Canon law (Church of England)
Encyclopedia
The Church of England
, like the other autonomous member churches of the Anglican Communion
, has its own system of Canon law
.
The principal body of canon law enacted since the Reformation is the Book of Canons approved by the Convocations of Canterbury and York in 1604 and 1606 respectively. There are 151 canons in the collection, some of which reaffirm medieval prescriptions, while others depend on Matthew Parker
's Book of Advertisements and the Thirty-nine Articles
. They were drawn up in Latin by Richard Bancroft
, Bishop of London, and only the Latin text is authoritative. They were published in separate Latin and English editions in 1604. A few, e.g. canon 37, were amended in the 19th century. A Canon Law Commission was appointed in 1939 to reconsider the matter of canon law in the Church of England: it held eight sessions between 1943 and 1947 and then issued a report which included a full set of new canons which were subsequently considered by Convocation.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, like the other autonomous member churches of the Anglican Communion
Anglican Communion
The Anglican Communion is an international association of national and regional Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England and specifically with its principal primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury...
, has its own system of Canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
.
The principal body of canon law enacted since the Reformation is the Book of Canons approved by the Convocations of Canterbury and York in 1604 and 1606 respectively. There are 151 canons in the collection, some of which reaffirm medieval prescriptions, while others depend on Matthew Parker
Matthew Parker
Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....
's Book of Advertisements and the Thirty-nine Articles
Thirty-Nine Articles
The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion are the historically defining statements of doctrines of the Anglican church with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. First established in 1563, the articles served to define the doctrine of the nascent Church of England as it related to...
. They were drawn up in Latin by Richard Bancroft
Richard Bancroft
Archbishop Richard Bancroft, DD, BD, MA, BA was an English churchman, who became Archbishop of Canterbury and the "chief overseer" of the production of the authorized version of the Bible.-Life:...
, Bishop of London, and only the Latin text is authoritative. They were published in separate Latin and English editions in 1604. A few, e.g. canon 37, were amended in the 19th century. A Canon Law Commission was appointed in 1939 to reconsider the matter of canon law in the Church of England: it held eight sessions between 1943 and 1947 and then issued a report which included a full set of new canons which were subsequently considered by Convocation.
Further reading
- Bullard, J. V., ed. (1934) Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiastical, 1604: Latin and English. London: Faith Press
- Archbishops' Commission on Canon Law (1947) The Canon Law of the Church of England; being the report of the ... commission ... together with proposals for a revised body of canon law. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge