Church of England

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The Church of England is the leading Christian church in England. It is the church established by law, with its formal head being the English monarch (Elizabeth II). It is the mother church of the Anglican Communion.


There are other Protestant churches in England which are not part of the Anglican Communion.

History[change | change source]

The Church of England was created by King Henry VIII in 1534. Henry VIII was married to Catherine of Aragon, but asked the Pope to annul the marriage (say that there was a mistake and that Henry and Catherine were never really married). He had wanted to annul the marriage because he wanted a male heir to his throne and Catherine could not produce one. When the annulment was refused, Henry VIII used his position as King to break away from the Roman Catholic Church, and establish the Church of England, sometimes called the Anglican (English) Church. Methodism broke away from the church in the 18th century. The Oxford Movement brought Catholic beliefs back into the church in the 19th century.

Under his son, King Edward VI, more Protestant forms of worship were adopted. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer started more changes. A new pattern of worship was set out in the Book of Common Prayer (1549 and 1552). These were based on the older liturgy but influenced by Protestant principles.

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