The Eucharist is one of the two (the other being Baptism) Dominical Sacraments (Latin for "of the Lord") because it was commanded by Jesus. The most common working definition of a Sacrament comes from St. Augustine, who referred to Sacraments as “outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual graces.” Thus it is a gift given to us and ordained by Christ himself. More specifically, the official Anglican doctrine concerning the Eucharist is contained in Article XXVIII – "Of the Lord's Supper" and XXIX – "Of the Wicked which Eat not the Body of Christ" of the Thirty-Nine Articles. Here we learn and affirm that, along with the sacrament of Baptism, the Eucharist is "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof.” The outward sign, in this instance, is the bread and wine; and the thing signified is the body and blood of Christ. The Eucharist thus has the effect of conveying sanctification in the individual participating in the Sacrament. 

Anglicans prefer a view of objective presence that maintains a definitive change, but allows how that change occurs to remain a mystery. Anglicans generally and officially believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but the specific forms of that belief range from a corporeal presence (real objective presence), sometimes even with Eucharistic adoration (mainly "high church" Anglo-Catholics), to belief in a spiritual presence (mainly "low church" Reformed Anglicans).

But it should be noted, that for the vast majority of Anglicans, the service in which confessing Christians gather to worship is also called, the Holy Eucharist (also called "Holy Communion," "Mass," the "Divine Liturgy," the "Lord's Supper," or "The Great Thanksgiving"). This is the central act of gathered worship, the appointed means by which Christ can become present to his church. For the majority of Anglicans this event constitutes the renewal of the Body of Christ as the Church through the reception of the Body of Christ as the Blessed Sacrament, his body and blood. In this sacrament, Christ is both encountered and incorporated (they "partake" of him). As such, the eucharistic action looks backward as a memorial of Christ's sacrifice, forward as a foretaste of the heavenly banquet and to the present as an incarnation of Christ in the lives of the community and of individual believers.