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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Church of England
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The established church in England, which came into being with the Act of *Supremacy in 1534. Henry VIII's quarrel with Rome was more political than theological, and among the Protestant churches this is the most closely related to Roman Catholicism, retaining bishops and much of the Roman basis of the litany in the *Book of Common Prayer. More radically Protestant measures under *Edward VI were followed by a brief return to Roman Catholicism under *Mary I.
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The lasting form of the Anglican church was established in the reign of *Elizabeth as a middle way, expressed in the *Thirty-nine Articles; these declared Elizabeth to be Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a position held by English monarchs ever since. From the late 17C the Church of England encompassed two extremes: the High Church party laid emphasis on the authority of bishops and on the importance of ritual; those in the Low Church were closer to the Protestantism of the *Nonconformists. The same distinction has existed in more recent times betweeen *Anglo-Catholics and *Evangelicals.
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Since 1970 the governing body has been the General Synod (previously the Church Assembly), consisting of three houses (bishops, clergy, laity) and presided over by the archbishops of Canterbury and York; it meets three times a year.
Offshoots of the Church of England in other parts of the British Isles are the Episcopal Church in Scotland, the Church in Wales and the Church of Ireland. The archbishop of Canterbury is also accepted as the leader of the wider *Anglican Communion. The majority of people in Britain are nominally Anglican, but on an average Sunday the number attending church is not much above a million (see *Christians).
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