Three elements have been important in holding the Communion together: First, the shared ecclesial structure of the component churches, manifested in an episcopal polity maintained through the apostolic succession of bishops and synodical government ; second, the principle of belief expressed in worship, investing importance in approved prayer books and their rubrics ; and third, the historical documents and standard divines that have influenced the ethos of the Communion.

Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey describes three meanings of " apostolic succession ":

In its 1982 statement on Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches stated that " the primary manifestation of apostolic succession is to be found in the apostolic tradition of the Church as a whole ….

Under the particular historical circumstances of the growing Church in the early centuries, the succession of bishops became one of the ways, together with the transmission of the Gospel and the life of the community, in which the apostolic tradition of the Church was expressed.

Jay comments that this is sometimes seen as an early reference to the idea of the transmission of grace through the apostolic succession which in later centuries was understood as being specifically transmitted through the laying on of hands by a bishop within the apostolic succession ( the " pipeline theory ").

For the adherents of this understanding of apostolic succession grace is transmitted during episcopal consecrations ( the ordination of bishops ) by the laying on of hands of bishops previously consecrated within the apostolic succession.

Furthermore, only bishops and presbyters ( priests ) ordained by bishops in the apostolic succession can validly celebrate or " confect " several of the other sacraments, including the Eucharist, reconciliation of penitents, confirmation and anointing of the sick.

Those who hold for the importance of episcopal apostolic succession appeal to the New Testament, which, they say, implies a personal apostolic succession ( from Paul to Timothy and Titus, for example ).

Further, proponents of the necessity of the personal apostolic succession of bishops within the Church point to the universal practice of the undivided early Church ( up to AD 431 ), before being divided into the Church of the East, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

The teaching of the Second Vatican Council on apostolic succession has been summed up as follows:

The most meaningful apostolic succession for most Protestants, then, is a " faithful succession " of apostolic teaching.

This is our doctrine of apostolic succession " neither depends on, nor is secured by, " an official succession of ministers, whether bishops or presbyters, from apostolic times, but rather by fidelity to apostolic truth ".

To derive Utopian communism from the Jerusalem Christian community of the apostolic age or from its medieval successors-in-spirit, the monastic communities, is with an appropriate shift of adjectives, misleading in the same way as to derive it from Plato's Republic: in the Republic we have to do with an elite of physical and intellectual athletes, in the apostolic and monastic communities with an elite of spiritual and religious athletes.

At the Council of Clermont in 1095, Adhemar showed great zeal for the crusade ( there is evidence Urban II had conferred with Adhemar before the council ) and having been named apostolic legate and appointed to lead the crusade by Pope Urban II, he accompanied Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, to the east.

The interpretation of his writing is disputed, but it is clear that he supports some sort of approved continuation of the apostolic ministry which in its turn was derived from Christ.

This lineage of ordination is traceable, according to " apostolic " churches, to the original Twelve Apostles, thus making the Church the continuation of the early Apostolic Christian community.

The lack of apostolic succession through bishops is the primary basis on which Protestant communities are not considered churches by the Orthodox churches and the Roman Catholic Church.

An early understanding of apostolic succession is represented by the traditional claims of various churches, as organized around important episcopal sees, to have been founded by specific apostles.

has since accepted the Law of Thelema, a religion which claims to supersede Christianity, it is no longer concerned with apostolic succession deriving from Jesus.

Most Protestants deny the doctrine of apostolic succession, believing that it is neither taught in Scripture nor necessary for Christian teaching, life, and practice.

While accepting that Paul's apostolic anointing was likely only recognized by the Apostles in Jerusalem during the events described in Gal.

This jurisdiction is not yet recognized by the contemporary leaders of Płock and Felicjanow in spite of one of its past leader's ( Archbishop Maas ) efforts to unify all sections into one church again by returning the ashes of church founder Kowalski to Płock – which brought back the church's roots to Płock – and by consecrating bishop Józef Maria Rafael Joseph Eugen Wojciechowski – which brought back the apostolic succession to Felicjanow.

Most bishops in Ireland and Britain were not recognized by Rome because their apostolic succession was uncertain and they condoned non-Roman practices.

The orders of those ordained by Greek, Roman, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Anglican bishops were recognized by the simple confirmation of their ordination through an apostolic act.

The ordination of bishops from within the apostolic succession was of major importance to this group, as also was having the church recognized as a lawfully constituted denomination.

Baptism of other churches is fully recognized as well as the apostolic baptism is normally recognized as it has been procured in the name of trinity.

The apostolic community was literally an elite: chosen by Christ himself.

" He further asserts that because the Roman Catholic Church does not recognise the Church of England as an apostolic church, a Roman Catholic monarch who abided by their faith's doctrine would be obliged to view Anglican and Church of Scotland archbishops, bishops, and clergy as part of the laity and therefore " lacking the ordained authority to preach and celebrate the sacraments.

A purely historical or mechanical succession of ministers, bishops or pastors would not mean ipso facto true apostolic succession in the church, Reformed tradition, following authentic Catholic tradition, distinguishes four realities which make up the true apostolic succession, symbolized, but not absolutely guaranteed, by ministerial succession.

In ordination, the Church affirms and continues the apostolic ministry through persons empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Some Protestants feel that such claims of apostolic succession are proven false by the differences in traditions and doctrines between these churches: Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox consider both the Church of the East and the Oriental Orthodox churches to be heretical, having been anathematized in the early ecumenical councils of Ephesus ( 431 ) and Chalcedon ( 451 ) respectively.

He ordained further that some should be called " Abbreviators of the Upper Bar " ( Abbreviatores de Parco Majori ; the name derived from a space in the chancery, surrounded by a grating, in which the officials sat, which is called higher or lower ( major or minor ) according to the proximity of the seats to that of the vice-chancellor ), the others of the Lower Bar ( Abbreviatores de Parco Minori ); that the former should sit upon a slightly raised portion of the chamber, separated from the rest of the hall or chamber by lattice work, assist the Cardinal Vice-Chancellor, subscribe the letters and have the principal part in examining, revising, and expediting the apostolic letters to be issued with the leaden seal ; that the latter, however, should sit among the apostolic writers upon benches in the lower part of the chamber, and their duty was to carry the signed schedules or supplications to the prelates of the upper bar.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, put it this way: The ordination of women to the episcopate " signified a breaking away from apostolic tradition and a further obstacle for reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England.

Churches that claim some form of episcopal apostolic succession, dating back to the apostles or to leaders from the apostolic era, include the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Church of the East, the Anglican Communion, and some Lutheran Churches ( see below ).

Roman Catholics recognize the validity of the apostolic successions of the bishops, and therefore the rest of the clergy, of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, and the Old Catholic Church ( Union of Utrecht only ).

The Eastern Orthodox generally recognize Roman Catholic orders, but have a different concept of the apostolic succession as it exists outside of Eastern Orthodoxy.

Like the Roman Catholic Church, these ancient Eastern churches may use the doctrine of apostolic succession in ministry in their apologetics against Protestantism.

Certain high church services and other musical events in liturgical churches ( such as the Roman Catholic Mass and the Lutheran Divine Service ) may be a cappella, a practice remaining from apostolic times.

Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Old Catholic, Independent Catholic Churches, and in the Assyrian Church of the East, bishops claim apostolic succession, a direct historical lineage dating back to the original Twelve Apostles.

Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Old Catholic and some Lutheran bishops ( for example, Sweden ) claim to be part of the continuous sequence of ordained bishops since the days of the apostles referred to as apostolic succession.

According to the writer Timothy Dufort, by 1969, all Church of England bishops had acquired Old Catholic lines of apostolic succession recognised by the Holy See.

The Catholic Church does recognise as valid ( though illicit ) ordinations done by breakaway Catholic, Old Catholic or Oriental bishops, and groups descended from them ; it also regards as both valid and licit those ordinations done by bishops of the Eastern churches, so long as those receiving the ordination conform to other canonical requirements ( for example, is an adult male ) and an orthodox rite of episcopal ordination, expressing the proper functions and sacramental status of a bishop, is used ; this has given rise to the phenomenon of episcopi vagantes ( for example, clergy of the Independent Catholic groups which claim apostolic succession, though this claim is rejected by both Orthodoxy and Catholicism ).

Catholics maintain that the " one, holy, catholic and apostolic church " founded by Jesus subsists fully in the Roman Catholic Church, but also acknowledges other Christian churches and communities and works towards reconciliation among all Christians.