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The
Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican
Communion, that family of churches over which the Archbishop of
Canterbury presides. It owes its origin to the activities of missionaries
of and settlers from the Church of England and adheres to Anglican
teaching and practice.
The formal establishment of the Church of England as a national
church independent of the Pope, was the work of King Henry VIII
in the third decade of the sixteenth Century. Its origins were political,
but under Queen Elizabeth, Anglicanism as a doctrinal system distinguishable
from that of other communions, both Catholic and Protestant, emerged.
Its liturgical and doctrinal formularies - the Book of Common Prayer
and the Thirty Nine Articles - in their settled form, date from
Elizabeth's reign. Although it took a century of controversy and
conflict culminating in the English Civil War, the final settlement
which followed the Restoration of King Charles II remained true
to its Elizabethan Settlement.
While elements of Church life in pre-reformation England anticipate
some later, specifically Anglican, features, Anglicanism as such
originates at the Reformation. At the same time it is a development
out of, not a reaction against, historic English Christianity.
What made the English Reformation different and Anglicanism unusual
was its conservatism. As a result, the post-Reformation Church of
England took over a great heritage of material organisation, of
custom, and tradition. In addition, it maintained its essential
continuity in faith and doctrine with the Church of the early fathers
as it developed from its New Testament roots and found expression
in the Creeds of the Church. The centuries-old structuring of dioceses
under bishops and parishes under parish priests continued to function.
An ordered and uniform liturgy was prescribed by the Book of Common
Prayer. The Articles of Religion are inclusive rather than exclusive
with truth being sought in the joint testimony of Scripture and
Tradition intelligently understood.
Attempts to impose an Anglican pattern on the Church of Scotland
failed and in the Church of Ireland succeeded only to a limited
extent. By the Eighteenth Century, religious passions had spent
themselves, and while the challenges of Deism and rationalism were
successfully met, the Church made little impact on intellectuals
and the newly-emerging industrial communities. The Evangelical Revival
went far to raise the levels of personal religion, but it remained
for reforming bishops and supporting politicians and to the Oxford
Movement to renew the institutional life of the Church of England.
ANGLICANISM IN AUSTRALIA
Members of the Church of England in the newly-independent United
States organised themselves as the Protestant Episcopal Church.
In the following years, the expansion of the British Empire saw
bishops appointed for Canada, India and, in 1836, Australia. William
Grant Broughton, the first bishop, worked hard to plant churches
in new settlements beyond the early chaplaincies. The outcome of
this was the creation of dioceses of the Church of England in each
Australian colony.
However, this development took place in a setting of denominational
pluralism. While occupying a prominent position in society, the
Church of England in Australia had no formal links with the State.
Hence, all the pioneer bishops had to evolve new forms of church
government, typically a Synod of clergy and parish representatives.
As well, lacking the endowment of its parent, Australian Anglicans
had to accept responsibility for the support of their clergy, the
buildings of their churches, and the development of educational
and charitable institutions. This has meant that while basic parish
and diocesan structures have been in place for over a century, the
Anglican Church of Australia has remained a church of large responsibilities,
but limited resources.
The various dioceses of the Australian Church, by and large, continue
to reflect the theological emphasis of their first bishops. Apart
from the largest diocese, Sydney, which remains staunchly Evangelical,
Australian dioceses exhibit varying shades of Anglo-Catholicism
relieved by Pentecostalism and Liberalism.
Their Anglicanism is usually defined by reference to the Lambeth
Quadrilateral - that summary of essentials agreed to by the Anglican
bishops in their world-wide assembly at the Lambeth Conference of
1888. This comprises four Articles:
1. "The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as 'containing
all things necessary to salvation', and as being the rule and ultimate
standard of faith.
2. The Apostles' Creed, as the Baptismal Symbol; and the Nicene
Creed, as the sufficient statement of the Christian Faith.
3. The two Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself - Baptism and the
Supper of the Lord - ministered with unfailing use of Christ's Words
of Institution, and of the elements ordained by Him.
4. The Historic Episcopate, locally adapted in the methods of its
administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called
of God into the Unity of His Church."
By the Right Revd James Grant
Brief History of the Diocese of Adelaide
Robin Radford, June 1999
The
Diocese of Adelaide was founded in 1847 with Bishop Augustus Short
as its first bishop. Until 1856 the diocese included Western Australia.
The Diocese now forms part of the Province of South Australia, with
Willochra (1915) and The Murray (1969).
The first Anglican services were held in 1837, shortly after the
founding of the Colony of South Australia, which unlike the other
Australian colonies, was founded on Wakefield's principles of systematic
colonisation, without convicts. As this colony was the first to
end the granting of public funds to religion (1851), the Church
of England in the colony had no establishment status.
Today,
the Diocese of Adelaide is geographically the smallest diocese in
Australia. It is largely an urban, metropolitan diocese, although
its rural parishes include Kangaroo
Island and in the north extends to the wine-producing Barossa
Valley and Kapunda.
Located
on traditional Kaurna lands, the Nunga Ministry serves the Aboriginal
community. Anglicare
SA continues to provide services to children, the aged and family
services and emergency relief. St
Peter's Cathedral in North Adelaide is the mother church. While
predominantly Anglo-Celtic in background, it has a multi-cultural
and mission ethos, and has played a significant part in the growth
and development of the state.
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