It is the mother church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the established church of England, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as its senior bishop.
The Church of England traces its history to the early church in Britain and to the break with Rome under Henry VIII in the 1530s, settled in its classic formularies under Elizabeth I. The monarch is its Supreme Governor, and its worship is shaped by the Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-nine Articles.
Sources
Primary
- The Book of Common Prayer (1662), the authorized liturgy of the Church of England
Secondary
- John Moorman, A History of the Church in England (1973)