Church of England (Continuing)

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The Church of England (Continuing) is part of the Continuing Anglican Movement. It was founded in England in 1995 in reaction to the decision of the Church of England to modernize the prayer book (which became Common Worship) and to the ordination of women. Unlike the Free Church of England, which also broke from the Church of England, the Church of England (Continuing) holds to the unmodifiedThirty-Nine Articles of Religion of the Church of England and to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer which alone is used by its parishes for worship.

Although the CofEC was widely discussed in Anglican circles at the time of its founding, it has not achieved significant growth since that time. The suggestion has been made that one reason for this may be the greater acceptance of vernacular worship and women clergy among younger Christians, many of whom would logically have come to the Church through the evangelical movement.

Five congregations are listed by the CofEC as of 2006: (St. Mary's, Castle Street, Reading, Berkshire; Nuffield Parish Church, near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire; St. John's Church, Colliers Wood, London; St. Silas Church, Wolverhampton and Holy Trinity Church, Frinton-on-Sea). The current presiding bishop of the Church of England (Continuing) is the Rt. Rev'd Edward Malcolm. Its American representative is the Rt. Rev'd Albion Knight, Jr. who was formerly the presiding bishop of the United Episcopal Church of North America. The CofEC, however, has not authorized the affiliation with itself of any congregations in the United States or elsewhere outside England.