Rookie Anglican

Anglican Compass’s Rookie Anglican guides are brief, accessible introductions to the Book of Common Prayer, Anglican history, traditional practices, the Church Year (both seasons and feast days), and many other aspects of Anglicanism.

    Washington National Cathedral America

    Anglican America: From the Founding to the Future

    Posted on February 3, 2026
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    For more than 400 years, the Anglican tradition has played a central role in the development of the United States of America. The intellectual culture of recent decades has obscured this historical truth, both on account of revisionist historians who see America as a secular nation and also by the failure of Anglicans to tell…

    Jesus Christ, King of the World. Karl von Blaas.

    Christ the King Sunday: A Rookie Anglican Guide

    Posted on November 21, 2025
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    The final Sunday of the church year is the Feast of Christ the King. Pope Pius XI established the feast in 1925, seeking to counter the rise of secularism and atheism by reasserting the sovereignty of Christ. Though the named feast is a 20th-century innovation, the theme of Christ’s kingship is central to scripture and…

    Three Gothic Windows for the Gloria Patri

    The Gloria Patri: A Rookie Anglican Guide

    Posted on April 30, 2025
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    The Gloria Patri (Latin for “glory to the Father”) is that small but mighty doxology in Anglican worship where we proclaim: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to Holy Spirit;as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. The Gloria Patri is used most…

    Palm branches for Palm Sunday. Sidney de Almeida from Getty Images.

    Palm Sunday: A Rookie Anglican Guide

    Posted on April 7, 2025
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    Palm Sunday is a day of palm fronds, outdoor processions, and loud praises to Christ. With these practices, we mimic the crowds that went with Jesus on his way into Jerusalem. Like them, we celebrate Christ as the returning King, the son of David, and the long-awaited messiah. However, when we remember what Jesus went…

    Vintage Books for The Formularies

    The Formularies: A Rookie Anglican Guide

    Posted on January 18, 2025
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    The Anglican Formularies are the Thirty-Nine Articles, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Ordinal (the service for ordaining clergy). A strong case can be made that the Books of Homilies also serve this function. The Formularies provide both cohesiveness and clarity to the Church’s doctrine.