The Benedictine Order of St. Alcuin formed as a religious missionary order in 1980, the order of St. Alcuin has developed well over 500 missionaries, chaplains, priests and religious serving God’s people in the United States, Africa, Asia, Europe and throughout the world. In 2003, the Communion of Anglican Churches was created to serve as an extension of this missionary movement by planting churches and missionary outposts to spread the gospel message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This structure enables us to fundamentally strengthen our original work and mission as a religious missionary order rooted in the ancient faith lived out through church planting and apostolic works.

By definition, a religious missionary order is a religious organization dedicated to the support of Christian mission such as evangelism, church planting and other forms of Christian mission. This model has biblical origins that may be traced back to the 13th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles when Paul and Barnabas were identified by the Holy Spirit and sent out by the church in Antioch on what would become St. Paul’s first missionary journey. This kind of evangelistic outreach was also notably embodied in the approach to mission modeled by St. Patrick in Ireland in the 5th century and was incorporated in the Celtic tradition in the British Isles and beyond, and throughout the life of the Church.