Our Top 10 Articles of 2025
Reviewing the top articles on Anglican Compass this year, the story that emerges is a season of remarkable growth. It’s not just numerical growth, though that theme is present. Rather, there is a marked growth of interest in the history, doctrine, and spiritual practices of the Anglican tradition. In other words, we are growing both larger and deeper, like a tree putting down its roots. Let’s continue to draw sustenance and strength from our Lord Jesus Christ as we encounter him in Scripture and Sacrament and share him with a hungry world.
10. We Believe
This year is the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed. To commemorate the occasion, we had more than 20 articles on distinct phrases of the Creed. Here are links to all of the articles, together with an introduction to the series:
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Few of the bishops gathered would have expected their Creed to become a regular part of Sunday worship, and none of them would have expected it to survive 1700 years. Yet to this day, the Nicene Creed remains the most fundamental and unifying doctrinal statement across the worldwide Church.
9. Beyond Lent
During Lent, we have a special focus on the spiritual disciplines of the Christian life. But Isaac Rehberg explores which spiritual disciplines our Prayer Book outlines for the whole of the Christian year. Isaac writes:
In the weeks leading up to Lent, it is not uncommon to encounter folks criticizing the Lenten practices as unbiblical. Typically, the criticism is that we should not relegate these spiritual disciplines to a single time of year. Rather, critics argue, these practices should characterize the regular Christian life all year round.
Both these critics and the practitioners of Lent may be surprised to discover that the Book of Common Prayer has historically done exactly that in its prescribed rule of life! That is, the Prayer Book disciplines do indeed include prayer, repentance, almsgiving, and fasting as a constant element of Christian living, even if we intensify those disciplines a bit more during Lent.
8. The Formularies
In this Rookie Guide, Chris Findley both identifies the Formularies (The Book of Common Prayer, Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, Ordinal, and Books of Homilies) and also explains their essential role in defining Anglican belief and practice:
Without an anchor, the ship drifts. We have seen this repeatedly in the last few generations of the Church, where too many people have been left wondering, “What do Anglicans believe?” The Formularies provide both cohesiveness and clarity to the Church’s doctrine.
7. Mother of God
Andrew Bass’s article, on Anglicans and the Marian Dogmas, was the surprise hit of the Advent season. Andrew reflects on recent teachings by the Pope, and distinguishes between those dogmas Anglicans can and cannot support:
For Anglicans, the church can’t dogmatize anything not explicitly laid out in Scripture because Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation and the entirety of the Apostolic Deposit. The church may carry authority to speak on issues not mentioned in Scripture, and it often does, but it does not have the authority to dogmatize them…
So, what does this have to do with Mary? Do Anglicans affirm any of the Marian dogmas? Actually, yes! Anglicans affirm Mary’s divine motherhood, or her title as “Theotokos” (God-bearer).
6. Young Anglican
The rising generation—Gen Z—often explores theology on YouTube. This year, we profiled a series of Anglican YouTube creators, the most popular of which is Young Anglican. Jesse Nigro writes:
Among the rising voices in this search for meaning is Joe Colletti, known online as “Young Anglican.”
Colletti’s journey is far from typical; his path to Anglicanism is a fascinating blend of intellectual rigor, personal experience, and a deep engagement with faith and the challenges of the modern world. Through his YouTube channel and other online platforms, “Young Anglican” offers a compelling perspective on faith, tradition, and the relevance of Anglicanism for a new generation. From my time spent interviewing Joe, he impressed me with his entire approach to apologetics ministry, deeply informed by his personal and unique journey towards faith in Christ.
5. The Gloria Patri
We say the Gloria Patri all the time: Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit... But why do we say it, and what does it mean? Justin Clemente illuminates this most wonderful (and glorious) of prayers:
In the context of daily prayer, the Gloria Patri lifts us out of whatever is going on in our lives and into God’s life and story, showing us that the Lord’s sure plan of redemption is being accomplished and will be brought to completion. Think of it as a glimpse or a vista point from which we can look onto large truths in our daily lives.
4. A Brief History of Anglicanism
Winfield Bevins offers a concise history of the first 1500 years of Anglicanism, exploring our Celtic and Roman roots leading up to the English Reformation. Winfield writes:
Church fathers Tertullian and Origen both spoke of a church in England around AD 200; Saint Alban’s execution in AD 209 represents the first Christian martyrdom in the British Isles; and in AD 314, Britain sent three bishops to the Council of Arles. Not only have Christians inhabited the British Isles since the third century, but they have also actively contributed to the history of Christianity since that time.
3. Does the Pope matter for Anglicans?
With a new Pope this year, David Roseberry explores the significance of the Bishop of Rome for Anglicans. David writes:
While Anglicans have bishops and honor the ancient pattern of apostolic succession, they do not see episcopal authority—or unity under a pope—as necessary for the Church’s validity. To suggest that grace must pass through a particular church structure seems, to many Anglicans, to limit the power and freedom of God’s grace.
Another way to put it is that grace is not dispensed by the Church, but announced by it. The Church proclaims the good news of the Gospel. It offers the sacraments as effective means of grace, but it does not own or control God’s grace.
God’s grace comes directly to the sinner through faith in Christ.
2. Women Bishops and Reception
Prompted by the selection of Dame Sarah Mullaly as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Noll revisits the question of the ordination of women bishops. He draws on his service on the GAFCON Task Force on Women in the Episcopate, which recommended the church retain the practice of consecrating only men as Bishops. Stephen writes:
I am not here to cast stones but rather to ask whether the advent of a woman Archbishop of Canterbury, an office for many years considered a “focus of unity” in Anglicanism, should cause a rethinking among global Anglicans of our doctrine and discipline of Holy Orders. Rethinking may, in turn, require repenting of errors not only in the revisionist West but in our own movement.
1. Rise of the Anglican Megachurch
Our most-read article of the year reports on the growing number of Anglican megachurches, defined here as those that welcome more than 500 on a Sunday. In addition to listing the churches, Peter Johnston explores some of the dynamics that usually prevent Anglican megachurches, and some of the factors that make them possible:
Because Anglican worship usually involves weekly Communion, Anglican congregations are much less likely to grow to 2,000 or more. The practice of Holy Communion is typically a barrier to expansive congregational growth because it is participatory, spiritually demanding, and logistically complex. Most megachurches, by contrast, offer a form of worship that is more seeker-sensitive, which resembles a performance more closely.
However, it is possible for an Anglican Church to have more than 500 attendees on a Sunday, while retaining Holy Communion and other features from the Book of Common Prayer. Often, this can be achieved through the multiplication of services in a single church building or the expansion of sites under one rector and vestry.
Image by Enterline Design Services, courtesy of Canva. Digital editing by Peter Johnston.
Top 10 Articles of 2022
What a year! 2022 started out slowly, as Anglican Compass transitioned from its founding generation to its new leadership. But the year ended with a bang, with November setting an all-time traffic record of 96,000 views, and then December far surpassing it, with 125,000 and counting! It’s not just the quantity of views that excites…
True North 2025: An Appeal for Anglican Compass
Each December, we ask our readers to give to our TRUE NORTH campaign. Join us as we point to Jesus through the riches of the Anglican tradition.
