Anglican Church

The Church in England is state. It is under the protection and care of the royal authority, and bishops are also appointed by it. The Anglican Church arose under the influence of the activities of King Henry VIII, who benefited from the care of the Pope. Initially, the church was Catholic, then gradually the Protestant trends began to flow into it. The Church of England can also be called catholic, because it expresses adherence to the early apostolic church, and reformed, in connection with the influence of Protestant principles on its foundations.

The Anglican Church is closely connected with the state power. Many bishops are members of the House of Lords, and all the important decisions of the church imply approval in parliament. The state bears the lion's share of the expenses for the maintenance of the church, and its leaders are directly connected with the financial oligarchy. The Church of England, being in the middle between Catholic and Protestant faith, comes into contact with both, and with others. Three directions contains an Anglican church - a low one weighs on Protestantism, whereas a high one is close to Catholicism. A broad direction reconciles all, including different Christian currents.

The Anglican Church in its faith is guided by the Holy Scriptures, the three symbols of faith, the provisions that were adopted at the first four ecumenical councils, the "39 articles" and the "Book of Public Worship." "39 articles" are named according to the number of doctrinal statements and show the position of the church between Catholics and Protestants. Above them worked Cranmer, Archbishop, who died a martyr's death. "The Book of Common Prayers" also owes much of the work to the same Cranmer and contains the traditional Anglican prayers.

Initially, the Anglicans set out to unite all Christian churches, Cranmer developed a plan that did not work because it did not arouse the interest of many church representatives. But the Anglican priests continued to negotiate, as a result of which the church entered into full eucharistic communion with the Polish and Old Catholic churches. The Anglican Church, originally formed in England and Ireland, has gradually spread throughout the world, thanks to missionary work and the firm habits and preferences of the colonists. Thus, the Anglicans appeared in Russia.

In Voznesensky pereulok, practically in the center of Moscow and to this day the only Anglican church is preserved . Moscow gave shelter to its followers back in the 19th century. Then on the site of the chapel in 1884 the English cathedral was erected. By that time, the number of British colonists had increased so much that they could no longer accommodate the walls of a small chapel. The iron gates are decorated with the symbols of Ireland, England, Scotland, and the cross is adorned with a cross that is clearly not Orthodox. The cathedral transforms the street, causing a sense of presence in England of the times of Victorianism.

This Anglican church of St. Andrew, built under the guidance of Freeman, an English architect. Later, under the guidance of Freudenberg, a Moscow architect, a two-story house was built for the clergy. The cathedral was not only a place of worship, but also a cultural center with a library and a vault where the entire British colony was going to gather. During the Revolution, the Bolsheviks seized the church building and looted safe depositories. The building was first made up of a warehouse, then a hostel, and after that the recording studio Melodiya was established.

In the 90s the Anglicans received their church back and liturgies were resumed. At first the priest came from Helsinki once a month, and then, in 1993, the cathedral acquired its own chaplain and the services began to go on in the usual way. To date, only part of the building is in Anglican use, the second half belongs to the orphanage.