Ordained ministry in Anglicanism follows a threefold order inherited from the early Church: bishops, priests (also called presbyters), and deacons. Anglicans understand this ministry to stand in apostolic succession — a historic line of ordination traced back to the apostles — which is part of why the “historic Episcopate” is named in the Lambeth Quadrilateral.
Ordained ministry sits alongside significant lay ministry: licensed readers, lay ministers, churchwardens, and volunteers who carry out much of the day-to-day pastoral, administrative, and outreach work of a parish.