The name "Anglican" means "of England," but the Anglican church exists worldwide. It began in sixth century England when Pope Gregory the Great sent Saint Augustine to Britain to bring a more disciplined Christian practice to the Celtic Christians.
The Anglican Tradition the Church of England evolved as part of the Roman church, but the Celtic influence was folded back into the Roman portion of the church in many ways, perhaps most notably by the monk Aidan.
The conflict of authority in England between church and state certainly dates back to the arrival of Augustine, and has simmered over in many centuries. The murder of Thomas a Becket was one of the more famous episodes of this conflict. The Magna Carta, signed by King John in 1215, contains 63 points; the very first point is a declaration that the English church is independent of its government.
The Anglican church, although it has apostolic succession like the Roman Catholic Church, is separate from the Roman church. The history of Christianity has produced numerous notable separations. In 1054 came the first major split from Roman administration of the church, when the Eastern Orthodox church and the western, Roman Catholic church split apart. The next major period of church separations happened in historical period known as "The Protestant Reformation".
Following the Reformation and the birth of Anglicanism as a unique "third way" (neither fully Protestant, nor fully Roman Catholic), the Anglican tradition of worship and polity was spread first by English colonization in the 16th century and following, and then by English-speaking missionaries. As the British Empire soon grew so large that the sun never set upon it (for it spanned the globe), so Anglicanism also spread widely.
Today the Anglican Communion is an affiliation of self-governing provinces who share a common history and many common beliefs. It spans 39 countries and includes more than 80,000,000 persons worldwide.
THE BIRTH OF THE ANGLICAN CHURCH
The beginning of the sixteenth century showed significant discontent with the Roman church in many countries and among many peoples. Martin Luther's famous 95 Theses were nailed to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany in 1517. News of this challenge and others, including those of Zwingli and Calvin which led to the birth of the "Reform Tradition", had certainly reached England when, 20 years later, the Anglican branch of the Roman church formally challenged the authority of Rome.
Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries and abbeys in 1536, establishing himself as head of the church in England, ostensibly following the pattern of Old Testament kings.
There is a public perception, especially in the United States, that Henry VIII created the Anglican church in anger over the Pope's refusal to grant his divorce, but the historical record indicates that Henry spent most of his reign challenging the authority of Rome, and that the divorce issue was just one of a series of acts that collectively split the English church from the Roman church in much the same way that the Orthodox church had split off five hundred years before.
DEFINING THE NEW CHURCH
The newly-separated Anglican church was given some formal structure in 1562 during the reign of Elizabeth I. That structure is not a management process or governing organization, however. What binds us together is not common administration but shared tradition and shared belief.
Our belief is written down in the Holy Bible and the Articles of Religion; our tradition is in part embodied in our Book of Common Prayer.
The first Book of Common Prayer was produced in 1549. In it the Latin liturgy was radically simplified and translated into English, and for the first time a single 'use' was enforced throughout England. It has been revised numerous times since then, the most significant revision being the first, in 1552. All revisions since then, before the modern era, were very conservative revisions.
The 1662 English Book of Common Prayer forms the historical basis for most Anglican liturgy around the world.
While several countries have their own prayer books, all borrow heavily from the English tradition rooted in Archbishop Thomas Cranmer's original work of 1549 and 1552.
LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION
The Worldwide Anglican Communion - Official Website
The Origin of the Anglican Tradition - Article
The Anglican Church - Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia Entry
