Beloved brethren please can you clarify, does every Anglican parish in the world answer to Canterbury?
No. the Archbishop of Canterbury is not to Anglicans what the Pope is to Catholics. He is a symbol of unity, and the first among equals in the Communion's bishops. but he does not exercise any formal authority over anyone outside of the Church of England.
There seems to be what I consider to be a misconception in our parts of the world. People tend to assume that if you're not "under" Canterbury, then you are not Anglican. A brother was chased away from an Anglican group because he is Anglican Catholic. your explanation Lowly Layman can help others as well.
The Anglican Communion is made up of a number of autocephalous churches. That is the members of the communion make their own rules, but live in communion. The Lambeth Conference, The meeting of all the Bishops, has on three occasions in recent history asked member churches to drop the filioque clause for the Nicene Creed. Whilst a few member churches have, there is no compulsion. Indeed the Church of England has not dropped it, though common worship has provided options where it may be dropped. Primacy, for Anglicans, is a largely conciliar concept, as against a more hierarchical concept as we see expressed by our friends across the Tiber. As such, no one is 'under Canterbury' we are 'in communion' with Canterbury or not. Anglicans who are not in communion with Canterbury understand their Anglicanism in terms of their loyalty to the historic precepts foundations theology and liturgies of the Church of the the English People. Anglicans were once described as being a divers group of people loosely bound together by a prayer book. The truth is contemporary liturgy is more disparate and some modern expressions seem to want to stretch the rubber band too far. The important thing is that we do not descend into legalism and authoritarianism but rather be concerned with the care of the poor, the feeding of the hungry, the release of captives and the glorious declaration of the release of captives through the work of Christ Jesus our Lord.
So , correct me if I'm wrong, Canterbury might offer a suggestion or express a wish but it's not legally binding to all Anglicans?
As for the immediate diocese of Canterbury (level 1), the Archbishop is free to declare & act as a Bishop. As for the province of Canterbury (level 2), he is the first among all bishops in honour & precedence. As for the entire Anglican communion (level 3), he remains something less well-defined. I was going to say he's the "Father" figure of all Anglican bishops, but really he's their brother bishop. In the earliest Church, loyal catholic primates, metropolitans, archbishops, and other high-ranking clergy submitted their views to Ecumenical Councils. Nothing was legally-binding on all Christians, if a single bishop said it of his own accord.
The model for ecclesiastical primacy is in Acts 15, where James is clearly seen and the 'senior bishop' and speaks for the council, but not in the sense of hierarchy, but rather in fraternity. This is the model that the Anglican Church aspires to, when we speak of the A of C as 1st among equals.
How different is this from the EO model? If similar, any insights on why it seems to be working for them and not for us? I use the word "working" with reservation as I do not know much about their own trials and tribulations however they do seem to be speaking with one voice in matters of faith despite what seems to be self governing churches to me.
I am fond of the EO, but if you search to find out how many Patriarchs of Antioch there are you may have a more settled approach