The Origins of the Anglican Church

Okay, so admit it: the popular idea that King Henry VIII started the Church of England, the mother church of all Anglican churches, is a little embarrassing. This is the same “Henry” who had a succession of six wives and had a few killed along the way! Sure, this sixteenth-century monarch was desperate for a male heir to the throne, and, sure, he wanted a divorce so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. But who wants the genesis of their denomination hinging on the runaway ambition of a desperate king of England? The facts of history save us the embarrassment. The Anglican Church did not start with Henry. In fact, we have a much earlier and nobler beginning.

The Church of England goes all the way back to Jesus Christ and the apostles. In the Creed Anglicans recite every Sunday we affirm our belief in the “catholic and apostolic” church. This means that we hold to Jesus and to the teaching of the apostles – as our founder and foundations. We are catholic (not “Roman Catholic”) in that we subscribe to the teaching of the church that is true for all Christians at all times (i.e., “universal”).  And we are “apostolic” because we believe that the Anglican Church has its origins and authority in the enduring truth of the apostolic teaching recorded in Holy Scripture. The doctrine of “Apostolic Succession” is the succession of teaching from one generation to the next, starting with the original apostles (2 Timothy 2:2), and this is symbolized in the laying on of hands from one bishop to the next.

No one knows for sure when Christianity first arrived in Great Britain. There’s a far-fetched tradition that Joseph of Arimathaea (of biblical fame, Matthew 27:57) brought Christianity to the isles, along with the Holy Grail, the supposed cup of the Last Supper. It’s more likely that traders or Roman soldiers first introduced Christianity in the second and third centuries. Britain’s first Christian martyr, St. Alban, was killed there in the third century. And three English bishops attended the Synod of Arles – France, A.D. 314, indicating that the church in England was somewhat organized by that date.

This is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Chuck Collins’ book, Reformation Anglicanism: Biblical, Generous, Beautiful.