ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the particular laws of individual Anglican churches, whose common features are articulated in The Principles of Canon Law Common to the Churches of the Anglican Communion (2008), in terms of their sources and forms; scope and purposes; and structure, effect, and enforcement. It discusses the extent to which these principles of Anglican canon law are reflected in the Statement of Principles of Christian Law (2016). It does so by offering examples of unambiguous convergence but also of how, in relation to certain matters, a nuanced and generous interpretation of the latter establishes a high degree of congruity between the two. Effective ecumenism has its foundations in self-understandings of the nature of churches. Anglican laws provide ecclesial density, otherwise lacking, to the Anglican Communion of autonomous churches, which allows more meaningful engagement in the ecumenical endeavour, in bilateral and multilateral conversations in wider ecumenical initiatives, giving traction and purchase to what is often seen as nebulous and illusory.
