Church of England
In 597, Pope Gregory I sent a group of missionaries to England to Christianise the Anglo-Saxons. This mission was led by Augustine, who became the first archbishop of Canterbury. The Church of England considers this year the start of its formal history. Before this event, evidence for Christianity in Roman Britain existed as early as the third century. After the fall of the Roman Empire, England was conquered by pagan Anglo-Saxons. The Celtic church remained confined to Cornwall and Wales during this period. In Northumbria, Celtic missionaries competed with their Roman counterparts over religious practices. They disagreed on the date of Easter, baptismal customs, and the style of tonsure worn by monks. King Oswiu of Northumbria summoned the Synod of Whitby in 664. The king decided that Northumbria would follow the Roman tradition because Saint Peter and his successors hold the keys of the kingdom of heaven. By the late Middle Ages, Catholicism was an essential part of English life and culture. Nine thousand parishes covered all of England under a hierarchy of deaneries and dioceses.
In 1527, Henry VIII asked Pope Clement VII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. When the pope refused, Henry used Parliament to assert royal authority over the English church. In November 1534, the Act of Supremacy formally abolished papal authority and declared Henry Supreme Head of the Church of England. Between 1536 and 1540, Henry engaged in the dissolution of the monasteries. He disbanded religious houses, appropriated their income, and disposed of their assets. The properties were sold to pay for wars. Thomas Cranmer became the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury and principal compiler of the Book of Common Prayer. During the reign of Edward VI from 1547 to 1553, the Church underwent extensive theological reformation. Government-sanctioned iconoclasm led to the destruction of images and relics. Stained glass, shrines, statues, and roods were defaced or destroyed. Mary I briefly reunited England with the Catholic Church before her death. Queen Elizabeth I returned the Church to its state in 1553 through the Elizabethan Settlement implemented between 1559 and 1563. The Act of Uniformity restored a slightly altered 1552 Book of Common Prayer. In 1571, the Thirty-nine Articles received parliamentary approval as a doctrinal statement.
Thomas Cranmer developed the Church of England's liturgical text known as the Book of Common Prayer. This document implicitly taught justification by faith and rejected Catholic doctrines like transubstantiation. The prayer book's Reformed eucharistic theology posited a real spiritual presence since Article 28 taught that Christ was eaten only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. Richard Hooker's appeal to scripture as the primary source of Christian doctrine has been influential in hermeneutics. The Church affirms the Protestant Reformation principle that scripture contains all things necessary to salvation. The Thirty-nine Articles remain the church's only official confessional statement. Three schools of thought exist within the Church: high church, low church, and broad church. The high church party places importance on continuity with the pre-Reformation Catholic Church. Anglo-Catholics maintain many traditional catholic practices and liturgical forms. The low church party is more Protestant in both ceremony and theology. It emphasizes the authority of Scripture, preaching, and personal conversion. The liberal broad church tradition emphasizes reason in theological exploration. In 2013, forty percent of worshippers attended evangelical Anglican churches compared to twenty-six percent in 1989. Eighty-three percent of very large congregations were evangelical.
The Diocese of Nova Scotia was created on the 11th of August 1787 by Letters Patent of George III. This diocese became the first Church of England see created outside England and Wales. At this point, it covered present-day New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec. From 1825 to 1839, Bermuda's nine parishes were attached to the See of Nova Scotia. The oldest remaining British overseas possession saw its first services performed by Reverend Richard Buck. He was one of the survivors of the 1609 wreck of the Sea Venture which initiated Bermuda's permanent settlement. St Peter's Church in St George's Town stands as the oldest Anglican church outside the British Isles. The Church of India, Burma and Ceylon was established with its first diocese erected in 1813. Indian bishops were present at the first Lambeth Conference. First Anglican missionaries arrived in Nigeria in 1842. By 1900 there were only thirty-five thousand Anglicans in that colony. However, by the late twentieth century the Church of Nigeria reached about eighteen percent of the local population. The church established presence in Hong Kong and Macau in 1843. In 1951, the Diocese of Hong Kong and Macao became an extra-provincial diocese.
The British monarch holds the constitutional title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Justin Welby served as Archbishop of Canterbury from February 2013 until his resignation effective the 6th of January 2025. Dame Sarah Mullally was named as Welby's successor in October 2025. Stephen Cottrell became Archbishop of York in 2020. The House of Lords includes twenty-six bishops from among forty-two diocesan archbishops and bishops. The remaining twenty-one seats are filled by seniority based on date of consecration. The General Synod serves as the legislative body comprising bishops, other clergy, and laity. Measures must be approved by Parliament before receiving royal assent. Parishes form the most local level often consisting of one church building. Dioceses cover areas under jurisdiction of a diocesan bishop who has a cathedral. Provinces include Canterbury or York under an archbishop. Decision-making within provinces rests with the General Synod. In 2024 statistics showed seventeen thousand eight hundred eighty-five active clergy serving. This included six thousand six hundred ninety-five stipendiary staff plus two thousand five hundred eleven self-supporting ministers.
In 2009 the Church estimated it had approximately twenty-five to twenty-six million baptised members representing about forty-seven percent of English population. By 2018 research found fourteen percent of Britons identified as members. Sunday attendances declined steadily between 1890 and 2001. From 1968 to 1999 Anglican Sunday church attendances almost halved from three point five percent to one point nine percent. By 2014 attendance fell further to one point four percent. A study published in 2008 suggested Sunday attendances could fall to three hundred fifty thousand in 2030. Between 1969 and 2010 almost eighteen hundred church buildings closed representing roughly eleven percent of stock. The median size of each church's worshipping community stood at thirty-seven people according to 2022 data. Average weekly attendance declined from thirty-four to twenty-five during that period. Easter services saw falls from fifty-one to thirty-eight individuals while Christmas services dropped from eighty to fifty-six. In 2024 nine point eight seven million people visited a cathedral up from nine point seven million in 2019.
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Common questions
When did the Church of England begin its formal history?
The Church of England considers 597 to be the start of its formal history. This year marks when Pope Gregory I sent a group of missionaries led by Augustine to Christianise the Anglo-Saxons.
What Act of Supremacy established Henry VIII as Supreme Head of the Church of England?
The Act of Supremacy formally abolished papal authority in November 1534 and declared Henry VIII Supreme Head of the Church of England. This legislation followed Henry's request for an annulment from Pope Clement VII which was refused.
Who became the first woman bishop in the Church of England and when was she consecrated?
Libby Lane became the first woman bishop in December 2014 when she was announced as such. She was consecrated as a bishop in January 2015.
When was the Diocese of Nova Scotia created and what territories did it cover initially?
The Diocese of Nova Scotia was created on the 11th of August 1787 by Letters Patent of George III. At this point it covered present-day New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec.
How many active clergy served the Church of England according to 2024 statistics?
In 2024 statistics showed seventeen thousand eight hundred eighty-five active clergy serving. This included six thousand six hundred ninety-five stipendiary staff plus two thousand five hundred eleven self-supporting ministers.