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Far from being a faith of the past, Anglicanism is a rich spiritual tradition that connects the past with the present. People from all sorts of backgrounds are embracing the Anglican Church as the tradition that seamlessly blends many different Christian expressions. As Anglicans, we are part of the larger Christian family whose roots go back to the time of Christ. Many Americans are finding their spiritual roots in the Anglican tradition.

Anglicanism is not tied to our own time, but rather part of the larger body of Christ whose roots began, not with the Reformation or the evangelical movement, but with Jesus Christ. The Anglican tradition offers a refreshing alternative to our postmodern world by helping us reconnect to the historic Christian faith. Anglicanism is an ancient tradition that traces its roots back to the time of the Roman Empire when a Christian church first came into existence in the British Isles. According to legend, Christianity first came to England by Joseph of Arimathea. Early Christian writers mention the existence of a British church in the third century.

Christianity spread throughout the British Isles under the leadership of Celtic missionaries like Patrick and Columba. Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. He is considered by many to be the Apostle to the English and a founder of the English Church. Augustine became the first Archbishop of Canterbury and helped establish a center for Christianity in Britain.

Under the leadership of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the Church of England began to embrace elements of the Reformation throughout England, yet retaining the historic practices of the Catholic Church. Cranmer was able to introduce a number of reforms in England such as the Great Bible in 1539. Cranmer’s greatest achievement was realized in 1549, where he helped organize the Book of Common Prayer in the English language, the language of the people.

In the years that followed, Anglicanism continued to develop and flourish and eventually grew into a worldwide movement that spawned later movements such as the Puritans, the Wesleyan revival, and the Oxford Movement. Over the years, the Anglican tradition has produced some of the world’s greatest Christian thinkers, writers, and leaders such as Jeremy Taylor, John Donne, John and Charles Wesley, Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis, and Dorothy Sayers. Twelve United States Presidents from George Washington to George H.W. Bush have been Anglican, more than any other religious tradition. With over 1,800 years of rich history, this ancient Christian tradition still has the power to speak to our world today with a faith that is relevant for a new generation.

Archbishop of Canterbury Geoffrey Fisher once wrote, “The Anglican Communion, with its fellowship of Churches, has a special responsibility at this time in the world. We have no doctrine of our own. We only possess the Catholic doctrine of the Catholic Church enshrined in the Catholic creeds, and those creeds we hold without addition or diminution. We embrace a faith which represents the Christian faith in a purer form than any other Church."

Anglicanism is far richer than any other single Christian tradition but isn’t a church unto itself. The Anglican Communion is a family of churches in 165 countries with over 90 million members. There are many reasons to affiliate with an Anglican church. Following are just a few theological and practical ones.

First and foremost, the Anglican church is gospel-centered. There is not one aspect of the human experience that the gospel does not touch, and Anglican spirituality embraces this reality. It seeks to apply the gospel to all areas of human experience forming our bodies, our minds, and our senses as we stand, kneel, speak, hear, taste, touch, smell, and sing.

Secondly, the Anglican Christian faith is Scripturally and historically bound. Anglicanism keeps Scriptural primacy, yet embraces what can be affirmed throughout history, rooting the Church in the Creeds and in the Apostolic faith.

Thirdly, Anglican worship is structured around the distinct understanding that the mission of the Church is to be what it is, the body of Christ. The entire arc of the liturgy is rooted in the people of God as gathered and commissioned people, who are set apart for the sake of the world.

Fourthly, the Anglican church has structured worship to create routines, rituals, and rhythms to enter into the gospel story. These rituals and rhythms shape us both on the cognitive level and the non-cognitive level, ultimately calibrating our hearts to be pointed towards God’s kingdom. Liturgical worship can become the framework for discipleship. There is no discernable gap between what one does on Sunday or during the rest of the week.

Finally, Anglican liturgical heritage offers an enduring form of transformative worship. Our worship creates a stable form of worship that connects us with Christians around the world. It roots us in forms of worship that have been celebrated for centuries, and its entire shape is gospel-centered and Biblically grounded. The Church is fundamentally a worshiping community. The Anglican tradition, through its worship and engagement with creation, is thoroughly centered and rooted in the gospel.