Worship is the centre of Anglican life. Anglicans view their tradition as a broad form of public prayer, and they attempt to encompass diverse Christian styles in a traditional context. Although The Book of Common Prayer is the most apparent mark of Anglican identity, it has undergone many revisions and wears national guises. The prayer book of 1662 represents the official version in the Church of England, but a 1928 version is commonly used. In 2000 the church introduced Common Worship, a modernized collection of services and prayers, as an official alternative to the 1662 prayer book. Outside England a few Anglicans still rely upon the English prayer book of 1662, but most have their own versions, increasingly in languages other than English. All forms hold to the essential, historic elements of the prayer book but incorporate local idioms. In recent years there has been a recovery of ancient liturgical styles and vestments as well as an increased emphasis on the Eucharist as the central act of Christian worship. Experimental rites have appeared in different parts of the Anglican world. Change in Anglican worship has meant increased variety, new roles for the laity, and a tendency toward freedom of expression while retaining the essence of the church’s traditional forms.

Often said to be the middle way between Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, the Anglican Communion is comprehensive in matters of doctrine and practice. While asserting the importance of the apostolic succession of bishops and The Book of Common Prayer, it nevertheless allows a considerable degree of flexibility in most doctrinal and liturgical matters. Thus, within the Communion there are several schools of thought and practice, including High Church, Anglo-Catholic, Low Church or Evangelical, and others. The various churches of the Anglican Communion, though autonomous, are bound together by a common heritage and common doctrinal and liturgical concerns, and there has always been a considerable amount of interchange of ecclesiastical personnel.

Because the Anglican Communion consists of a cluster of related churches, it does not, as a worldwide communion, have membership in the World Council of Churches; each of the Anglican churches, however, holds such membership. This type of ecumenical relationship is in keeping with one of the consistent goals of Anglicanism. Anglicans see themselves as catalysts for Christian unity, and the Anglican blend of Catholic liturgy and Protestant procedure appears to afford the basis of a broad ecumenical encounter. Anglicanism has points in common with virtually all other expressions of the Christian faith. Anglicans readily engage Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant leaders in theological discussion and joint liturgy. Ecumenical processes involving the Roman Catholic Church have been regular and intensive, though without prospect of organic reunion. Committees involving the Lutheran and Reformed traditions have met regularly. In North America, Lutheran-Episcopalian dialogue has led to a formal “concordat” that entailed the mutual recognition of sacraments and ministry. For Anglicans, ecumenical discussion is the appropriate context for advancing the Christian mission.

Thomas Cranmer by Gerlach Flicke. Transferred from the British Museum in 1879. Presented by John Mitchell, of Bayfield Hall, Norfolk to the British Museum in 1776. Nothing can be traced concerning the history of the painting prior to 1776. The picture is painted with meticulous attention to detail including the depiction of stubble on Cranmer's chin, the crows' feet around his eyes (see micro 03), tufted threads of the carpet and inlaid detail of the chair (see micro 17). The painting is orderly and well planned except in the area around the hands and books upon the table where there have been changes made during the painting process. The paint surface in the flesh is made up of an initial thickly painted layer followed by very thinly painted areas of highlight and shadow. There is extensive use of azurite in the sky, carpet and in parts of the flesh tones.