The Distinctives of the Anglican Way

(a discussion starter for concerned and committed Anglicans in the USA)

The Anglican Way is the Reformed Catholic Faith & Polity as it was received, experienced and stated by the Church of England in the period from 1549 to 1662. It represents an attempt by a National Church to recover the Faith and Polity of the Early Church by setting aside accretions of doctrine, discipline and worship, especially of the medieval period. This Faith & Polity is based on the Holy Scriptures and is expressed in liturgical and doctrinal form in three Formularies – the Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer and The Ordinal [all three of these have been bound together as one book since 1662].

By colonization and by missionary work this Faith & Polity spread around the world, and so now there is the Anglican Communion of Churches, some 38 self-governing national or regional Churches. What has united the Churches apart from a common heritage and links to Britain has been the acceptance of at least two of the classic Formularies (some constitutions only declare the classic BCP & ordinal).

In terms of commitment to the authority of Scripture and the doctrine of the Creeds (Apostles’ & Nicene) the Anglican has no disagreement with the Presbyterian or the Lutheran. In terms of the availability of gifts of the Spirit from the exalted Lord of the Church, the Anglican need have no disagreement with the Charismatic or Pentecostalist. In terms of the centrality of the Eucharist on the Lord’s Day for the Lord’s people the Anglican need have no disagreement with the Roman Catholic.

However, in the providence of God and particularly since the mid 16th century, there have been differences of worship, doctrine and discipline between Anglicans on the one hand and Presbyterians, Lutherans and Roman Catholics on the other. This may be expressed another way in terms of Anglican distinctives, those principles which set Anglicans apart, not as superior or inferior Christians, but rather as different in worship, doctrine and polity from their brethren in Christ of other traditions.

The polity of the Anglican is of the National Church and then of the fellowship between and amongst National [or regional] Churches of the same faith and practice. Within each Church there is a college of bishops, together with presbyters and deacons under their rule. Over the international Communion of Churches there is no Pope or Patriarch. Thus the Polity is different from the R C Polity and in some regards like the Polity of the Orthodox Churches.

The worship of the Anglican is according to a set Liturgy and historically this has been found in The Book of Common Prayer. In the post 1970 period there has been added to this classic BCP, collections of alternative services in modern language. The doctrine of the latter is normally required to conform to that in the classic Formularies. In all this change a distinctive of the Anglican Way remains that of being a Church which uses liturgy – old or new – which is stable and printed and which is intended to be more than the mere local expression of local feelings and concerns. The Liturgy is intended to be catholic and adapted to local needs (e.g., in the music and intercessory prayers).

The doctrine of the Anglican is meant to be (as expressed through space and time) the same basic dogmas and doctrines as believed, taught and confessed in and by the Early Church. Thus the importance of the Creeds and the rulings of the early Ecumenical Councils. The Services within The Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal sought to reflect this doctrinal emphasis and content. There is, however, one further element in the Formularies which may be regarded as a faithful development of doctrine articulated during the Protestant Reformation. This is the doctrine of justification by faith – that a sinner is saved not by his works or good intentions but by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour and being reckoned by God the Father as righteous in Christ by the merits of Christ, the Saviour.

It is important to state that the content of the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral is not intended to be a statement of the distinctives of the Anglican Way. Rather, it is intended to be the basic negotiating standard for union of Anglican National Churches with say Lutheran or Methodist or Presbyterian Churches.

And the so-called Instruments of Unity of the Anglican Communion (e.g., the Meeting of Primates annually and of all Bishops every ten years) are not meant to replace the Formularies as the basis of unity, merely to emphasize the means by which unity amongst diverse Churches can be practically maintained.

With respect to the disordered state of the Anglican Way in the USA, it is probably the case that there cannot and there will not be a growing together into unity by those who call themselves Anglican in the USA (i.e., those within and those outside the ECUSA in a variety of associations and federations) until each group returns to the basic distinctives of the Anglican Way with genuine informed and zealous commitment and, in so doing, treats its other emphases (e.g., excessive anglo-catholic claims and devotion or excessive Presbyterian-like views of Episcopacy or abandoning of liturgy in favour of ex tempore type worship) as belonging only to that group and not of general adoption.

The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon.),
Christ Church, Biddulph Moor & St Anne's, Brown Edge