The Heritage of Anglicanism
Anglicanism upholds Scripture as the primary source of authority in matters of faith and practice. The essence of the Anglican expression of faith lies in the Prayer Books of the 16th and 17th centuries. Anglicanism has no named figure that embodies Anglicanism but the Liturgy, Articles, and Homilies of Thomas Cranmer and others, is the worshiping structure and the theological foundation of Anglicanism. Its connections with the English state and with the Archbishop of Canterbury are peripheral factors subordinate to its worship and theology. The Prefaces to the Prayer Book of 1662 and to the American book of 1789 declare in exquisite language the necessity and legitimacy of changes in worship and polity as long as the substance of the Church’s faith remains constant. That faith endures among responsible Anglicans of different languages, races, and nations across the world.

The Rt. Rev. C. FitzSimons Allison, Bishop of South Carolina, Retired