By Pastor Duke Taber
If someone has recently visited an Anglican church, or married into an Anglican family, or simply found themselves curious after a conversation with a British friend, you may be asking a question that sounds simple but turns out to be layered with history, theology, and genuine tension: what exactly is the Anglican Church?
It is one of the world’s largest Christian communions. It traces its roots to the Reformation and even deeper into the ancient church of the British Isles. It holds Scripture at its center while also valuing tradition and reason. And right now, in our own generation, it is being reshaped by one of the most significant realignments in modern Christianity.
This article is not written to push you toward Anglicanism or away from it. It is written to help you understand it honestly, through the lens of an Evangelical who believes the Bible is the final Word of God and that every tradition must answer to it.
Where the Anglican Church Came From
The story begins not with a theologian’s vision but with a king’s marriage problem.
In the 1530s, King Henry VIII of England sought an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, a matter the Roman Catholic pope refused to grant. The first phase of the Anglican Reformation began over this personal dispute when the king and the English parliament rejected papal primacy and asserted the supremacy of the crown over the church. Little if any change in doctrine or practice was initially introduced.
But what began as a political rupture soon became a genuine theological movement. Thomas Cranmer, whom Henry appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, brought Protestant convictions into the church’s worship and doctrine. Under the reign of Edward VI, reform deepened. Mary I then attempted to return England to Rome, and did so with violence, burning hundreds of Protestants at the stake. Her failure and early death led to the reign of Elizabeth I, who stabilized the church along what came to be called the via media, or “middle way.” Under Elizabeth, the Church of England retained much of its pre-Reformation characteristics and offices, while seeking to be theologically flexible by permitting various interpretations and views, focusing on the uniformity of practice by emphasizing its Book of Common Prayer as the center of worship.
This is not an excuse. It is a historical fact that the Anglican Church was born in political compromise as much as theological conviction. That combination has shaped everything that came after.
The Pillars of Anglican Identity
Despite its complicated origins, Anglicanism developed a genuine and coherent theology. Several documents and principles define what Anglicans believe.
The Book of Common Prayer
Anglican beliefs, practices, and rituals are primarily found in the Book of Common Prayer, a compilation of liturgy developed by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1549. Cranmer translated Catholic Latin rites into English and revised prayers using Protestant reformed theology. The Book of Common Prayer is not merely a worship guide; it is considered a theological document. The Anglican principle lex orandi, lex credendi (“the law of prayer is the law of belief”) holds that what a church prays reveals what a church believes.
The Thirty-Nine Articles
Published under Elizabeth I and required of all Anglican clergy for centuries, the Thirty-Nine Articles set out Anglican doctrine on Scripture, salvation, the sacraments, and the church. They are unmistakably Protestant in character. They affirm salvation by grace through faith, reject purgatory and the authority of the pope, and uphold the Bible as the final authority in matters of faith. Today the Articles are no longer universally binding, but they remain the clearest statement of classical Anglican theology.
The Lambeth Quadrilateral
What has come to be known as the Lambeth Quadrilateral defines the essential beliefs of Anglicanism. First suggested by William Reed Huntington in 1870, the Quadrilateral states four elements essential to Anglican Christian identity: the Bible, the Nicene Creed, baptism and Holy Communion, and the episcopate (the historic order of bishops).
Scripture, Reason, and Tradition
The Anglican theologian Richard Hooker articulated what may be the most recognizable description of Anglican authority: Scripture is paramount, and it is informed by reason and tradition as secondary sources. This is sometimes called the “three-legged stool,” though that phrase was not Hooker’s. What matters is the hierarchy: Scripture first, always.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” — 2 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV)
That verse is not unique to Anglicanism. But it matters deeply how any tradition handles it in practice.
What Anglicans Actually Believe
Anglicans are committed to the authority of Scripture, justification by faith, the ministry of Word and sacrament, freedom of conscience in secondary matters, and the promotion of the gospel.
This summary is genuinely evangelical in its contours. Classical Anglicanism affirms the Trinity, the full humanity and divinity of Christ, the reality of the resurrection, and salvation by grace through faith alone. On these foundations, Anglicanism and Evangelical Christianity stand together.
Where things get more complex is on secondary matters that Anglicanism has historically allowed to vary.
The Sacraments. Anglicanism formally recognizes two sacraments instituted by Christ: baptism and the Lord’s Supper. It acknowledges marriage, confirmation, ordination, confession, and anointing of the sick as significant rites of the church but not sacraments in the strict sense. As for their doctrine of eucharistic presence, Anglicans believe in a real spiritual presence in which God’s people are caught up into the heavens by the Holy Spirit to feed on the Body and Blood of Christ by faith. This view falls more in line with Reformed beliefs about the Eucharist rather than Lutheran sacramental presence. This differs from Roman Catholic transubstantiation and also from the purely symbolic view held by many Evangelicals.
Governance. In terms of church governance, Anglicanism retains the threefold episcopal order of bishops, priests, and deacons, which is regarded as orders of ministries established by the apostles. An Anglican parish is typically led by a vicar who leads in collaboration with a vestry of lay persons called wardens. Bishops hold authority within their dioceses, but major decisions require broad conciliar input including laity and clergy. This structure is both its strength (shared accountability) and, at times, its weakness (slow to act when doctrine is at stake).
Scripture’s Authority in Practice. This is where Evangelical Christians will ask the hardest questions. Classical Anglicanism affirms Scripture’s supremacy. But the tradition’s commitment to comprehensiveness, its insistence on holding multiple viewpoints within one body, has led in some provinces to accommodation of positions that many Evangelicals would regard as departures from scriptural teaching. More on that below.
The Anglican Church Today: One Tradition, Many Expressions
There are about 100 million Anglicans as of 2025. This is the result of massive growth in the global South, while Anglicanism in the global North has mostly shrunk. That story is more significant than most people realize.
The center of gravity in Anglicanism has moved. The Anglican Communion consists of 42 autonomous national churches, and it is one of the world’s largest Christian communities, uniting people across more than 165 countries. Nigerian, Ugandan, and Kenyan Anglicans now number in the tens of millions. The Gospel has taken deep root in Africa, and those churches are theologically conservative, Bible-centered, and growing. They represent the future of global Anglicanism.
Meanwhile, The Episcopal Church in the United States, the historically dominant Anglican presence in America, has embraced positions far outside the bounds of biblical Christianity: the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of openly gay and non-celibate bishops, and significant departures from the Thirty-Nine Articles. Its membership has declined sharply over the past several decades.
The Anglican Church in North America
In response to these departures, theologically conservative Anglicans in the United States and Canada formed the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) in 2009. The ACNA was founded in 2009 by theological conservatives of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Church of Canada, who were dissatisfied with doctrinal and social teachings in their former churches. The church reported more than 1,000 congregations and more than 130,000 members in 2024.
Attendance in the Anglican Church in North America is up by double digits for the third consecutive year. The denomination in 2024 reported an increase in attendance of 11,354 to a total of 96,148. “We are at highest attendance and membership of all time,” said Dan Hassler, director of administration and operations.
This is a church that, by almost every measure, is growing because it is staying close to the Bible.
A Global Realignment Underway
I have watched this realignment with deep interest over the past decade. The Global South Anglican provinces, along with groups like the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON), have increasingly moved toward formal separation from the liberal Western provinces. The communion has been fracturing for years along theological lines: the ordination of women to the diaconate, priesthood and especially the episcopacy; LGBTQ inclusion and same-sex marriage. The election of the first female Archbishop of Canterbury was the final straw for many conservative provinces.
The result is that Anglicanism today is not one unified church. It is more accurate to speak of multiple Anglican bodies with competing claims to the tradition’s inheritance. An Evangelical considering an Anglican church needs to know which Anglican church they are walking into.
What Scripture Says About the Church
Before asking whether any particular tradition is right, Scripture calls us to ask a more basic question: what is the church, and what holds it together?
“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” — Matthew 16:18 (NKJV)
Christ builds His church. No king, no archbishop, no synod gets that credit. The church belongs to Jesus, and its authority derives from Him, expressed through His Word.
“But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” — Galatians 1:8 (NKJV)
That is a fierce standard. It means no tradition, however ancient, however beautiful, however historically rich, can be granted immunity from the scrutiny of Scripture. The Reformers knew this. The best of Anglicanism’s founders knew this. And the evangelical wing of Anglicanism today knows this and is fighting for it.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” — 2 Timothy 4:3–4 (NKJV)
That warning applies to every tradition that has drifted from God’s Word, and it is the animating concern behind the conservative Anglican realignment.
What Evangelicals Can Learn From Anglicanism
It would be easy to dismiss Anglicanism given the fractures in the Western church. But that would be shortsighted.
At its best, the Book of Common Prayer formed generations of believers in reverence, theological depth, and the language of Scripture. Its collects, prayers, and confessions shaped minds to think carefully and hearts to hunger for God. The Anglican tradition produced C.S. Lewis, J.I. Packer, John Stott, and N.T. Wright. Its liturgical calendar marks the rhythms of the gospel through the church year. Its insistence on both preaching and the Lord’s Supper as central to worship reflects a healthy biblical balance.
There is also a kind of churchmanship in classical Anglicanism, a sense of being part of something larger than one’s own congregation, that many free-church Evangelicals feel the absence of. The longing for rootedness, for connection to the ancient church, for worship that goes beyond entertainment, is a legitimate longing. Anglicanism has offered one answer to it.
On the other hand, the Anglican tendency toward comprehensiveness, toward holding all views within one big tent, has a track record of serious failure. When a tradition refuses to draw lines, it eventually loses the ability to stand for anything. The importance of grace and the fullness of the gospel must be preserved, not dissolved in the name of inclusion.
What Evangelicals bring to the Anglican conversation is something the tradition urgently needs: a clear, unwavering commitment to Scripture as the final authority, not simply one of three legs on a stool. The Thirty-Nine Articles point in that direction. The conservative Anglican global south points in that direction. The ACNA, for all its imperfections, points in that direction.
How to Evaluate an Anglican Church Near You
If you are considering attending or joining an Anglican congregation, here are the questions worth asking:
First, what is this church’s relationship to Scripture? Does the pastor preach the Bible, or preach around it? Is the text opened, explained, and applied, or is it treated as one voice among many?
Second, what is the church’s affiliation? Is it The Episcopal Church (TEC), which has formally departed from biblical teaching on sexuality and ordination? Or is it the ACNA, the Reformed Episcopal Church, or another body committed to the Thirty-Nine Articles and historic biblical Christianity?
Third, what is the attitude toward the gospel? Is this a congregation where lost people are clearly presented with the saving work of Christ? Is there an understanding that faith in Jesus is the only way to the Father, not merely one spiritual path among many?
Fourth, does the worship, however formal, draw people into genuine encounter with the living God? Liturgy is a tool, not a substitute for the Holy Spirit’s presence.
These questions are not unique to Anglicanism. They are the right questions to ask about any church, because they are the questions Scripture drives us to ask.
The Heart of the Matter
Every Christian tradition is a human response to the divine. None of them is perfect. The church of Jesus Christ is filled with imperfect people trying, often stumbling, to walk faithfully with a perfect God.
“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 3:11 (NKJV)
What I appreciate about the best of Anglicanism is its recognition that the church belongs to history, that we are heirs of something handed to us, that worship is not invented fresh every Sunday morning. What concerns me, as someone who has watched denominations drift, is the structural vulnerability of any tradition that prizes comprehensiveness over conviction.
The Anglican Christians growing in Uganda, Nigeria, and Kenya are not growing because they have found a middle way. They are growing because they have found a living Savior, proclaimed through the living Word, confirmed by the living Spirit. That is the same thing that has always grown the church, in every century, in every culture, in every tradition.
At AnsweredFaith.com, we are committed to helping you understand the full landscape of Christianity, including traditions that are different from your own. We believe you can learn from any stream that stays close to the Word. And we believe the best gift any Christian community can give its people is a clear, unashamed proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
If you are exploring your faith, studying the church, or trying to understand a tradition you have encountered, you are in the right place. Bookmark this site. Read deeply. Ask hard questions. Trust the Bible.
Take the Next Step
If this article has helped you, here is what I would encourage you to do next:
- Explore our article on What Is Church Hurt? if a specific tradition has wounded you
- Read about our denominational overview series at AnsweredFaith.com and other articles covering church history and Christian tradition
- Download our Bible study on Grace, which covers the foundation every Christian tradition must be built on
- Study what the Bible itself says about what it means to be saved
- Sign up for our email list and receive weekly pastoral encouragement rooted in Scripture
Resources
- Anglican Communion Official Website — Overview of the global communion and its member churches
- Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) — The conservative North American Anglican body committed to historic doctrine
- Anglican Compass — Accessible overview of Anglican beliefs and practices
- The Logos article on Anglicanism — Scholarly but readable theological introduction
- Christianity.com: The Anglican Church — Historical overview and doctrinal summary
- Pentecostalism and the Global South — How the broader evangelical movement is reshaping world Christianity alongside Anglican growth
By Pastor Duke Taber
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