text: what is the difference between anglican and episcopalian (i hope i spelled that right)? they are all part of the church of england, right? are there any major doctrinal differences? who are their heads? the world wide church is called the anglican church. each country has its own branch, and in the u.s. that is called the episcopalian, which means governed by bishops. in the u.k. is it called the church of england. they are all part of the same "anglican communion". the head of the episcopal church is called the presiding bishop. the head of the whole anglican church is the arch bishop of canterbury. he does not have the same position in the anglican church as the pope does in the roman church because the anglican church is run as more of a democracy.