The Anglican church... is it only in the British Isles that they say Church of...? For example Church of Eng?

Question

The reasons I ask, The Church of Ireland is Anglican (Or so I believe. If i'm wrong, correct me.)

Ireland is predominantly a Catholic country, so one would say that the church of Ireland was the Catholic church.

I have no quibbles about the Church of Ireland being Anglican, as it's what it means.

I was wondering... do they say the Church of Germany, the Church of France, and so on? If not, why not?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Anglican refers to the tradition of Catholicism to which many churches belong. This church was the result of a schism in the mid 1500s. During this schism, the Church of England was established, and still is the State Church of the United Kingdom (24 bishops still sit on the House of Lords and the Queen is still the head of the Church). As the British Empire grew, it established Anglican catholic jurisdictions in all of its territories. In all jurisdictions, there is still reference to the Anglican tradition.
Some survived, some didn't. In Scotland, for example, the Church of Scotland is Presbyterian (due to the reformer John Knox), the Anglican Jurisdiction is known as the Episcopal Church of Scotland (so as to distance itself from England). Similarly, in the United States, the Anglican jurisdiction is known as the Episcopal Church - USA. Others retain a combination such as the Anglican Church of Canada, or Anglican Church of Australia.
Actually - there is no Church of Germany or Church of France as Anglicans did not establish themselves in the European Mainland. Originally, the Anglican church was intended to be only an English expression of catholicism and therefore found only in the Commonwealth and formerly British territories (such as the United States). Some churches that broke from Rome are under Anglican supervision (such as the Lusitanian Church), but reflect only a very small minority of European Christians.

Answer 2

The whole 'Church of...' concept is unique to the British Isles really. It all started with King Henry VIII breaking away from the Catholic church and naming himself head of the churches in England. Hence, the Church of England. There's a Church of Scotland, but they're not Anglican, though at the moment I can't remember what denomination they are. But with the Church of Ireland, it's Anglican verses Catholic because the English used to control Ireland for a number of years, and introduced Anglicanism (sp?) there. One could say that the Lutheran Church is 'The Church of Germany' since it was started in Germany by Martin Luther, but that isn't right. I think that the 'Church of...' thing only applies if the church is headed by the government, i.e. the king or queen. And even though Ireland no longer has a king or queen, it's still called the Church of Ireland out of tradition.

Answer 3

Nope. The Anglican church is a pretty unique construct, and elsewhere people generally identify themselves by their denominations--whereas the Anglican church is another little branch unto itself, not a denomination at all.

Answer 4

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