Welcome to Anglicanism.org a depository of papers, articles and items of general interest. Whilst many contributions are linked to the generic theme of Anglicanism we also feature a wide range of subjects beyond any particular definition.
The website contains a free-to-use library for information and study. We started life in 2009 as a specialist vehicle for the publication of pre-doctoral papers. However, the site has long since outgrown that rather narrow range and (we like to think) become something much more accessible without surrendering academic integrity.
You are welcome to browse, read and download. Perhaps you would like to submit a paper, letter or comment as well? If so please email the Editor at the address below. We are not a blogsite but we also have linked Facebook and Twitter pages where you may add your online comments.
Editor: The Rev’d Dr. Nicholas Henderson
Email: info@anglicanism.org
Latest Additions:
Democracy a Fragile Flower?
The Editor, The Rev'd Dr. Nicholas Henderson writes in his Editorial: At the heart of any democratic system of government must lie the ability for the ‘will of the people’ to express their preferences in an orderly and fair election. This in turn should be followed by a smooth and peaceful transition of power from one leadership group to another. That’s the minimalist principle which vests state power in the people. However, it’s not always as easy as that and despite this being a year of elections in a host of countries we seem to be drifting towards elective autocracy ...
An epistle to Zambians: A Centennial Birthday Tribute to President Kenneth David Kaunda.
Bishop Trevor Mwamba, President of the United National Independence Party (UNIP) Zambia writes: In life it’s edifying to remember those who have inspired us to be noble and President Kaunda was such an inspiration. Sunday 28th April 2024 marks the centennial birthday of President Kenneth David Buchizya Mutepa Kaunda, our Founding Father and First President of Zambia. In celebrating the centennial of his birthday we thank God for the life and gifts He endowed President Kaunda with, making him a great statesman of our time who enriched Zambia, Africa, and the world, as a peacemaker. A peacemaker who sought love where there was hatred; unity where there was division; and peace where there was war. As a peacemaker he led Zambia’s struggle for independence. And on attaining independence, spearheaded our economic, educational, industrial, technical, and scientific development, that his name became synonymous with Zambia. ...
Queer Redemption: Dr Charlie Bell
The Rev'd Dr. Keven Hall reviews Queer Redemption by Dr Charlie Bell: Dr Hall writes in his review of this book that Bell believes gay people don’t feel listened to in the church, not just to do with their sexuality, but about their personhoods. Not properly listened to by the majority in the Church of England, not properly listened to by its leadership. Bell sees his task as attempting to reach Christians and Christianity with how they can do better at meeting queer people 3-dimensionally. And, broadly speaking, to see how more of us can learn to live better with our complex, often difficult, psychologies and differences He seeks to return the church to the irreducible core of the life of Christ by resurrecting the best of Anglican theological method, with his use of experiences of gay people as his point of reference. ...
PENTECOST: The encirclement of the Spirit
Anthony Woollard in his Guest Editorial writes: Turning and turning in the widening gyre, The falcon cannot hear the falconer. Things fall apart – the centre cannot hold – Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world…… Thus wrote W B Yeats, in the middle of the First World War and the Irish revolution. And it seems today that the world has circled back to just such a time. No centre – no purpose – “mere anarchy”, from Gaza to Ukraine to other parts of Europe (including the UK) and the US. And if we take the Falconer to be that mystery that we call God, and the Falcon to be the human race, it is all too clear that the latter “cannot hear” the former. ...
Vile Bodies – The Body in Christian Teaching, Faith and Practice
Dr. Gill Atkinson writes in her review of Adrian Thatcher's book: “Vile Bodies” is an extraordinarily well researched and in-depth study. As the title suggests the book is an account of the human body as a disgusting thing in Christian teaching, faith and practice; the term “vile” used by St Paul to describe his own body. An historical, theological and sociological approach is taken to the examination of cultural norms, taboos and practices which have resulted from, and fed into, Church scripture and teachings. In the introduction the author tells us that, the all-powerful idea in the Christian tradition that the body is vile has had a huge negative influence on millions of people past and present and that the purpose of the book is to explore why this happened, continues to happen and what can be done about it. ...
No Tongues: what prayer ministry and a new colleague accidentally taught me about the Book of Common Prayer
Jonathan Pease writes: ‘I can see a chapel from my window.’ Such was the standard response of the Cambridge undergraduate to being asked to declare one’s ‘religious views’ on Facebook. Some years later, from the 13th floor of a 1965 concrete apartment block on an east London A-road, I gaze down on an ex-seafarers’ chapel, set against a backdrop of ten-mile views out to where the golden evening brightens in the West. Now a thriving Charismatic operation, to which the flat I sit in belongs, this church entered a year ago into partnership with a liturgical church in the same Deanery, promising resource and revitalisation. I was flattered to be asked to help with this: apparently a natural extension of my adventures to date with choirs, church music and liturgy in London’s East End. ...
Anglicanism traces its antecedents back to the independent Romano-British Church during the first few centuries of Christianity, the arrival of St Augustine of Canterbury at the behest of Pope Gregory the Great in the late sixth century, a replacement of indigenous Celtic/Irish traditions with Latin oversight in the seventh century and then onwards to the tumultuous sixteenth century the Reformation and the break with Rome. Subsequently modern Anglicanism has slowly emerged, at times almost accidentally, at first in the English speaking world and then as a worldwide denomination.
To describe Anglicanism in a paragraph scarcely does it justice but being in communion with the see of Canterbury has come to define a type of Christianity with a wide range of liturgical practice, a spectrum of theological interpretation and the inevitable tensions that exist in a body that spans countries and cultures. Not strictly speaking a Church, although the term ‘Anglican Church’ is frequently used, the Anglican Communion is now represented in some 144 countries.
The Compass Rose is the emblem of the Anglican Communion. It was originally designed by the late Canon Edward West of New York. The Greek inscription ‘The Truth Shall Make You Free’ (John 8:32) surrounds the cross. The compass points to Anglican/Episcopal Christianity throughout the world with the mitre on the top indicating the role of episcopacy and apostolic order that is characteristic of churches of the Communion.
The modern design is by Giles Bloomfield and the symbol was set in the nave of the mother church of the Anglican Communion, the Cathedral Church of Christ in Canterbury, founded 597 – (photograph above). It was dedicated by Archbishop Robert Runcie at the final Eucharist of the Lambeth Conference in 1988. A similar Compass Rose was dedicated in Washington National Cathedral in 1990 to encourage worldwide use. The official Anglican Communion flag with the emblem was designed by the Rev’d Bruce Nutter of Australia.