Anglicans are Christians. Anglican churches belong to the one holy catholic (universal) and apostolic Church.
Rather than rooting authority in a particular church tradition or in the Biblical text alone, Anglicans follow a balanced principle of searching for authority across Scripture-Tradition-Reason.
All Anglican provinces and churches accept the Bible as holding all things necessary for salvation; the Apostles’ and Nicene Creed; the dominical sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist; and the historic episcopate, locally adapted.
Anglicans see themselves as the via media, a bridge-church, the middle way between Catholicism and Protestantism, and that is why they are traditionally very ecumenically involved.
The Anglican Communion is the worldwide communion of the 40 Anglican provinces and churches in communion with the See of Canterbury. The Archbishop of Canterbury who acts as the primus inter pares, the first among equals, resides at Lambeth Palace in London.
The Anglican Communion Office (ACO) in London runs the day-to-day business of the Communion and supports the Primates’ Meetings, the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), and the Lambeth Conferences. These three together with the See of Canterbury form the Instruments of Communion.
Belgium has parishes of two Anglican provinces: the Church of England and The Episcopal Church.
Anglican Churches
The Church of England or CofE is the mother-church of all Anglican provinces and churches. It is the established church of England (and only England!) and the monarch is its Supreme Governor. There are two Archbishops, one in Canterbury and one in York.
The Episcopal Church or TEC is a branch of the global Anglican Communion based in the United States. It is a community of 2.4 million members in 16 countries and 110 dioceses, overseen by the Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church.
In Europe, two important full communion ecumenical partners of the CofE are the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht and the Lutheran churches of the Porvoo Communion.
In Belgium, all chaplaincies except Waterloo are CofE congregations which is overseen by TEC.
In Belgium, all chaplaincies except Waterloo are chaplaincies of the Diocese in Europe. All Saints’ Waterloo belongs to the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe.
The Diocese in Europe is the largest diocese in the Church of England but with the smallest number of Anglicans.
The Central Committee work in tandem with the Diocese in Europe and the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe to provide the best support and service to our chaplaincies, our ministers and our faithful.