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 Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia

Members 220,659

Established as an autonomous Church in 1857. In 1992 the constitution allowed the bicultural development of worship and mission for Maori, white European, and Polynesian membership.

Australia

Members 3,881,162 (2001)

Begun by convicts and military personnel in 1788. The Church became autonomous in 1962. Women were ordained priest in 1992, and bishop in 2008.

Brazil

Members 106,415

Begun in 1890 by two US missionaries, the Church achieved autonomy from the US Episcopal Church in 1965. It has more than 200 clergy, including 30 women priests.

Burundi

Members 850,000

An Anglican presence was established in the 1930s by CMS, and missions were set up by the former Ruanda Mission, now CMS. It has been an independent province since 1992. Its chief work is peace and reconciliation, the care of refugees and displaced persons, literacy, and HIV/AIDS.

Canada

Members 641,845

The eucharist was first celebrated in 1578; the first church was built in 1750. The Church is a strong advocate of the rights of indigenous Canadians, and contributes to emergency relief work worldwide. A few conservative congregations have recently joined the Province of the Southern Cone.

Central Africa

Members 600,000

The province includes Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The first Anglican missionary was Bishop Charles Mackenzie, who arrived with David Livingstone in 1861. The Church has many challenges, not least the upheaval in Zimbabwe. Zambia and Botswana suffer the effects of rapid industrialisation, along with underdevelopment. In Malawi, 30 per cent of males are working as migrant labourers in other countries at any one time.

Central American Region

Members 15,600

The province comprises the dioceses of Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. The Church was introduced when England administered two colonies, Belize (1783-1982), and Miskitia (1740-1894). The province is multicultural and multiracial, and is committed to evangelisation.

Congo

Members 500,000

A Ugandan evangelist established an Anglican presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) in 1896. After independence, the Church expanded and formed the dioceses of Burundi, Rwanda, and Boga-Zaire as part of the Province of Uganda. The new province changed its name in 1997. In 2002 many Congolese had to flee to Uganda because of internal tribal warfare.

Church of England

Baptised members 26,000,000

Covering all of England, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands; mainland Europe; Morocco; Turkey; and the Asian countries of the former Soviet Union. Its structures emerged from the missionary work of St Augustine in AD 597. In the 16th century it separated from Rome and rejected the authority of the Pope. The Church of England is the established Church.

Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui

Members 30,000

Inaugurated in 1998. The history of the province of Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui (the Holy Catholic Church in China) dates back to its establishment in 1912, with the Anglican Church as an integral part. It ceased to exist in the 1950s, and Hong Kong and Macau came under the custodianship of the Council of Churches of East Asia, until the establishment of the diocese as the 38th province of the Anglican Communion in 1998.

Indian Ocean

Members 90,486

The Anglican mission in Mauritius began in 1812. The first Anglican church, in the Seychelles, was dedicated in January 1856. The dioceses of Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles combined in 1973 to create the province.

Ireland

Members 410,000

The Irish Church Act of 1869 dissolved the statutory union between the Churches of England and Ireland, and the Church of Ireland ceased to be established by law. A General Synod, established in 1871, has legislative power. Church leaders have played a key role in the work of reconciliation in the Northern Ireland conflict.

Japan

Members 35,000

Two missionaries from the American Episcopal Church went to Japan in 1859, followed some years later by representatives of the Church of England and the Church in Canada. The first Japanese bishops were consecrated in 1923. The Church assumed all church leadership after the Second World War.

Jerusalem and the Middle East

Members 10,000

Comprising the dioceses of Jerusalem, Iran, Egypt, Cyprus, and the Gulf. In 1976 the Diocese of Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria was combined with the Jerusalem bishopric after a 19-year separation. A new Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf was formed, and the Diocese of Egypt was revived.

Kenya

Members 3,500,000

Anglican missionaries first arrived in Mombasa in 1844. In 1885 the first African was ordained to the priesthood, the first Kenyan bishops in 1955 The Church became part of the Province of East Africa, established in 1960, but by 1970 Kenya and Tanzania were divided into separate provinces.

Korea

Members 14,558

From 1890 until 1965, the Diocese of Korea has had English bishops. In 1993 the Archbishop of Canterbury made the Anglican Church of Korea a province of the Anglican Communion. There are four religious communities in the country, and an Anglican university.

Melanesia

Members 250,000

After 118 years’ association with the Church of the Province of New Zealand, the Church of the Province of Melanesia was formed in 1975. It comprises the Republic of Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, and the French Trust Territory of New Caledonia.

Mexico

Members 21,000

The Mexican Episcopal Church began in 1857, when political reform secured freedom of religion. The Mexican Church became autonomous in 1995, with the name Iglesia Anglicana de Mexico.

Myanmar (Burma)

Members 63,845

Anglican missionaries worked in Burma in the early and mid-19th century. The Province of Myanmar was formed in 1970, nine years after the declaration of Buddhism as the state religion, and four years after all foreign missionaries were forced to leave.

Nigeria

17,500,000

Christianity revived with the arrival of Christian freed slaves in the 19th century. In 1979 the Province of West Africa was divided into the provinces of Nigeria and West Africa. In 1997 the Church of Nigeria was divided into three provinces; in 1999 another 12 dioceses were created; and in 2003 the Church was reorganised into ten provinces.

Papua New Guinea

Members 166,046

Organised as a missionary diocese of Australia in 1898, the Church was part of the Australian province of Queensland until 1977. The first indigenous priest was ordained in 1914. The Church functions mainly in rural areas, where mountains and rainforest make travel difficult.

Philippines

Members 121,000

The Philippines, a Spanish colony from 1521 to 1898, is predominantly Christian and Roman Catholic. The United States took over from Spain in 1898. In the same year, Anglican mission work began, and three dioceses were established by 1972. The first Filipino bishop was consecrated in 1959, and the province became autonomous in 1990.

Rwanda

Members 1,200,000

The former Rwanda Mission (now CMS) was established in 1925. The first Rwandan bishop was appointed in 1965. The Church suffered during the genocide, and has had a role in ministering to the traumatised people.

Scottish Episcopal Church

Members 42,290

After the Reformation, the Episcopal Church was the established Church of Scotland. It was replaced by the Presbyterians at the Revolution of 1689. In 1784, in Aberdeen, the Scottish Church consecrated the first bishop of the American Church. Rapid growth in the 19th century was influenced by the Tractarian movement.

South East Asia

Members 220,200

Originally under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Calcutta, the first chaplaincy was formed in 1805. The Diocese of Labuan, Sarawak, and Singapore was formed in 1881. A separate Diocese of Singapore was formed in 1909, and in 1962 the Dioceses of Jesselton (later renamed Sabah) and Kuching were formed from the former Diocese of Borneo. In 1970 West Malaysia was formed from the Dioceses of Malaya and Singapore. The province exists under social constraints, but has seen much spiritual renewal.

Southern Africa

Members 2,600,000

The oldest province in Africa — British Anglicans worshipped in Cape Town after 1806. The dioceses of the province include the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (St Helena and Tristan da Cunha), Mozambique, the Republic of Namibia, the Kingdom of Lesotho, and the Kingdom of Swaziland. The Church played a significant role in the abolition of apartheid in South Africa, and in peacekeeping in Mozambique and Angola.

Southern Cone of America

Members 22,490

British immigrants brought Anglicanism to South America in the 19th century. In 1974 the Archbishop of Canterbury gave over his metropolitical authority for the dioceses, and in 1981 the new province was formed, which includes Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Northern Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

Sudan

Members 5,000,000

The CMS began work in 1899 in Omdurman. Until 1974, the diocese of Sudan was part of the Jerusalem archbishopric. It reverted to the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury until the new province, consisting of four new dioceses, was established in 1976. Civil and religious strife have challenged the Church, which continues to give heroic witness to faith in Christ.

Tanzania

Members over 3,000,000

Missionary work began in 1863 in Zanzibar and in 1876 in Mpwapwa. The province was inaugurated in 1970, and the 20 dioceses represent both Evangelical and Anglo-Catholic Churches.

Uganda

Members 9,200,000

Founded in 1877 by the CMS, the Church grew through evangelisation by Africans. The Church of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi became an independent province in 1961. In 1980 the new Province of Burundi, Rwanda, and Zaire was inaugurated. The Province of Uganda has grown from 17 to 31 dioceses, but its history has been marked by civil strife.

United States of America

Members 2,400,000

The first eucharistic celebration was held in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. There was no resident bishop for 200 years, so colonists had to travel to England to be ordained. In 1784 the first American bishop was consecrated in Scotland, and in 1787 bishops were consecrated in England for the Dioceses of Pennsylvania and New York. In 1835 all members of the Episcopal Church were made members of the Missionary Society.

The Episcopal Church today maintains 100 dioceses, plus 10 overseas dioceses. It is governed by a General Convention consisting of a House of Clergy and Lay Deputies, and a House of Bishops. Between General Conventions, church affairs are managed by the Executive Council, which meets three times a year (except twice during a General Convention year). The province provides strong support to the Anglican communion, and Episcopalians are active in areas of social justice and ecumenical relations.

Wales

Members 78,000

The Church in Wales has been independent since its disestablishment and separation from the Church of England in 1920. It is the largest denomination in the country. The major policy-forming body is the Governing Body, and the Church’s inherited assets are held in trust by the Representative Body.

West Africa

Members 1,000,000

Church work began in Ghana in 1752, and in the Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in the 19th century. The Province of West Africa was founded in 1951, and was divided to form the Province of Nigeria and the Province of West Africa in 1979. The Church exists in an atmosphere of civil strife, and Christians remain a minority.

West Indies

Members 770,000

The West Indies became a self-governing province of the worldwide Anglican Communion in 1883. It is made up of mainland dioceses Belize and Guyana, and island dioceses including the Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Windward Islands. Emphasis is placed on training indigenous ministry, as the island locations and scattered settlements make pastoral care difficult.

Extra-Provincial Churches

Bermuda

Under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

Members 52,500

The Church of Ceylon comprises the Dioceses of Colombo (1845) and Kurunagala (1950). Currently under the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury, steps are being taken for the Church of Ceylon to adopt a new constitution to replace the Provincial Constitution. The dioceses face challenges of poverty, ethnic conflict, and a multifaith environment.

Cuba

Members 10,000

Under a Metropolitan Council in matters of faith and order. Council members include the Primate of Canada, and the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America.

Falkland Islands

The parish covers the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands, and British Antarctic Territory. Christ Church Cathedral is the most southerly cathedral in the world.

Lusitanian Church

Members 5000

Founded in 1880 by Roman Catholic priests and lay people as a reaction to the First Vatican Council. The priests used a translation of the 1662 English Prayer Book. In the early 1960s many provinces of the Anglican Communion established full communion with the Church in Portugal, and full integration occurred in 1980 when the Church became an extra-provincial diocese. In 1998 the diocesan synod of the Lusitanian Church accepted the Porvoo Declaration.

Spanish Reformed Episcopal Church

Members 5000

Divided into three archdiaconates: Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands; Andalusia and the Canary Islands: Central and Northern Spain. Established in 1868 in Gibraltar, the Church was for some years under the pastoral care of the Church of Ireland. In 1894 the Church adopted the Mozarabic liturgy of the early Spanish Church. Full integration into the Anglican Communion took place in 1980.

United Churches

Bangladesh

Members 15,623

Bangladesh was part of the State of Pakistan, which was partitioned from India in 1947. After the Pakistan civil war ended in 1971, East Pakistan became Bangladesh. The Church of Bangladesh is formed by a union of Anglicans with Christians of other traditions.

North India

Members 1,250,000

The Church was inaugurated in 1970. It includes the Anglican Church, the United Church of Northern India (Congregationalist and Presbyterian), the Methodist Church (British and Australian Conferences), the Council of Baptist Churches in Northern India, the Church of the Brethren in India, and the Disciples of Christ.

Pakistan

Members 800,000

The Church comprises the Anglican Church of Pakistan, the dioceses of Lahore and Karachi, two conferences of the United Methodist Church, the Scottish Presbyterian Church in Pakistan, and the Pakistan Lutheran Church.

South India

Members 3,000,000

The Church was inaugurated in 1947 by the union of the South India United Church, the southern Anglican dioceses of the Church of India and Burma, and the Methodist Church in South India.

Source: The Church of England Year Book 2008. NB the membership figures are those quoted by the provinces, and should be used with caution. The Church of England, for example, does not talk of membership.