What is Anglicanism?
First and foremost, Anglican Christians belong to God’s one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, established by Jesus Christ. We hold much in common with other orthodox and evangelical Christian traditions and joyfully partner with others in mission and ministry.
Distinctively, Anglicans are the third largest body of Christians in the world (after Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy) representing 85 million worshippers in 164 countries. Our heritage has been shaped by the witness of the early church, the missionary work of Augustine of Canterbury in England in the 500s, the Reformation of the 1500s, and the East African Revival of the 1900s.
You might say that Anglicanism seeks to be a faithful expression of mere Christianity - striving to believe and practice the faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) which unites Christians across both centuries and continents.
Anglican Pastor John Stott described us as “BBC” - Biblical Balanced Christians - for our commitment to holding together things that have too often been divorced from one another in the Christian life:
Biblical orthodoxy and concern for the poor and the vulnerable
Historical rootedness and contemporary mission
Local church ministry and a profound sense of identification with the global church
The beauty of structured prayer and the importance of heartfelt sincerity in worship
Anglicans are simultaneously evangelical (meaning Gospel-centered), catholic (meaning “according to the whole,” not Roman Catholic), and charismatic (meaning Spirit-filled).
Anglican Christians are evangelical: We believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God and that it reveals the good news of the Gospel: that “through Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their sins against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). We joyfully proclaim the good news of the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life, by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ.
Anglican Christians are catholic: We belong to a historic and worldwide family of believers, united through shared church order, the biblical sacraments, common worship (based on the Book of Common Prayer), and missional partnerships. Anglicans have a deep concern for Christian unity (John 17) and have often been at the forefront of unity-seeking efforts between Christian traditions.
Anglican Christians are charismatic: We believe that the Holy Spirit is active today: indwelling believers, uniting us to Christ, sanctifying us and bringing about good fruit in our lives, bestowing gifts, and empowering us for mission. Anglicans are thoroughly Trinitarian and thus the person and work of the Spirit receives due attention in our prayer and our weekly worship, in coequality with the Father and the Son.
In addition to John Stott, other well-known Anglican Christians throughout history include Thomas Cranmer, John Newton, William Wilberforce, George Whitfield, John and Charles Wesley, Charles Simeon, Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers, TS Eliot, JI Packer, NT Wright, and Benjamin Kwashi.
The evangelist Billy Graham saw “spiritual beauty in Anglican order,” and told his final biographer that if he were starting all over again, “I would be an evangelical Anglican.”