The Anglican Communion began with the Church of England separating from the Roman Catholic Church in the middle of the 16th century as part of the Reformation. It is now found in 160 countries throughout the world. The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Although Anglicans share in a fairly similar form of liturgical worship, not all Anglicans think alike. “There are vast cultural and theological differences within the church. For example, most of the African churches were started by very conservative English missionaries and, thus, tend to have a rather conservative, literal approach to scripture, the authority of their bishops and social issues, including human sexuality. The American churches evolved in a totally different cultural, political and theological context. … There’s a tremendous clash in approaches” between African and American Anglicans, Boyle said. Many of the African bishops are demanding that the Americans approach the church and religion the same way they do. “The differences are so vast that they are not likely to get easily resolved. Part of what they are demanding is that we all think alike. To us it’s normal to have differences of opinion. For us, our unity isn’t found in thinking alike. It is found in our common worship.”<\/p>\n