Wilkommen - Bienvenue - Welkom

…to the Central Committee of the Anglican Church in Belgium. We are at your service.

Anglican Christianity is the third largest Christian community in the world, after our big sisters the Catholics and the Orthodox. However, we only count 20,000 adherents in Belgium, which did not prevent the official recognition of our Church by the Belgian State in 1870.

In Belgium we find nine chaplaincies of the Church of England and only one of the Episcopal Church in the USA. Since 1875, there has been a Central Committee of the Anglican Church which administratively appoints the ministers of religion, and which manages the administration of the chaplaincies and their relations with the public authorities, as well as our ecumenical and interfaith dialogues.

The word “Anglican” may cause some confusion. Let's be clear, we do not see ourselves as “the church created by King Henry VIII in the 16th century.” We consider ourselves more as a mix of the Catholic and Protestant branches within Christianity. Unofficially, we are called “the Western church of the English rite” or also “Protestantism of the Catholic rite”. Doctrinal details aside, we exist in this country to serve the Belgian people.

I invite you to go through this website, to learn about our history, our faith, our structures, our chaplaincies, our priests and our chaplains, in short, about our total commitment to the happiness and peace of the Belgians.

Happy reading and may the Lord be with you.

Canon Dr Jack McDonald
Chaplain-President of the Central Committee of the Anglican Church in Belgium

The Central Committee uses two principal symbols.

Our coat of arms was designed by Mr Cédric Pauwels and was registered in 2023. Using the colours of the flag of Belgium, it depicts the lion of Brabant surmounting the Anglican Communion compass rose, the whole surmounted by the cross of St George.

Our logo was designed by Dr Pleuntje Jellema and was registered in 2023. Using the colours of the flag of Belgium, it depicts the Canterbury Cross surrounded by the Central Committee's legal titles in the 1875 law.