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Church of England

The Anglican Communion is the third largest international denomination, after the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. It has over 80 million members, spread across 38 Provinces in 164 countries. Each of these Provinces is autonomous, with its own system of governance and senior archbishop or bishop ("Primate"). The Communion is not held together by a formal constitution or international church law, but rather by a shared heritage and what are termed "bonds of affection", by formal "Instruments of Communion" and through the Archbishop of Canterbury acting as a unique focus of unity. This sense of common identity has been nourished over many years by direct encounter and companion relationships at many levels. The Archbishop of Canterbury plays a leading role in nurturing the interdependent life of the Communion by visiting Provinces, convening meetings, facilitating initiatives, contributing to theological reflection and exercising a pivotal role within the Instruments of Communion.

The three formal Instruments of Communion are the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates Meeting. The Lambeth Conference is a gathering of the bishops of the Anglican Communion, at the personal invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, that usually takes place every ten years. The first was held in 1867 at Lambeth Palace, but as numbers grew the Conference moved to Canterbury. Lambeth Palace, on the south bank of the River Thames opposite Parliament, has been a historic London residence of Archbishops of Canterbury since the 13th century. It acts as a home for the Archbishop and his family when in London and as the central office for his national and international ministry. The most recent Conference took place in Canterbury in 2008.

The Anglican Consultative Council was formed following a resolution of the 1968 Lambeth Conference. It brings together bishops, clergy and laity from around the Provinces and churches of the Communion every three years. The Archbishop of Canterbury is its President. The Primates Meeting, which the Archbishop of Canterbury convenes, brings together the senior archbishop or bishop (sometimes called "moderator") of each Province for prayer and reflection on matters of shared concern.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop of the worldwide Anglican Communion - a first among equals ("primus inter pares") among fellow bishops. The role of the Archbishop of Canterbury in relation to the world-wide Anglican Communion has evolved from the ancient and settled role that the archbishop and the diocese of Canterbury had among the dioceses of England. Like other principal sees in the Church's history, Canterbury was looked to as a spokesman for the faith of the Church, a promoter of its mission, and a guardian of its unity. After the Reformation divisions in the Church the scope of the Archbishop's role was slowly and sometimes reluctantly extended alongside the missionary movement that developed into the Anglican Communion.

In 1908 a committee of the Lambeth Conference spoke of 'the universal recognition in the Anglican Communion of the ancient precedence of the see of Canterbury'. It 'owes its far-reaching influence to the spirit in which its experience and wisdom have been placed at the service of the Church in every province and diocese throughout the whole Anglican Communion' said Archbishop Clarke of Melbourne as early as 1924. In the 1968 Lambeth Conference it was argued that 'within the college of bishops it is evident that there must be a president. In the Anglican Communion this position is presently held by the occupant of the historic see of Canterbury, ... this primacy is found to involve, in a particular way, that care for all the churches which is shared by all the bishops.' In the years since the Archbishop has been described as 'the focal point of our communion', and as the bishop who is 'freely recognised as the focus of unity'.

A demanding aspect of the Archbishop's role as focus of unity is his capacity to encourage conversation and resolution where there is disagreement between different parts of the Communion. A central feature of this is currently the deep-rooted dispute over human sexuality and the appropriate limits of diversity within the Anglican Communion. This controversial area and its outworking through the 2004 Windsor Report were very much to the fore as the Archbishop of Canterbury chaired the most recent Primates Meeting in Tanzania in February 2007. It was also the basis for his meeting with the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church (USA) in New Orleans in September 2007.

Among specifically Anglican statements of faith the Thirty-Nine Articles, dating from the Reformation period in the sixteenth century, has a particular historical importance. "Article 32. Of the Marriage of Priests. Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, are not commanded by God's Law, either to vow the estate of single life, or to abstain from marriage: therefore it is lawful for them, as for all other Christian men, to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness."

By the late 1970s the ordination of women was no longer simply a question for discussion but an actual event in the life of some of the Anglican churches. The Orthodox affirmed that such ordination is impossible, since it was contrary to Scripture and tradition. From the time of Christ and the apostles onwards, the Church had ordained only men to the priesthood. The ordination of women to the priesthood was seen as an innovation, lacking any basis whatever in Holy Tradition. With this some Anglicans agreed, while others believed that it was possible, and even desirable at the present moment, to ordain women as priests. In the case of the ordination of women differences have become particularly acute and divisive within the Anglican Communion, now that the convictions of those in favor of it had been translated into action in certain national churches. There are those who believe that the ordination of women to the priesthood and the episcopate was in no way consonant with a true understanding of the Church's catholicity and apostolocity, but rather constitutes a grave deformation of the Church's traditional faith and order.

Many people outside of the Church viewed its formal public stance on homosexuality with "profound distaste" and not in keeping with current values, though many belived the church should avoid "going with the flow" merely to create the appearance of a more inclusive church. The resistance to the assertions of gays and lesbians had led to widespread disturbance and schism in the Anglican Church around the world. The church is deeply divided over liberalizing attitudes toward homosexuals.