Church of England

The Church of England first came into being in 1534 when Henry VIII seceded from Rome and declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England by the Act of Supremacy. Mary I repealed this act in 1555. In 1559, as part of what is now known as the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, parliament restored the act and made Elizabeth I Supreme Governor of the Church of England, a role still held by the British monarch today. The Church of England has been the official Christian church in England since 1559. Its doctrinal position was set out in the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1563 and finalized in 1571, at which point they were incorporated into the Book of Common Prayer that had governed the liturgical form of Church of England services since 1549.