The Anglican Church in Central America ( es, Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América, link=no) is a province of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

, covering five sees in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

History

Four of the five dioceses of the Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de America were founded by the

Episcopal Church in the United States of America The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...

. Anglicanism was also introduced by the

Society for the Propagation of the Gospel United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) is a United Kingdom-based charitable organization (registered charity no. 234518). It was first incorporated under Royal Charter in 1701 as the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Part ...

when the United Kingdom administered two colonies in Central America,

British Honduras British Honduras was a British Crown colony on the east coast of Central America, south of Mexico, from 1783 to 1964, then a self-governing colony, renamed Belize in June 1973,

and Miskitia. In later years, immigrants brought the Anglican Church with them. This first period is often called the time of the chaplaincies. Bishop William C. Frey was consecrated as the first missionary bishop of the Diocese of Guatemala in 1967. By 2008, the Anglican Church in Central America had voted to consecrate women bishops although none of have been consecrated as of yet. By 2013, the Diocese of El Salvador offered ministries on behalf of and in support of LGBT members. Julio Murray, Bishop of Panama, was elected as Primate in April 2018 and took office with his installation on 11 August, succeeding Sturdie Downs, Bishop of Nicaragua. Downs was elected in late 2014 to serve a four-year term of office as primate (2015–2019); he succeeded Armando Guerra, Bishop of Guatemala (2011–2015), who in turn succeeded Martin Barahona, Bishop of El Salvador (2003–2011).

Membership

Today, there are over 35,000 Anglicans out of an estimated population of 30.1 million.

Structure

The polity of the Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América is

Episcopalian church governance An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. (The word "bishop" derives, via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term ''*ebiscopus''/''*bisc ...

, which is the same as other Anglican churches. The church maintains a system of geographical

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

es organized into

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

s. There are 5 of these, each headed by a bishop: * The Diocese of Costa Rica * The Diocese of El Salvador * The Diocese of Guatemala * The Diocese of Nicaragua * The Diocese of Panamá Some countries of Central America are part of other Anglican churches: * The

Anglican Diocese of Belize The Anglican Diocese of Belize was established in 1883. The current bishop is Philip Wright. Established in 1883 as a member of the Church of the Province of the West Indies, the Diocese of Belize now comprises 31 churches spread throughout t ...

is part of the

Church in the Province of the West Indies The Church in the Province of the West Indies is one of 40 member provinces in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church comprises eight dioceses spread out over much of the West Indies area. The present position of Archbishop and Primate of the ...

* The Episcopal Diocese of Honduras is part of Province 9 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America

Worship and liturgy

The Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest, and bishop. The Spanish-language version of the Episcopal Church (USA)'s 1979

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

is used.

Doctrine and practice

The center of the Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América's teaching is the life and resurrection of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. The basic teachings of the church, or catechism, includes: *Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. He died and was resurrected from the dead. *Jesus provides the way of eternal life for those who believe. *The Old and New Testaments of the Bible were written by people "under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit". The Apocrypha are additional books that are used in Christian worship, but not for the formation of doctrine. *The two great and necessary sacraments are Holy Baptism and

Holy Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

*Other sacramental rites are confirmation,

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform v ...

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

reconciliation of a penitent Confession, in many religions, is the acknowledgment of one's sins (sinfulness) or wrongs. Christianity Catholicism In Catholic teaching, the Sacrament of Penance is the method of the Church by which individual men and women confess sin ...

, and

unction Anointing is the ritual act of pouring aromatic oil over a person's head or entire body. By extension, the term is also applied to related acts of sprinkling, dousing, or smearing a person or object with any perfumed oil, milk, butter, or ot ...

. *Belief in heaven, hell, and Jesus' return in glory.

Ecumenical relations

Unlike many other Anglican churches, the Iglesia Anglicana de la Región Central de América is not a member of the ecumenical

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

Ordination of women

Within the province, the dioceses represent a diversity of opinions on social issues. Regarding gender equality, the province has dioceses, including the Episcopal Church of Costa Rica, that recognize women in ordained ministry. In 2012, the Episcopal Church in Nicaragua ordained two women as priests.

Human sexuality

In 2003, the Primate, or Presiding Bishop, of the Anglican Church in Central America attended the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay and partnered bishop in the Anglican Communion. The Diocese of El Salvador formed a ministry for LGBT people in the country. In 2014, the Episcopal Church of Costa Rica, a diocese of the province, has taken steps to welcome LGBT members. Also in 2014, the diocese in El Salvador continued to offer a space for LGBT members to "freely express themselves." The Diocese of Guatemala elected Silvestre Enrique Romero as bishop coadjutor in 2017. Romero, prior to being elected bishop, served in the US Episcopal Church and offered to bless same-sex unions as priest-in-charge.

References

External links

Diocesis de El Salvador Website
*
Iglesia Anglicana de la Region Central de America
{{Authority control *

Protestantism in Costa Rica Protestantism in El Salvador Christian denominations in Guatemala Protestantism in Nicaragua Christian denominations in Panama