THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
catholic and reformed
The Church of England is an ancient yet reformed church. Its roots go deep into the past, when Christianity came to Britain. However, during the sixteenth-century reign of Henry VIII, it experienced a major transformation as it took part in the Protestant Reformation. The English church broke away from the Roman Catholic church, rejecting some of its teachings and arguing that the pope had no jurisdiction in England. From that point on, the Church of England entered a phase of its story that we could call ‘Anglican’. Anglicans often consider themselves both ‘catholic’ and ‘reformed’. By ‘catholic’ they don’t mean ‘Roman Catholic’ but rather that they share in the heritage of the catholic (meaning ‘whole’/‘universal’) church. In other words, they hold fast to the core beliefs and practices of the church of the early centuries, maintaining the use of ancient creeds, prayers, and rituals, and continuing the traditional orders of bishops, priests, and deacons. Yet at the same time, they are Protestant, affirming core Reformation teachings—such as salvation in Christ alone, by grace alone, though faith alone—and taking the Bible as the central guide for faith.
HOLY TRINITY AND ST MATTHEW'S CHURCH
ST PHILIP AND ST JAMES CHURCH
ST MARK'S CHURCH
WORCESTER EAST DEANERY
One Vine . . . Many Branches
All fourteen Anglican churches east of the River Severn in Worcester are united as part of a single deanery. We have occasional joint services and the clergy regularly support one another in their work.
THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION
A Global Family
The Anglican Communion is one of the world’s largest Christian communities. It has tens of millions of members in more than 165 countries around the globe. Anglicanism is one of the traditions or expressions of Christian faith. (Others include Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, and Pentecostal.)
The Communion is organised into a series of provinces. The provinces are subdivided into dioceses, and the dioceses into parishes. There are forty provinces. Some provinces are national, others are regional. All are in a reciprocal relationship and recognize the Archbishop of Canterbury as the Communion’s spiritual head. But there is no central authority in the Anglican Communion. All of the provinces are autonomous and free to make their own decisions in their own ways.
