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# Faith & worship

The Church · The Free Protestant Episcopal Church of England

The Free Protestant Episcopal Church of England (FPEC) is the founding Church, established in England on 2 November 1897. The Free Protestant Episcopal Church Worldwide Communion (FPEC-WC) developed from this Church and brings together churches with their own identities and local leadership.

## Scripture and conscience

[Find a community](/communities/)

The Church’s faith centres on Jesus Christ and draws on Holy Scripture, the Christian tradition, reason and freedom of conscience. Its Anglican inheritance encourages thoughtful engagement with faith and the questions of daily life.

## Sacraments and prayer

The 1662 Book of Common Prayer has an important place in the Church’s liturgical inheritance. Scripture, prayer and the sacraments shape its worship, with room for local languages and different expressions of Christian spirituality.

## A breadth of worship

The Worldwide Communion includes High Church, Evangelical, Broad Church and Charismatic forms of worship. Visitors should contact a local community about its services and customs. Shared fellowship allows these traditions to meet without requiring every church to worship in the same way.

The FPEC follows the Anglican Via Media, or middle way, drawing on Scripture, tradition, reason and conscience. Its statement of faith refers to 35 Articles of Religion as a modern expression of this inheritance.

## An Anglican inheritance

Our 35 Articles of Religion express the faith for the present day, drawing on the Church of England’s historic 39 Articles. The Via Media — a middle way — brings Lutheran and Calvinist insights into conversation within our Anglican inheritance. Liturgical and sacramental, evangelical, broad-church and charismatic communities share in this fellowship.

## The historic episcopate

The Communion’s historical account traces its episcopal succession through Armenian Catholic, Syriac Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Reformed Episcopal lines, the latter connected with the Church of England. These are the lines claimed in its records. Recognition of orders differs between churches, and some early links, especially the Armenian episcopal claim, remain disputed.

[FPEC](https://thefpec.webnode.page/member-churches/) · [1897–2024](https://web.archive.org/web/20240228132240/http://anglicanfreecommunion.org.uk/WhoWeAre.htm)

## TraditionFreedomFellowshipMission

No matter who you are or where you are on your spiritual journey you are welcome to our table. The Gifts of God are free!

Welcome statement adopted at the General Synod in Bolivia, 2012.

**The love of Christ is the bond that unites this Communion.**

## Continue exploring

[About us](/church/about/)[Worldwide Communion](/communion/)[Documents & letters](/documents/)

## Book of Common Prayer · 1662

[Read the prayer book](/prayer-book/)

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