The Church of England does not exist

The biggest problem the Church of England has in dealing with the situation caused by the Occupy LSx encampment at St Paul’s Cathedral is that the Church of England does not exist.

If you look at the Companies House website you will find no entry for a company called “The Church of England.” Similarly, the Charity Commission has no record of an entity called “The Church of England.” Nor can you be a member of the Church of England. There is no membership card and no subscription. It does not exist.

Nor does the Church of England have a leader. It has a head: Christ; and a supreme governor: The Queen. But it does not have a leader. The Archbishop of Canterbury is, first and foremost, the diocesan Bishop of Canterbury with the same responsibilities and powers as the other diocesan bishops – to lead his diocese.

Of course, the Archbishop is Primus Inter Pares and has specific additional roles and responsibilities and he is looked to for spiritual and theological leadership; but not for leadership you would receive from, for example, the head of a political party, the chairman of a company, the head teacher of a school.

So what is the structure of the Church of England? If I were writing a series of books I may have the space to explain; but within this blog post I can only summarise. To read more, click here.