Church of the Province of Myanmar
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The Church of the Province of Myanmar is a member Church in the Anglican Communion, located in Asia. The province is bordered by China on the north, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, and India on the northwest, with the Andaman Sea to the south, and the Bay of Bengal to the southwest. The current archbishop of Myanmar and bishop of Yangon is the most Revd. Steven Than Myint Oo.
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[edit] Official name
The Church of the Province of Burma was created as an independent church of Burmese Anglicans in 1970, and changed its name to the Church of the Province of Myanmar when the country's name was changed in 1988.
[edit] History
Throughout the colonial period, the Church of England had a strong presence in the country, due to the fact that the majority of the British belonged to the Church. The Anglo-Burmese and the Anglo-Indian community in the country in their vast majority also adhered to Anglicanism, and the incidence of schools run by the Church of England to educate British and Eurasian children increased. Notable schools include St. Mary's and St. Michaels in Maymyo and Mandalay. With independence, the number of Anglicans in the country decreased with the departure of the British and the subsequent exodus of the Anglo-Burmese and Anglo-Indians. Today there still exist notable Anglican churches throughout the country, particularly in Maymyo, where All Saint's Church still has a thriving communion.
[edit] Membership
In 1966, all foreign missionaries were forced to leave the country. Today, there are at least 42,000 Anglicans out of an estimated population of 48.3 million in Myanmar.
[edit] Structure
The polity of the Church of the Province of Myanmar is Episcopalian church governance, which is the same as other Anglican churches. The church maintains a system of geographical parishes organized into dioceses. There are six of these, each headed by a bishop:
- Hpa-an
- Mandalay
- Mytikyina
- Sittwe
- Toungoo
- Yangon
[edit] Worship and liturgy
The Church of the Province of Myanmar embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest, and bishop. A local variant of the Book of Common Prayer is used.
[edit] Doctrine and practice
- See also: Anglicanism and Anglican doctrine
The center of the Church of the Province of Myanmar's teaching is the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The basic teachings of the church, or catechism, includes:
- Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. He died and was resurrected from the dead.
- Jesus provides the way of eternal life for those who believe.
- The Old and New Testaments of the Bible were written by people "under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit". The Apocrypha are additional books that are used in Christian worship, but not for the formation of doctrine.
- The two great and necessary sacraments are Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist
- Other sacramental rites are confirmation, ordination, marriage, reconciliation of a penitent, and unction.
- Belief in heaven, hell, and Jesus's return in glory.
The threefold sources of authority in Anglicanism are scripture, tradition, and reason. These three sources uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way. This balance of scripture, tradition and reason is traced to the work of Richard Hooker, a sixteenth century apologist. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary means of arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are ambiguous are determined by tradition, which is checked by reason.[1]
[edit] Ecumenical relations
Like many other Anglican churches, the Church of the Province of Myanmar is a member of many ecumenical bodies, including the World Council of Churches.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Anglican Listening Detail on how scripture, tradition, and reason work to "uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way".
- ^ http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3587 World Council of Churches
[edit] Further reading
- Anglicanism, Neill, Stephen. Harmondsworth, 1965.
[edit] External links
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