The Structure of the Church of England
The Structure of the Church of England Explained
A view from Swanley by the Vicar, Father Dane Batley-Gladden
The Church of England is NOT:
a single entity or organization led by the Archbishop of Canterbury
The Church of England IS:
a network of 12,500 individual self-governing parishes (with more than 16,000 church buildings across England)
each parish being an individual charity
PLUS
thousands of other charities founded by members of the Church of England
WHO TOGETHER
co-operate (sometimes more effectively than others) to proclaim the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and who are SERVED BY
the Archbishop of Canterbury
who convenes the bishops of the Church and works to provide effective focus for effort among the bishops in their national responsibilities
BECAUSE when Christians speak in unity, they will be heard and when they are but a lone voice in a world of white noise they are easily ignored.
It is entirely wrong to suggest that the Archbishop should order any part of the church to behave in a particular way or follow a course of action. The only area over which the archbishop has any authority to order action is the Diocese of Canterbury, the eastern part of Kent, for which the archbishop bears responsibility.
Historical Perspective:
The Church of England split from Rome in the 1530s in a process driven by Henry VIII. There was a widespread view – across the Christian world – that bishops had become too powerful and that the Church of England should follow the practice of Reformed and Protestant Churches on the European continent to weaken the powers of bishops and increase the powers of ordinary clergy and of lay people. The Church of England is therefore constructed on the basis of divided and devolved authority. Because the Church of England is rooted in England, followers (both in this country and elsewhere) are sometimes called Anglicans.
The Church of England is divided into two provinces – Canterbury and York – and also into geographical units called dioceses – they are a bit like counties – and in each diocese there is a bishop who has responsibility for that diocese. There are 42 dioceses in England, 30 in Canterbury and 12 in York. Bishops are appointed by the King and they hold their responsibilities direct from him. Each diocese of the Church of England is a member of either the Canterbury or York provinces. Each province has an archbishop. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior of the two BUT cannot tell the Archbishop of York what to do! When all the bishops of the Church of England join with the decision-making structures of the church (these have varied throughout its history) and pass resolutions THEN (and only then) can something be said to have been decided by the Church of England.
There are national policies in place for consecrating new bishops and ordaining new priests and deacons. There are rules about services and the duties of parish priests. There are rules governing relationships with other churches. All of these are overseen by individual bishops in their dioceses, these bishops are accountable to God for their actions or inactions.
So: the Archbishops of Canterbury and York are not the “line managers” of the bishops of the dioceses. Diocesan bishops hold their mandate direct from the sovereign. Each diocesan bishop has one or more junior bishops: these can be called suffragan bishops, area bishops or assistant bishops. They, too, are appointed by the King but are called to assist the diocesan bishop. These junior bishops are full bishops but they exercise their responsibilities in conjunction with diocesan bishops and at their direction.
Bishops, however, are not all-powerful because they give away some of their responsibilities to the priests appointed to run individual parishes and this “give away” is total and final because each of the parishes in the Church of England is an individual, self-governing, charity.
Every square inch of England is the responsibility of a parish recognized by the Church of England. In 2026 there are around 12,500 individual parishes. Every parish is in one of the dioceses of the Church of England but parishes are grouped together in a number of different ways. An individual church building might be the only Church of England church in a parish, or there might be several buildings in a parish, or parishes might be grouped together with a single priest or a single team serving a whole group of towns and villages.
Each diocese is divided up into archdeaconries: an archdeacon is a priest appointed by the diocesan bishop to oversee groups of parishes. These groups of parishes are called deaneries. Each deanery has an Area or Rural Dean (the title varies) and the purpose of the deanery is to enable good communication between the diocesan centre and each parish.
A parish in the Church of England is a community of Christians serving an area with very precise boundaries and given both duties and privileges within its area. Most parishes will have a vicar or rector (the title varies, but the job is the same) or a priest in charge. Parishes in the Church of England agree that they will only appoint a minister from a list which is held by the national Church of England. They will follow the rules of the Church of England.
A parish priest may be selected by a number of different means but their actual recognition as the priest for a parish must be done by the bishop of the diocese. In the olden days, the vicar or rector was given the title deeds of the parish church and their own house – the freehold, as it is called – and once they had received them they owned the church and their house. There were great restrictions on what they could do with them! But they became entitled to the revenues of any land or investments and in return they had to make sure that the Church of England’s services were provided in their church.
This process meant that bishops had very few rights in individual churches: parishes are the legal responsibility of the individual priest and the bishop cannot turn up and demand that any service is carried out, nor to lead any service, nor can they require a particular form of service to be used nor can they tell the individual priest what their priorities must be. Once there is a vicar or rector, bishops have handed almost all rights and responsibilities. The role of bishops then is to hear complaints about the parish priest and to rule on whether those complaints should be dealt with in a particular way – if the law of the Church has specifically allowed the bishop to issue such a direction. But this independence could mean that the church’s message is weak. When archbishops and bishops join together in providing focus and clear teaching, this can inspire parishes to witness in every single community across the country and so the message of the Church’s love can be magnified throughout the nation. Individuality in parishes makes this message more authentic because it is being ‘owned’ by a wide group of people. This creates impact. BUT it is voluntary! In fact, probably, it only has impact BECAUSE it is voluntary.
In summary: bishops are all independent of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Parishes are independent of the bishop. Yet all will work much more effectively when they combine to speak with a united voice. This is difficult because the Church of England is present in every local community and therefore must reflect a whole range of experiences and aspirations.
It is because the Church of England is diverse that it doesn’t speak with clarity, its voice is sometimes muffled. It is because it is diverse that different parts of it stress very different things and so it appears muddled. It is because the Church of England is diverse that sometimes bishops and others are hesitant to speak out because they know they are not speaking for everyone and so appear to have been muzzled.
A further complicating factor is that members of the Church of England can join together to tackle a particular need or advance a particular cause. Although they might agree that their membership needs to be drawn from the Church of England – or their cause is such that it will only be CofE members who are interested! – an individual charity formed in this circumstance is in NO way subject to the Archbishop of Canterbury (or any bishop, priest, deacon or parish within the Church of England) nor are they the responsibility of anyone else. They are answerable only within the bounds of charity law. They can’t be shut down, regulated or even influenced by “The Church of England”, they are entirely independent. Even if their members are subject to the discipline of the Church of England, when acting as charity trustees their sole legal responsibility is the best interests of the individual charity and not the best interests of the Church of England.
The Church of England is not a single organization led by the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is tens of thousands individual and independent charities who are all focussed on one God and one Lord but serving God in the ways which seem best to them. Bishops and Archbishops can provide leadership, focus and prophecy but they cannot regulate or rule. The entire structure of the Church of England is purposely designed to prevent such regulation. It is almost as though it exists precisely to frustrate any attempt to treat it in that way.
It is therefore the case that treating the Church of England as a single entity is bound to fail. Dioceses could be broken up and dispatched, but that wouldn’t stop the parishes working. Parishes could be targeted and an individual charity shut down, but that wouldn’t stop the dioceses providing teaching. Church buildings could be locked up but that wouldn’t prevent individual church members from meeting together in each other’s homes and continuing their same operations.
Secular authorities want simplicity, clarity and singularity because these are easily regulated. With the Church of England, they aren’t going to get it – no matter how they legislate or what they do.
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Father Dane Batley-Gladden
February 2026
This article is the opinion of the writer, other Anglicans would have different views, or would have expressed the same views in a different way - that's the joy of the Church of England!