Appropriate topics for this part of our web guide include the Anglican Catholic Church (Original Province), the Traditional Anglican Church in Australia, and the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada.

While separate bodies, the similarities outweigh the differences, and, in any event, separate categories for each of them would be confusing. All three are separate from the Anglican Communion.

The Anglican Catholic Church emerged from the Continuing Anglican movement, which coalesced in response to doctrinal and liturgical changes in the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada during the 1970s. In 1977, the watershed Congress of Saint Louis gathered nearly 2,000 clergy and laity, producing the Affirmation of Saint Louis, a declaration of adherence to the historic Catholic faith within Anglicanism. In 1978, the ACC was formally constituted, with its Original Province centered in the United States, but extending internationally.

The polity of the Anglican Catholic Church (Original Province) is Episcopal, governed by a College of Bishops and Provincial Synod. Its Constitution and Canons establish the Authorized King James Version of the Bible and the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer as liturgical standards, with the Anglican and English Missals permitted. The Original Province is subdivided into dioceses, each led by a bishop elected by a diocesan synod and confirmed by the College of Bishops.

The Original Province upholds the seven sacraments of the historic Catholic Church, with Baptism and Eucharist as generally necessary for salvation. The Vincentian Canon is a doctrinal touchstone.

The Traditional Anglican Church in Australia (TACA) originated as the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia in 1987. In 1991, the ACCA became part of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC) and was renamed in 2024 to include "Traditional" in its title.

Its polity is Episcopal, with a Bishop Ordinary overseeing the Australian jurisdiction, which also covers New Zealand and Japan. Synods at the national level establish policy, with representation from both clergy and laity. The TACA is historically aligned with TAC's International College of Bishops.

The TACA shares the same sacramental theology as the ACC (Original Province): seven sacraments, male-only priesthood, and adherence to the Affirmation of Saint Louis. The TACA uses the Book of Common Prayer, with Australian adaptations, and the Anglican Missal as liturgies. There is a strong Anglo-Catholic ceremonial expression, often more elaborate than in some ACC dioceses.

The Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC) was formed in 1979 by Canadian Anglicans who had participated in the 1977 Saint Louis Congress and rejected doctrinal and liturgical changes in the Anglican Church of Canada. First organized as a national diocese, the ACCC became an ecclesiastical province in 1989 and joined the TAC.

Its polity is Episcopal, with a Metropolitan of All Canada as primate. Its Provincial Synod includes bishops, clergy, and lay delegates. Its Constitution and Canons closely parallel those of the ACC (Original Province), with Canadian adaptations.

The ACCC upholds the Affirmation of Saint Louis, the seven sacraments, and traditional Anglican liturgy, using the 1962 Canadian Book of Common Prayer alongside the Anglican Missal, and rejects theological innovations like women's ordination and doctrinal relativism.

All three are Continuing Anglican jurisdictions, rejecting perceived theological and moral drift in mainstream Anglicanism. All affirm the Affirmation of Saint Louis, uphold traditional sacramental theology, and maintain episcopal polity. All reject women's ordination and modernist doctrinal changes.

However, the ACC (Original Province) is independent, while the TACA and ACCC have been TAC-aligned. Each uses its national BCP edition. TACA's history includes high-profile reunion attempts with Rome, while the ACC (Original Province) has remained firmly outside such corporate reunion.

Anglo-Catholicism is a theological and liturgical movement within mainstream Anglican churches, tracing its roots to the Oxford Movement of the 1830s. Anglo-Catholics remain within the Anglican Communion, even when in tension with its leadership. It is a movement, not a separate church.

The ACC (Original Province), TACCA, and ACCA are separate ecclesial bodies, products of the Continuing Anglican movement, formed in protest against doctrinal and liturgical changes, and they operate entirely outside the Anglican Communion. Anglo-Catholicism, by contrast, is an internal party within the Communion. While both share ceremonial and theological similarities, the Continuing Anglican bodies maintain institutional separation and their own episcopal successions, whereas Anglo-Catholics remain under the jurisdiction of bishops within the Anglican Communion.

 

 

Feature Article

Is the Anglican Catholic Church Catholic or Protestant?

The Anglican Catholic Church (ACC) is part of the Continuing Anglican movement, and its identity is a bit of “both/and” rather than a strict “either/or.” Here’s why it can be confusing:

The Anglican Catholic Church is Catholic in heritage. The ACC views itself as part of the historic, undivided Catholic Church that existed before the Reformation. It retains traditional Catholic liturgy, the seven sacraments, apostolic succession, and much of the theology and worship style you’d find in Roman Catholicism.

However, the Anglican Catholic Church is Protestant in origin. Anglicanism as a whole emerged from the English Reformation in the 16th century, when the Church of England broke from Rome. This means it also carries Reformation influences, such as an emphasis on Scripture, the vernacular liturgy, and certain theological reforms.

Many Anglicans, including the ACC, describe themselves as Reformed Catholic, which is Catholic in its core identity, but shaped by Protestant Reformation principles. This “middle way” is central to Anglican self-understanding.

In short, the Anglican Catholic Church is Catholic in faith and practice, but not in communion with the Pope. It’s also historically rooted in the Protestant Reformation, blending both traditions. Think of it as a branch of Christianity that claims to be the Catholic Church in the Anglican tradition, reformed but not Roman.

The ACC maintains historic episcopate traced to the apostles (apostolic succession), while most Protestant churches reject apostolic succession as essential.

The ACC recognizes seven sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, Matrimony), while many Protestant churches recognize only two (Baptism and Eucharist).

The ACC holds to the Belief in the Real Presence. However, the ACC employs Anglican theological language, rather than the strict Roman sense of transubstantiation, while some Protestant traditions view Communion as symbolic or spiritual only.

The ACC uses traditional liturgy (Book of Common Prayer, Anglican Missal) with vestments, incense, and ceremonial worship, similar to Roman Catholicism, while many Protestant churches have simpler, less formal worship.

The ACC upholds Scripture, Tradition, and the ancient Creeds, like the Catholics, while Protestantism emphasizes sola scriptura (Scripture alone).

The ACC holds to an Episcopal structure, with bishops, priests, and deacons, while some Protestant churches use congregational or presbyterian governance.

The ACC draws heavily on pre-Reformation Catholic theology, but it originated in the English Reformation and has been influenced by Protestant reformers.

The ACC calls itself “Catholic” in the Anglican tradition, but shares the Protestant heritage of reform and independence from Rome.

In essence, the ACC preserves the sacramental system, apostolic succession, and the liturgical richness of the historic Catholic Church. Yet, it emerged from the Reformation, rejects papal authority, and is independent from Rome.

We have elected to include the Anglican Catholic Church in the Protestant section of our guide because the ACC traces its lineage through the Church of England, which broke from Rome in the 16th century under King Henry VIII. That break was not just political - it was theological. The English Reformation rejected papal supremacy, altered doctrines, and adopted the Book of Common Prayer as the standard for worship. Although the ACC later separated from mainstream Anglicanism in the 20th century, its DNA remains Reformation-era Anglican, not pre-Reformation Roman Catholic.

A defining Protestant marker is the refusal to recognize the Pope’s universal jurisdiction. The ACC, like all Anglican bodies, sees the Bishop of Rome as a historic patriarch, not the head of the Church. This stance aligns with Protestantism’s core break from centralized Roman authority.

While the ACC values tradition and the creeds, its doctrinal method is rooted in the Anglican “three-legged stool,” which is Scripture, Tradition, and Reason, with Scripture as the ultimate norm. This emphasis on the primacy of Scripture over magisterial authority is a hallmark of Protestant thought.

The ACC’s worship, though richly ceremonial, is based on the Book of Common Prayer, a Reformation-era text that restructured the Mass, altered sacramental theology, and removed explicitly Roman doctrines like transubstantiation. Even when supplemented by the Anglican Missal, the liturgy reflects a Reformed Catholic theology, not the unaltered medieval Catholic Mass.

Protestantism is characterized by national or independent churches rather than a single global hierarchy. The ACC is self-governing, with its own bishops and synods, and is not in communion with Rome or the Eastern Orthodox patriarchates, a Protestant-style autonomy.

While the ACC preserves many Catholic forms, such as vestments, incense, sacraments, and apostolic succession, its origin, authority structure, theological method, and liturgical reforms place it in the Protestant family tree.

Lastly, there is the fact that it had to go somewhere, and it seems less confusing to include it here.

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