ANGLICAN

Jivitesh Sharma
Quick Insight of
Anglicanism
ORIGIN
The roots of Anglican starts from the Church of England
which had departed from the Roman Catholic Church
around the 16th century. It is united by loyalty to the
archbishop of Canterbury as the senior bishop and titular
leader and a general agreement with doctrines and practices
has developed ever since the 16th century in THE BOOK
OF COMMON PRAYER. The significant teachings were
first set in The Book of Common Prayer which was drawn
up by Thomas Cranmer. During the 16th and 17th centuries,
the Church of England's organization was worked out.
Beliefs and practices
The beliefs and practices of Anglican communion are to be in
between Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. They teach the
Trinitarian understanding of God and believe in Jesus as someone
coequal and coeternal son of God who came to the salvation of
humankind. The holy book of the whole communion is made up of
the Holy book, old testament, Hebrew bible and the New
Testament. The Anglicans also accept the Nicene Creed and the
Apostles Creed as essential and significant. They have the belief in
two sacraments Baptism and Eucharist, but they do honor the other
five as well. The two most significant holidays in the communion
are Easter and Christmas. Their worship includes eucharistic rites.
Prayer, singing of Psalms and hymns, gospel readings, Hebrew
bible and a sermon by the presiding minister.
Ritual
The rituals Anglican Communion follows are book of common prayer, ordination of a priest,
godparents, holy communion, and cathedral worships. The book of common prayer is
worship which is very distinct from others, it contains prayers from Psalms, hymns and
provides a framework by which Anglicans can conduct worships. One feature is Lectionary
it provides a Biblical passage that is to be read every day of the year. Ordination of the priest
is a ritual called “laying-on-of-hands”. In this ritual priests and ordaining bishops lay their
hand on the new priest as a welcome to the Order of priest. Godparents are what the
Anglicans refer as to sponsors, they encourage young people to live a proper Christian life.
In the catholic tradition, they have a role to prepare a Catholic for the sacraments such as
Sacraments of initiation which consist of baptism, holy Eucharist and confirmation. It is a
ritual as they have a role, and they are what prepare people for this lifestyle and must be
done. Holy communion is another name for the Eucharist sacrament in the Anglican Church.
It is an early ritual in the Christian religion. As an Anglican celebration, it is to remind
themselves of Jesus’s work of salvation, but they practice it the same way as Catholics.
Finally, Cathedral worships is centered upon choral music with a small amount of
congregation participation. The St. George's Cathedral motivates the people of the Anglican
church to worship by listening. The liturgical scholar also says that the pipe organ is a
primary musical instrument of the Anglican faith. The pipe organs are used by Anglicans as
a form of music for people who cannot find music outside this denomination.
Symbols
Symbols that I believe and see are a part of Anglicanism would be the Cross
and the Anglican Communion flag. The cross is shown with sometimes Jesus
Christ still crucified; in which case it is known as “crucifix.” However, it is
empty most of the time, which symbolizes the resurrection and how the faith
of Christianity in general started. In Anglicanism, you can find the crosses in
the worship places, and during Baptism as the priest makes the cross on the
head of the person who is being baptized. The Anglican Church has different
flags, one for the Anglican Church of England and one for the Anglican
Church of Canada. I will be describing the Anglican Church of Canada. It is
very identical in the design of the arms of General Synod. It consists of the
red cross of St. George, with a white background and four green maple
leaves in each quarter. The red cross on the white background is the symbol
of St. George who was a patron saint of England. The four maple leaves in
each quarter symbolize the four ecclesiastical provinces, the reason they are
green is that they depict a youthful/various church and nation.
 The Anglican Church celebrates the following:

 Easter Day – April 4th

 Ascension Day – May 26

 Trinity Sunday – June 12

 All Saint’s Day – November 1st

 Christmas Day – December 25th

 The Epiphany – January 6th

Festivals As you can see that festivals are very similar to a normal Church and very common celebrations.
Easter day or Easter Sunday is where Jesus Christ was resurrected, it is truly a very significant
celebration for Christians and in the catholic community. It is what ignited the faith in Jesus Christ as
he proved he was not a normal human being but something great with utmost power and knowledge,
son of God. Ascension day is celebrated 40 days after Easter to commemorate Jesus Christ’s
ascension to heaven, as a very spiritual celebration and rise of Jesus Christ as he went to heaven after
40 days of his resurrection. Trinity Sunday is celebrated on the first day of the Pentecost, it is a Feast
Day which many Christians celebrate, and the purpose is to celebrate the significant/meaningful
nature of the trinity. All saint's day is on the first of November and is also called Hallowmas, it
celebrated the saints of the Church, and the Church acknowledges all how have achieved heaven.
Christmas day is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ it is a religious culture that almost everyone
around the world celebrates, this is where Jesus Christ started his journey and achieved the hearts of
everyone. Finally, the epiphany is a Christian feast, and it is to celebrate the revelation of God as
Jesus Christ. All these festivals are very significant in the Anglican church and there are more such as
Leute, Advent, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Wait Sunday.
Sacred writing
Sacred writings in Anglicanism would the Book of Common Prayers, Thirty-Nine Articles and the
English Bible. The Book of Common prayers was introduced into the church ever since the English
Reformation. This sacred writing provides this denomination daily prayers, which can go from
morning to evening for private prayers and the Holy communion. The second sacred writing Thirty-
Nine Articles acknowledge the two sacraments. Those two sacraments are the Eucharist and Baptism.
Baptism is the starting point or the ignition to become a member of the Anglican faith, it allows the
members to receive other sacraments and their grace along with Eucharist. The Eucharist is in the
center of the Anglican faith, which has the body of Christ as a Blessed Sacrament. It is shown through
the body and blood of Christ and Eucharistic prayers. Finally, the English bible is the base of the
Anglican Church and is written in both English and Latin.
Milestone
In the Anglican Church, there are only two Sacraments which are Baptism
and Eucharist. However, the Communion also does honor confirmation,
ordination, reconciliation of the penitent, and unction as significant
religious rites. Baptism is a way in which Christ commanded us to bring in
a new Christian, and the Anglicans accept a baptized person as a Christian
and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. The physical symbols are
cross, water, and candle, which is conducted at the western door where the
font for storing the water is. Anglicans believe that Eucharist is the
outward and very noticeable indicator of the bread and wine, the inward
and spiritual grace is of the Body of Christ and the Blood of Christ.
 DIFFERENCES TO CATHOLICISM

ANGLICAN CATHOLICISM
Anglican refers to the church of England including the branches which The word catholic is universal and many Christian are
relate it into the world catholic.

The origin of the Anglican church was during the reformation and It originated right after the death of Jesus through Christ’s
Henry VIII was the founder of Anglicanism apostles preaching

This denomination had raised and emerged from the catholic church It is the first form of Christianity
after Henry VIII separated/broke off and then made his sect.
The leadership is like the hierarchy with the pope himself at
Anglican church does not have a centralized hierarchy, which means the top and the parish priest on the lower rung.
there is no church or priest which is counted as above all others.
Beliefs are the priest, monks, and nuns must take a vow of
In the Anglican church the priest can marry do not have to take a vow celibacy.
of celibacy
The believe in all 7 sacraments
Anglican believes in two of the seven sacraments

10
SIMILARITIES TO
CATHOLICISM
Catholicism and Anglicanism have their differences, but they also have their
similarities. The first similarity is that they are very huge as Anglican can be
found in over 165 countries around the world, same for Catholicism. They
both are impactful as Catholicism is much more known, but Anglicanism is
also known very much as well around England and other distinct places.
They both practice the Apostles Creed and the Nicene, and Anglican
administers two of the sacraments, but Catholicism also follows those two
including the other five. Like the Anglicans, the Catholics also believe in the
Trinity-God the father, god the holy spirit, and the Son of God. Both also
have priests and archbishops, their festivals are also very alike, like
Christmas, Easter Sunday, Psalms and much more. Every denomination is
unique but each one comes from a base where they all can relate with one
another.
How did researching your denomination
enhance your knowledge about Christianity
Researching about my denomination was truly very intriguing and I learned many great aspects that are a
part of the Anglican Church. Anglican Church was a denomination different from the usually Catholic
Church and the story behind it was also different, but as I started researching about my denomination, I
started to learn more about Christianity and began to enhance my knowledge of it. I learned a lot about the
sacraments, the old testament, the new testament, festivals, beliefs, and rituals. Christianity is something
every denomination has it is like the base and the central aspect of every denomination, and for Anglican as
well. Anglican Christianity comes from the Protestant Reformation, and it is one of the largest Christian
traditions. I learned how Anglican Christianity is different and like Catholic Christianity, their origin and the
way they were formed were so special yet unique. Most of the time we don’t learn about other
denominations and researching I found a lot of new information about Christianity that I didn’t know before
from Anglican. Christianity is the same yet different in Anglican as the sacraments are there but only two,
whereas Christianity has 7, denominations follow different aspects of Christianity and make sure they add
as much as they can which shows how much of an impact Christianity has.
 WORK CITED
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THE END