ABSTRACT
The existence of various theological outlooks among Anglicans, especially in matters of episcopacy, suggests that Anglican decision-making processes on controversial issues of belief and practice have not been geared toward enforcing doctrinal uniformity. Different and at times incompatible viewpoints and theologies have been allowed to co-exist within the Anglican Church. The basis of this ecclesial authority may be found in historical circumstances that, in the long run, led to the development of a system that came to place more emphasis on open debate and correction from all quarters of the Church than on concentrating power in the hands of one group or individual.1 This Anglican understanding of ecclesial authority has not only acquired a consistent theoretical framework, but is at least implicitly followed by all Anglicans. Even Anglicans who have expressed unhappiness with it are in practice quite prepared to participate in the system when they disagree with their leaders. Unlike the ambiguity that affects some of its other ecclesiological reflections, modern Anglicanism can present a fairly straightforward and unambiguous answer to the question of how controversial issues of belief and practice are to be decided within the Church.
