What Anglicans Believe

Liturgy and Worship

Worship profoundly shapes Anglican spiritual identity. The ancient Christian principle of Lex orandi, lex credendi – meaning “the law of praying is the law of believing” – illustrates the profound relationship between worship and belief. For Anglicans, liturgical celebrations arise directly out of the mystery of salvation in Jesus Christ and are part of the very means by which the faithful enter into that mystery.

Liturgy functions not merely as a static set of historical rubrics, but as a dynamic, pedagogical framework designed to shape the spiritual lives, theological understanding, and missional identity of the faithful. While autonomous provinces within the Anglican Communion possess their own localised Books of Common Prayer tailored to specific cultural and linguistic contexts, the global church continuously strives to pray with a singular, unified voice.

The International Anglican Liturgical Consultation (IALC)

The coordination of these complex liturgical practices across disparate geographic and cultural contexts is primarily facilitated through the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation (IALC).

Because the Anglican Communion operates intrinsically as a voluntary fellowship of autonomous national and regional churches, the coordination of sensitive liturgical matters is facilitated horizontally. This “Network Approach” relies on rigorous consensus-building, gathering theological experts, practising liturgists, and officially appointed provincial representatives to synthesise localised traditions into universally acceptable formats.

Key Areas of Liturgical Development

The ongoing work of the IALC and global liturgists focuses on several key themes to enrich the daily worship life of the international Anglican community:

The ongoing work of the IALC and global liturgists focuses on several key themes to enrich the daily worship life of the international Anglican community:

• Praying With One Voice: A commitment to Eucharistic renewal and sacramental standardisation. This work focuses on creating harmonised worship practices and common liturgical scripts so that Anglicans from disparate global regions can gather and worship without prioritising one provincial tradition over another.
• Equipping the Saints: A profound theological belief that the architecture, vocabulary, and physical actions of corporate worship actively shape Christian identity. This democratisation of worship emphasises comprehensive liturgical formation for all baptised members, rejecting the notion that deep liturgical understanding is the exclusive domain of ordained clergy.
• Shared Time: A synchronised approach to how the global church engages with holy scripture and navigates the annual rhythms of the traditional church calendar, effectively connecting the daily, weekly, and seasonal scriptural reflections of the entire Communion.
• Contextualising Pastoral Rites: Ongoing theological review and renewal of foundational rites, such as marriage, providing a grounded framework for local clergy navigating the intersection of global Anglican theology and localised cultural rites of passage.

Official Liturgical Resources

The Anglican Communion produces a rich, complex synthesis of standardised rites, pastoral guidelines, and formational frameworks.

• Praying With One Voice: An officially endorsed, common Eucharistic Prayer designed specifically for international, cross-provincial use, allowing diverse assemblies to partake in the core sacrament of the church together.
• The Berkeley Statement: ‘To Equip the Saints’: A foundational document framing comprehensive liturgical education as a vital mechanism for the spiritual empowerment of the broader church body.
• Lectionary Rationale: The underlying theological logic and explanatory notes for the specific scriptural reading cycle utilised universally within the Anglican Cycle of Prayer.