The Church of England began when King Henry VIII broke with the Pope in 1534; Anglicans keep bishops and a prayer book.
Anglican & Methodist1534grew out of Catholic Church, with Lutheran
Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy (1534) made the English crown head of the English church, for reasons more dynastic than doctrinal: the same king had written against Luther in 1521 and been named Defender of the Faith by the pope for it. Under Edward VI and Elizabeth I the church took a Protestant theology shaped by Lutheran and Reformed thought, and kept bishops and a liturgy, the Book of Common Prayer (1549). The Authorized Version of 1611 is its gift to the English language. The Anglican Communion now includes self-governing churches around the world.
The Church of England separated from the pope in 1534, when Parliament made the king the head of the church in England. It kept bishops, cathedrals and a formal liturgy, and took on a Protestant theology and a prayer book in English.
Henry VIII had written against Luther in 1521 and been given the title Defender of the Faith for it, so the break was not at first about doctrine. When the pope would not annul his marriage, the Act of Supremacy in 1534 made the king supreme head of the church in England, and the monasteries were dissolved over the following years 10,9,17. Doctrine changed under his son. Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote the Book of Common Prayer of 1549 and its plainer revision of 1552, putting the whole of worship into English in prose that shaped the language 12,13,2. Mary I restored the papal obedience and Cranmer was burned at Oxford in 1556 12,19.
The English Reformation was fought over, and it killed people on both sides. Thomas More and John Fisher were executed for refusing Henry's supremacy, nearly three hundred Protestants were burned under Mary I, and Catholic priests were executed as traitors under Elizabeth 10,11,17. The settlement that followed was built by people who had watched all of it, which is part of why it was drawn wide enough to hold more than one kind of churchman.
The settlement that lasted came under Elizabeth I. From 1559 the church was Protestant in theology and kept bishops and the prayer book, and the Thirty-nine Articles of 1571 set out its teaching 11,18,1. Richard Hooker defended that arrangement as a church reformed but continuous with the ancient one, reasoning from Scripture, the early Church and reason together 14,9. The Authorized Version of 1611, made by order of James I, became the Bible of the English-speaking world for three centuries 15. After the civil wars and the restoration of the monarchy, the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 fixed the words that Anglicans still measure themselves by 2,13. The church then spread with English trade, settlement and empire: the first bishop for the United States was consecrated in 1784 and the Episcopal Church organised in 1789 22,16, the bishops of the scattered churches first met at Lambeth in 1867, and those meetings grew into the Anglican Communion, a family of self-governing churches rather than a single body under one ruler 5,16.
Anglicans hold the creeds, and they teach that Scripture contains everything needed for salvation. They keep two sacraments as necessary, baptism and Holy Communion, and they keep bishops. Beyond that they hold a wide range of belief together by praying the same words.
The sixth of the Thirty-nine Articles begins that Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation, so that nothing which cannot be proved from it is to be required of anyone as an article of faith 1. The same article receives the books of the Apocrypha as reading for example of life and instruction of manners, and not for doctrine 1,2. Hooker's account, of Scripture first, with the tradition of the early Church and reason serving it, remains the usual Anglican description of how the church decides 14,9.
In 1888 the bishops at Lambeth set out four things Anglicans hold necessary for a reunited church: the Scriptures, the Nicene and Apostles' creeds, the two sacraments Christ commanded, and bishops in historic succession 25,5. Within that frame the church is broad. Anglo-Catholics keep ceremony and the sacraments at the centre, evangelicals preaching and conversion, and others sit between them, and all of them worship from the same books 9,17. The Communion's own shorthand for its purpose is the Five Marks of Mission: to proclaim, teach, serve, seek justice and care for creation 6.
Worship and practice
Anglican worship comes out of a book. Morning and Evening Prayer are said daily, Holy Communion is the main Sunday service in most parishes, and the words have changed little in four centuries. Cathedral choirs sing Evensong every day of the year.
The Book of Common Prayer of 1662 is still the church's legal standard of worship, and Common Worship, authorised in 2000, provides modern services beside it 2,17. Morning Prayer opens with Psalm 95, the Venite, and Evening Prayer carries Mary's Magnificat and Simeon's Nunc Dimittis, sung in cathedrals and college chapels to music written across five centuries 2,9. At Communion the older rite begins with the summary of the law and, before receiving, the Comfortable Words, four short verses of invitation that Cranmer gathered 2,13. The year runs through Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Pentecost, and the parish system means every part of England lies in somebody's parish 3,17.
Scripture and Bible translations
The King James Version was made for this church, by its bishops and scholars, and published in 1611. Most Anglican churches today read a modern translation in services and keep the King James for its language. The Apocrypha is read, but not used to settle doctrine.
The Authorized Version was commissioned by James I in 1604 and published in 1611, and it held the field in English worship until the twentieth century 15,9. The psalms Anglicans sing are older still: Miles Coverdale's translation of 1535 was kept in the prayer book because it sings well, so the psalter in the pew is not the same English as the lessons 2,13. Common Worship lectionary references follow the NRSV, but this does not make it the only permitted translation. Church of England rules differ by form of service, and other Anglican provinces have their own provisions 27. Read here: the King James Version, the King James with the Apocrypha (an edition including the Apocrypha, not a facsimile of the 1611 printing), and the World English Bible, British Edition. The versions guide gives selected examples of authorised or documented use.
In church
The Church of England's lectionary is keyed to the NRSV, and the Authorized (King James) Version remains approved for reading in services. The Episcopal Church lists its permitted versions in canon law: the KJV, RSV, NRSV, NIV, Jerusalem and New Jerusalem, REB, CEB and others, most recently the Revised New Jerusalem Bible.
Reported use
The NRSV is prominent in Episcopal publishing, while the ESV and NIV appear in ACNA and evangelical Anglican settings. The KJV remains associated with communities that retain the 1662 Prayer Book. Representative congregational-use data are limited.
These passages illustrate themes discussed in this profile; they are not a survey of members' favorite verses. Each is quoted from the King James Version + Apocrypha and links to its chapter. You can explore the text for study or personal reflection; memorization is optional.
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The summary of the law, said near the start of Holy Communion in the prayer book, so that Anglicans hear what is asked of them before they ask anything.
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
The Nunc Dimittis, Simeon's song, sung at Evensong every evening of the year in English cathedrals.
O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
The Venite, which opens Morning Prayer. Anglicans have begun the day with these words since 1549.
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Written for our learning. Cranmer built the Advent collect about reading the Bible around this verse, and it says what the prayer book expects Scripture to do.
People
Thomas Cranmer1489 to 1556 Archbishop of Canterbury who wrote the Book of Common Prayer and much of the church's English; burned at Oxford under Mary I.12
Elizabeth I1533 to 1603 The queen whose settlement of 1559 gave the church its lasting shape, Protestant in doctrine and traditional in order.11
Richard Hooker1554 to 1600 The theologian who explained and defended that settlement, and whose account of Scripture, tradition and reason Anglicans still use.14
George Herbert1593 to 1633 A country parson at Bemerton whose poems are among the finest in English and whose book on parish ministry is still read.23
Samuel Seabury1729 to 1796 Consecrated in Scotland in 1784 because he could not swear allegiance to the British crown, and so the first Anglican bishop outside the British Isles.22
Desmond Tutu1931 to 2021 Archbishop of Cape Town, who opposed apartheid without arms and chaired South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Nobel Peace Prize, 1984.24
Sarah Mullallyborn 1962 A former chief nursing officer for England, made the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury in January 2026 and the first woman in the post.20
Today
The Anglican Communion is a family of self-governing churches in more than 165 countries. Most Anglicans now live in Africa. The instruments of communion hold it together by consultation rather than by command.
The Communion describes itself as churches in over 165 countries uniting tens of millions of people; the figure most often published is about 85 million 4,16. Nigeria and Uganda have far more Anglicans at worship than England does, and the balance of the Communion has moved south 16,9. The Church of England remains established, with the monarch as supreme governor and twenty-six bishops sitting in the House of Lords 3,17. It ordained women as priests in 1994 and consecrated its first woman bishop in 2015 26, decisions other provinces reached earlier or have not reached at all 21,16. Sarah Mullally became Archbishop of Canterbury in January 2026 20,7. The Archbishop of Canterbury is a focus of unity rather than a pope, and the four Instruments of Communion, the archbishop, the Lambeth Conference, the Primates' Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council, have influence but no power to command a province 5,4. Most Anglican provinces belong to the World Council of Churches 8.
Words to know
liturgy
The set form of a service: its prayers, readings and actions in their usual order. The Orthodox call their main service the Divine Liturgy.
lectionary
A fixed schedule of Bible readings for worship through the year, used in Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran and many other churches.
creed
A short statement of belief said together in worship. The Nicene Creed is shared by nearly every Christian tradition.
sacrament
A sacred act Christians believe carries God's grace, such as baptism and communion. Traditions count and understand them differently.
bishop
The leader of the Christians of a city or region, who ordains priests and teaches the faith. Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and some Lutheran and Methodist churches keep bishops.
canon
The list of books a community counts as Scripture. Jewish, Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox canons overlap almost entirely and differ at the edges.
Reformation
The movement that began with Martin Luther in 1517 to reform the Western Church, and that produced the Protestant churches.
schism
A formal parting between churches. The Great Schism of 1054 divided Catholic West from Orthodox East.
Easter
The Christian feast of the resurrection of Jesus, the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring, the centre of the church year; the Orthodox usually keep it on a later Sunday because they reckon it by the Julian calendar.
The Christian feast of the birth of Jesus on 25 December, kept since the fourth century; churches on the Julian calendar keep the same date on 7 January.
The forty days of fasting and prayer before Easter, modelled on Jesus' forty days in the wilderness, kept from Ash Wednesday in the West and from Clean Monday in the East; it ends in Holy Week.
The fiftieth day of Easter, when the churches remember the Holy Spirit coming on the apostles as Acts 2 tells it; the Greek name of the Jewish Shavuot, on which Acts sets the event.
The immediate cause was dynastic. Henry VIII wanted his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled and the pope would not agree, so Parliament transferred the headship of the church in England to the king in 1534 10,9. The same king had defended the pope against Luther in 1521. The change in doctrine came later, under Edward VI and Elizabeth I 12,11.
Are Anglicans Protestant or Catholic?
Anglicans have described themselves as both, and the mixture is deliberate. The theology set out in the Thirty-nine Articles is Protestant, and the church kept bishops, the ancient creeds, cathedrals and a formal liturgy 1,9. Within the same church, Anglo-Catholics and evangelicals emphasise different sides of that inheritance 9,17.
What is the Book of Common Prayer?
The book that holds Anglican worship: the services for Communion, baptism, marriage and burial, the daily offices of Morning and Evening Prayer, and the psalter. Cranmer wrote the first version in 1549, and the 1662 edition is still the Church of England's legal standard, with modern services authorised alongside it 2,13.
Who leads the Anglican Communion?
No one governs it. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the first among the Communion's bishops and a focus of its unity, and the Lambeth Conference, the Primates' Meeting and the Anglican Consultative Council bring the provinces together, but each province governs itself and none of these bodies can bind another church 5,4.
What holds the Anglican Communion together?
Not a central government, because there is none. What holds it together are the four instruments of communion: the Archbishop of Canterbury as a focus of unity, the Lambeth Conference of bishops, the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates' Meeting 5,18. None of them can legislate for a province. Beyond those, Anglicans are held together by the prayer book tradition, the historic episcopate and the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral's four points, which provide shared foundations while allowing substantial differences among provinces 2,4.
Sources
Numbered references link the account above to its sources. These include the tradition's own documents and outside reference works. The review status below distinguishes source checking from completed member and scholarly review.
BibleVerse. “Church of England (Anglican): where they came from, what they hold, and the Bible they read.” bibleverse.site, version 2026-09-09, https://bibleverse.site/denominations/anglican/
Awaiting review by a member of the tradition. First published 2026-09-07; last changed 2026-09-09. Years before the common era are written BC, and later years plainly, as the site's Christian pages do.
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