The beliefs of Anglicans can be considered quite diverse. The official standard is the Book of Common Prayer but some parts of that book are more clearly doctrinal than others. The Catechism of the Episcopal Church in the USA summarizes the faith in question-and-answer format.

The ecumenical creeds, both Nicene and Apostles, are used by the Anglican Communion in its worship day by day and week by week. They are ancient and universal statements of Christian faith. In addition, many Anglican churches follow ancient tradition and include the Athanasian Creed among their statements of faith.

The Diocese of Texas offers an 'Anglican primer' online, and you might like to look at the sections on Scripture, tradition, and reason in the church; the Book of Common Prayer; the Sacraments; the Creeds; and 'being Episcopalian'. This latter section is directed particularly to people in the States wondering about the Episcopal Church.

Another very important ancient statement of faith is the Chalcedonian formula, which defined the limits of Christological orthodoxy.

The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral describes the general ecumenical principles of Anglicans.

The Thirty-Nine Articles were important at the Reformation, but are less so today.

The BBC World Service has produced a Basic Christianity web page that is well done, if not specifically Anglican.

The Scriptures and the Gospels, the Apostolic Church and the early Church Fathers, are the foundation of Anglican faith and worship in the 38 self-governing churches that make up the Anglican Communion. The basic tenets of being an Anglican are:

• We view the Old and New Testaments 'as containing all things necessary for salvation' and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith.
• We understand the Apostles' creed as the baptismal symbol, and the Nicene creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. (see Creeds)
• The two sacraments ordained by Christ himself - Baptism and the Supper of the Lord - are administered with unfailing use of Christ's words of institution, and the elements are ordained by him.
• The historic episcopate is locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God into the unity of his Church.

Anglicans trace their Christian roots back to the early Church, and their specifically Anglican identity to the post-Reformation expansion of the Church of England and other Episcopal or Anglican Churches. Historically, there were two main stages in the development and spread of the Communion. Beginning with the seventeenth century, Anglicanism was established alongside colonisation in the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. The second stage began in the eighteenth century when missionaries worked to establish Anglican churches in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

As a worldwide family of churches, the Anglican Communion has more than 70 million adherents in 38 Provinces spreading across 161 countries. Located on every continent, Anglicans speak many languages and come from different races and cultures. Although the churches are autonomous, they are also uniquely unified through their history, their theology, their worship and their relationship to the ancient See of Canterbury.

Anglicans uphold the Catholic and Apostolic faith. Following the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Churches are committed to the proclamation of the good news of the Gospel to the whole creation. In practice this is based on the revelation contained in Holy Scripture and the Catholic creeds, and is interpreted in light of Christian tradition, scholarship, reason and experience.

By baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, a person is made one with Christ and received into the fellowship of the Church. This sacrament of initiation is open to children as well as to adults.

Central to worship for Anglicans is the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, also called the Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper or the Mass. In this offering of prayer and praise, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are recalled through the proclamation of the word and the celebration of the sacrament. Other important rites, commonly called sacraments, include confirmation, holy orders, reconciliation, marriage and anointing of the sick.

Worship is at the very heart of Anglicanism. Its styles vary from simple to elaborate, or even a combination. Until the late twentieth century the great uniting text was The Book of Common Prayer, in its various revisions throughout the Communion, and the modern language liturgies, such as Common Worship, which now exist alongside it still bear a family likeness. Both The Book of Common Prayer, and more recent Anglican liturgies give expression to the comprehensiveness found within the Church whose principles reflect that of the via media in relation to its own and other Christian Churches. See Today's Services.

Another distinguishing feature of the corporate nature of Anglicanism is that it is an interdependent Church, where parishes, dioceses and provinces help each other to achieve by mutual support in terms of financial assistance and the sharing of other resources.

To be an Anglican is to be on a journey of faith to God supported by a fellowship of co-believers who are dedicated to finding Him by prayer and service.

See also http://www.anglicancommunion.org/.

See also Canon James Rosenthal The Essential Guide to the Anglican Communion Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, Penn, USA ISBN 0-8192-1743-3 containing several excellent articles on what Anglicans believe in and other elements of the faith and The Revd. Richard Giles, How to be an Anglican ... Canterbury Press, Norwich, UK ISBN 1-85311-560-6.

See also the Church House Bookshop.

Christian life is lived in relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and in common with other Christians in the church seeking to deepen that relationship and to follow the way that Jesus taught.

For Christians God is understood and known as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

…Father… God is love, caring for creation and for every human being as God's beloved child.

…Son… God is as he has revealed himself to be in the historical person of Jesus Christ. Jesus' life, death and resurrection holds the key to knowing and loving God, and to making sense of life, before and after death.

…and Holy Spirit… God is alive, loving and active today, inspiring faith, justice and truth, sustaining the life of the world, giving spiritual gifts to the church and bearing his spiritual fruit in the world - changed lives and a transformed society.

Finding out more

If you want to wait before contacting anyone, and you'd rather find out more about Jesus online, why not visit www.rejesus.co.uk, and www.christianity.org.uk?

But because Christianity is about relationship and community, the best way to find out about faith and prayer, to raise questions and to get help, is to meet some Christians. The Church of England is just one of the Christian churches in this country. We seek to work alongside other Christian churches and denominations as closely as we can.

You can also learn more about God as he is in Jesus by reading the Bible - why not start with the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament?

The Church of England is made up of communities of Christians in every corner of the land.

Most of these communities can be found via the parish church buildings in every city and town and in almost every village.

Many Anglicans now meet in and through smaller groups, relating to networks of people in our fast-changing society. Or they seek to serve particular groups of people and to find their Christian identity alongside them.

Other Anglicans are committed to traditional religious communities, whether as monks and nuns or as people associated with those communities.

There are also online communities of Christians who use the resources of the web to make contact.

If you need help with finding a local contact where you live, just email us at mission@c-of-e.org.uk and we'll put you in touch with Christians close to you.

© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2004

The Archbishop of Canterbury fills a unique position in the world-wide Anglican Communion. As primus inter pares (first among equals), of the Bishops, he serves the Anglican Church as spiritual leader.

Visit the home page of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Archbishop of York is Archbishop of the Province of York - the whole northern half of England with pastoral oversight of the bishops in that Province and responsibility for clergy discipline.

The Queen has approved the appointment of the Rt Revd Dr John Sentamu, currently Bishop of Birmingham, to succeed the Rt Revd Dr David Hope as the next Archbishop of York.

Would you like more information?