Church Authority

Anglican ecclesiology is episcopal: governance by bishops in apostolic succession is regarded as essential to the ordering of the church (though different Anglican parties differ on whether it is essential by divine command or by tradition and good order). The Thirty-Nine Articles (Articles XIX and XXXVI) define the marks of the church and affirm episcopal ordination. The Archbishop of Canterbury holds a primacy of honor within the Anglican Communion but exercises no jurisdictional authority over other provinces — each province is self-governing.

Anglicanism firmly rejects the jurisdictional authority of the Bishop of Rome (Article XXXVII). The authority of Scripture is primary; church councils and traditions are authoritative insofar as they are grounded in Scripture. Within each province, authority is exercised through synodical governance (involving bishops, clergy, and laity) and through the bishops in their dioceses. The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral's fourth mark — 'the Historic Episcopate, locally adapted' — is the most contested: Anglo-Catholics see it as requiring unbroken apostolic succession, while evangelicals see episcopal polity as traditional but not ontologically necessary.