equal partners. The following image is from the Wikipedia article "Commonwealth of Nations".

The vast Anglican Community has always been a little bit unwieldy. The informal division between "high church" and "low church" was only the beginning. A split has long been building and was finally formalized this week. About half of the Anglican Church considers themselves as the "real" Anglicans and is breaking ties with Canterbury. The new group is known as "GAFCON", the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans, and will have it's headquarters in Sheffield.

Conservative Anglicans, mostly in Africa, have long been dismayed by the secularization of modern Britain and how the Anglican Church compromises with the unholy ways of the world. Now they have separated and are claiming to be the real Anglicans.

This is not the first major split in the Anglican Church. Members of the Oxford University Holy Club once decided that the Anglican Church wasn't doing enough to actually help people. The eventual result was the splitting away of a group that was known for their emphasis on social justice and helping people. Their orderly way of doing things got them known as the Methodists, and the Salvation Army is a creation of the Methodist Church. The Methodists did away with the hierarchical organization of the Anglican Church, the bishops and archbishops, but still use some of the Anglican "Book of Common Prayer".

This is a link to an explanation of Anglicanism and it's origins, "Why The U.S. And Canada Are Different"?

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2016/01/why-us-and-canada-are-different.html?m=0 

Sometimes splits in churches are due to politics. Aside from the two permanent splits in the Catholic Church, there was a third split that was eventually resolved. It was when a French pope moved the headquarters of the church to France. I don't know if it's a coincidence but there has never been a French pope since then.

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2025/04/the-third-split.html?m=0 

The Anglican Church was founded by Elizabeth I. Her successor, and the first Stuart king, was James I. King James decided to commission a new translation of the Bible into English. The result was the very influential King James Bible. It has had a tremendous effect on the language and there is a movement of Christians today that will only use the King James Bible. It was completed in 1611 and so has the language of that time, such as "thee" and "thou". The conference that resulted in the King James Bible was held in Hampton Court Palace.

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2016/07/hampton-court-palace-and-king-james.html?m=0 

This split in the Anglican Church is repeating the history of the Protestant split from the Catholic Church. The Anglican Church kept much of the liturgy and structure of the Catholic Church but cut it's connection with the headquarters of the church. The average parishioner probably didn't notice much difference. This is a link to what the Protestants are all about.

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-people-of-printing-press.html?m=0