Anglican Communion


noun
  1. a group of Christian Churches including the Church of England, the Church of Ireland, the Episcopal Church in Scotland, the Church in Wales, and the Episcopal Church in the US, all of which are in full communion with each other

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use Anglican Communion in a sentence

  • Now Rome complains that the Anglican Communion is affirming gays through blessed unions and full admission to the priesthood.

    The Christian Anti-Gay Campaign | James Carroll | January 11, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • It is a common reproach against the Anglican Communion that is "does not know its own mind."

    Our Lady Saint Mary | J. G. H. Barry
  • He evidently understood neither the "dissidence of dissent" nor the Anglicanism of the Anglican Communion.

    William the Third | H. D. Traill

Cultural definitions for Anglican Communion

Anglican Communion

The group of Christian churches historically based in the Church of England. Anglicans combine Catholic and Protestant elements in their teaching, worship, and government. They have bishops, for example, but do not accept the authority of the pope.

Notes for Anglican Communion

Nearly all of the churches of the Anglican Communion are in countries that once were possessions of Britain, including the United States, where the Anglican Communion is represented by the Protestant Episcopal Church. Anglicans use the Book of Common Prayer (see also Book of Common Prayer) in worship.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.