A series on the origins, history and possible futures of the Anglican Communion. We will look at four separate periods in the history of the Church of England and the churches related to it, and pick from those four periods two significant dates, one significant movement and one significant lasting influence, which I call an “inheritance”. The series begins with a bit of background and a justification for the exercise.

• Anglican Roots / Anglican Routes?
• Four justifications for the exercise

Section 1 : “… that the Church of England shall be free” — The origins of the Church of England and its life in the Middle Ages

• Date 1 / 664 The Synod of Whitby
• Date 2 / 1215 Magna Carta
• Movement 1 / The Benedictines
• Inheritance 1 / The Church and its Spirituality

Section 2 : “The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this realm of England” — The break from Rome and the Elizabethan Settlement

• Date 3 / 1534 Henry, Supreme Head
• Date 4 / 1593 Richard Hooker’s Ecclesiastical Polity
• Movement 2 / Christian Humanism
• Inheritance 2 / The Church and its learning

Section 3 : “Monstrous enthusiasm” — Revolt and restoration in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

• Date 5 / 1604 The Hampton Court Conference
• Date 6 / 1662 The Act of Uniformity and the Book of Common Prayer
• Movement 3 / Dissenters and Sectaries (aka Methodism)
• Inheritance 3 / The Church can be self-reforming

Section 4 : “In Christ there is no East or West” — The British Empire and the Anglican Communion

• Date 7 / 1784 Samuel Seabury consecrated first American bishop
• Date 8 / 1888 The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral
• Movement 4 / The Missionary Societies
• Inheritance 4 / The ethos of Anglicanism