Who are Anglicans

and
What is the Anglican Church ?
The Anglican church began when the first Christians arrived in Britain, possibly as early as 100 A.D.
British Christians were present at the early councils that defined the elements of the Christian faith.
We have much in common with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, including the fact that our
bishops are in the Apostolic Succession. (This means that each bishop is consecrated by other bishops
who were themselves consecrated by bishops, etc. etc. right back to the first bishops consecrated by the
Apostles who received Jesus Christ's "Great Commission" to carry the Gospel's Good News to all the
world.)
Since the Reformation we have been considered "Protestant" because we rejected the leadership of the
Bishop of Rome (the Pope), yet we remain completely orthodox in our faith and practice; our liturgies
date back to the 3rd and 4th centuries, the age of the Primitive Church, and our belief is based upon the
Nicene Creed and other decisions of the first 7 "Ecumenical Councils" through which the early
Christians defined the Christian faith.
The Anglican Church has been present in North America since the earliest years of the British Colonial
Period. Following the American Revolution, the parishes in the various states joined together to form
the Episcopal Church of the USA. Their first bishop, Samuel Seabury, was consecrated in Edinburgh
by the Episcopal Church of Scotland. The Episcopal Church is governed by a Constitution which is
quite similar to the Constitution of the United States - - - and for good reason. Many of the men who
wrote the Constitution were churchmen who also participated in the first General Convention of the
Episcopal Church.
Beginning in the 1880s, Anglicans were pioneers in promoting ecumenism (unity and mutual respect
among different churches). We believe in the Lund Principle: that churches should do together
everything that they can and do apart only those things that individual churches believe must be done
apart. As a result, it is common in Latin America to find that if there is only one English language
church congregation, it is likely to be Anglican (often Episcopalian) because members of all churches
will be welcomed and invited to participate fully in all worship services.
The Anglican Church of Mexico has a history that dates from the Reformation of Juárez (1860s); it was
part of the Episcopal Church in the USA during most of the 20th century until it became an
autonomous Province in the world-wide Anglican Communion in 1995.
While the Anglican Communion is present in most of the countries of the world, each Province is
autonomous; each one can establish its own canons (laws) and form of self government. Although there
is no one individual who is recognized as having authority over the bishops of the Church, the
Archbishop of Canterbury is accorded a primacy of honor: he is considered to be "first among equals".
As such, he is the host when the bishops of the Communion meet once every 10 years at his official
residence, the Lambeth Palace, for what is called the Lambeth Conference; this is a non-legislative
meeting which serves principally to unify the Church and to assist in keeping lines of communication
open. The accords of the Lambeth Conference are non-binding but often exert moral persuasion upon
the actions of the individual Dioceses and Provinces of the Anglican Communion.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
There is a difference between "ecumenical" and "non-denominational". Every member of the clergy
(call them "ministers", "priests", "pastors" or whatever) must be ordained and commissioned by some
church body. As such, each one belongs to some denomination.

A congregation that is not affiliated with any larger body of Christians may properly be called "non-
denominational" and the liturgy (worship service) that an ordained minister uses in such a congregation
may indeed be "non-denominational" if it is designed to incorporate elements of the liturgies of several
churches (denominations). At the present time, many "non-denominational" congregations use the
Episcopal Church's "Book of Common Prayer" because of the variety of the services included and the
richness and depth of expression of the prayers found there.

We feel it is important to explain this because in the Cancun - Merida area there are lay persons and
"non-denominational" clergy who perform pseudo-religious marriage ceremonies.