The Anglican Communion is actively involved in walking together with others – it does not work in isolation. It has different working relationships with a number of world communions, both in bilateral and multilateral conversations.
For some this is a close working relationship which is described as being ‘in full communion’, which means participating fully in worship and receiving communion at the Eucharist. For others it involves walking with them, but may not include receiving communion during worship.
The Anglican Communion also has a close working relationship with two particular multilaterals:
The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was a ground-breaking ecumenical agreement between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation published in 1999. This declaration built on many years of dialogue and in the declaration Catholics and Lutherans agreed that the mutual condemnations of the Reformation period on the subject of justification no longer applied.
Since 1999 other Christian World Communions have adopted this declaration and in 2016 the Anglican Consultative Council affirmed the substance of the joint declaration. Copies of the ACC resolution were presented to representatives of the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed Churches at a service to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the beginning of the Lutheran Reformation on 31 October 2017.
Since 2017 these five Christian World Communions have reaffirmed their agreement on this core issue of faith, re-committed to the call to share together the message of salvation and to find new ways of working together in the service of the Gospel.