Older Than the Reformation: The Ancient Roots of the Anglican Way

People often say that Anglicanism began when Henry VIII broke with Rome. The real story goes back much further. British bishops were at the Council of Arles in 314 AD, nearly three centuries before Augustine came to Canterbury. The faith grew in two streams. One was the Celtic monastic tradition of Iona and Lindisfarne in the north. The other was the Roman mission in Canterbury and Kent in the south. Together they made one English Church.

This short video follows that thread through the centuries: the bishops, the sacraments and the apostolic succession that the English Church kept through the Reformation. The Reformation was a quarrel within the Body of Christ, not a departure from it.

The Episcopal Church grew out of that same English Church and is the American branch of the worldwide Anglican family. When you worship at Saint Mary’s, you’re joining a story that started long before any of us. It’s a living chain of faith passed from hand to hand since the days of the apostles.