6. We receive The Book of Common Prayer as set forth by the Church of England in 1662, together with the Ordinal attached to the same, as a standard for Anglican doctrine and discipline, and, with the Books which preceded it, as the standard for the Anglican tradition of worship.
– Point 6, The Fundamental Declarations
The faith we received is divinely revealed in Holy Scriptures and commonly confessed in worship every time the Church gathers. Anglicans are known for our liturgy, which means we should be known for our faith. We are people of the Book. Unfortunately, for many, that means we are people of our liturgical whims, when in fact our liturgies root us as people of the Good Book, that is, the Holy Scriptures. For the genius of Cranmer’s liturgical reforms was to emphasize and reemphasize the work of Christ through the very language of the Word of God.
The Book of Common Prayer eloquently shapes our hearts, our minds, and our souls to pray the Scriptures so we may live life in the Spirit. Common prayer begets a common faith. From our new birth in the baptismal font, our union in marriage, and at our burial, our entire life is sanctified by the grace of God. Daily we bend our knees to start the day with morning prayer and end the day at evening prayer. The offices saturate us with Scripture, the Old Testament once over and the New Testament thrice over, with the Psalter every month – according to the 1662 and traditional prayer book lectionaries. We are shaped by the Word of God because we are inundated with His words of life. Our sins are drowned, and we are filled with the wellspring of God Himself living within us, through us, and in us. Christ shall be all in all.
WE do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.
– The Prayer of Humble Access, 1662 Book of Common Prayer
Our common faith instills common doctrine if we are committed to the common core of our faith enshrined in the prayer book. The Fundamental Declarations receive the 1662 edition of the Book of Common Prayer, alongside the Ordinal attached, “as a standard for Anglican doctrine and discipline.” Therefore, it is incumbent upon every faithful ACNA clergyman to ensure the prayer book locally adapted is used in a manner reflective of, and not in contradiction to, our inheritance. For the 1662, “and, with the Books which preceded it,” are received in the ACNA, “as the standard for the Anglican tradition of worship.”
The prayer book tradition of 1549 through 1662 is the interpretive lens for any modern prayer book, whether it be the American 1928 or ACNA 2019. Local adaptations can and should occur, but faithfulness to the ancient prayer book tradition is necessary for common prayer to ensure a common faith. Especially considering how fluid and in flux so much of Christianity in the West finds itself. We do not need to cut ourselves off from our roots but to draw up the water of Life from those roots so the Church may grow into the mustard tree our Lord is calling us towards.
The Jerusalem Declaration holds Global Anglicans firmly upon the same roots:
6. We rejoice in our Anglican sacramental and liturgical heritage as an expression of the gospel, and we uphold the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer, to be translated and locally adapted for each culture.
– Paragraph 6, Jerusalem Declaration
Anglicans have moved from being the English Church, to the Church in English colonies, to finally a global Church with local translations and adaptations of Cranmer’s simple and faithfully executed mission: presenting the Gospel through worship. Common worship in the common tongue. Common prayer for the common man. The common faith, united in common doctrine.
The wording of Point 6 of the Fundamental Declarations is very important. It notes and upholds both “The Book of Common Prayer as set forth by the Church of England in 1662, together with the Ordinal attached to the same, as a standard for Anglican doctrine and discipline.” Doctrine and discipline. Notably, the books preceding the 1662 do not receive this level of authority as standards for doctrine and discipline, though they are a standard for worship, as I will address momentarily. Therefore, where the ACNA seeks one of its standards for discipling the faith and disciplining clergy, the 1662 edition and the Ordinal attached are authoritative. As I have stated previously, where “the 1662 speaks, we should listen.”
The Jerusalem Declaration is worded similarly when it comes to the Ordinal. Point 7 of the Jerusalem Declaration states, “We uphold the classic Anglican Ordinal as an authoritative standard of clerical orders.” Global Anglicans and ACNA would do well to heed their own standards and reexamine both the 1662 prayer book and Ordinal attached to ensure the common faith once delivered is being preached, taught, upheld, and not contravened.
Further, this does not diminish the ability to adopt and adapt the authorized prayer book. We have not enshrined Cranmer as unalterable, for he himself altered his 1549 edition into the 1552 edition, and others took up revising his work in 1559, 1604, and 1662. As the Articles of Religion remind us:
34. Of the Traditions of the Church
It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one, or utterly like; for at all times they have been divers, and may be changed according to the diversity of countries, times, and men’s manners, so that nothing be ordained against God’s Word. Whosoever, through his private judgment, willingly and purposely, doth openly break the Traditions and Ceremonies of the Church, which be not repugnant to the Word of God, and be ordained and approved by common authority, ought to be rebuked openly, (that others may fear to do the like,) as he that offendeth against the common order of the Church, and hurteth the authority of the Magistrate, and woundeth the consciences of the weak brethren.
Every particular or national Church hath authority to ordain, change, and abolish, Ceremonies or Rites of the Church ordained only by man’s authority, so that all things be done to edifying.
Hence, the Fundamental Declarations center “the standard for the Anglican tradition of worship” on the 1662 edition “with the Books which preceded it.” Therefore, the inheritance of the American, Canadian, Scottish Episcopal, Church of England, and Reformed Episcopal Church traditions is retained, insofar as they bear the “family resemblance” to the classic Anglican prayer books, thereby retaining common prayer and the common Christian faith.
And all Priests and Deacons are to say daily the Morning and Evening Prayer either privately or openly, not being let by sickness, or some other urgent cause.
– Concerning the Service of the Church, 1662 Book of Common Prayer
How can this be applied within the ACNA locally? First, by ensuring the prayer book is used. It is a standard for our doctrine and discipline, but is not to merely be consulted upon a whim like a Presbyterian Book of Order or a Methodist Book of Discipline. The Book of Common Prayer is a life we are invited into as a Church. The prayer book is not a cut-and-paste adventure for the rector to determine weekly on a whim. The prayer book invites us into a life which must be lived. A rule which must be adhered to if we seek to kill the old Adam and rise with the New Adam. Common prayer creates common life within the Church. It creates a common people, and unites us as brothers and sisters under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The children of one family become our godchildren. The duty to catechize them in the faith becomes our joyful duty. We make public vows to one another during each other’s baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and more. Living the prayerbook life requires a commitment to it, a marriage of sorts. And like any marriage, it will change you over time. You are molded into a new creation when you leave behind the old life and walk in the new life.
Second, ACNA parishes should question why they exercise options to abbreviate services and whether that is good for the long-term health of the parish. Is the Decalogue never recited? Why not? Are the daily offices prayed only occasionally (if at all)? Why? Is the Prayer for Humble Access dispensed with to shave off twenty seconds? God forbid it. These services, prayers, and yes, even the rubrics are formative and countercultural to the laxidasical faith the zeitgeist breeds and the devil delights in.
It is certain by God’s Word, that children which are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved.
– Rubrics, Publick Baptism of Infants, 1662 Book of Common Prayer
Therefore, take up and pray; pray and live; live and be conformed through common prayer to reflect the image of the One who bought you at the greatest price. Pray the time-tested prayers of old and learn anew who Christ is and what He has done and is doing for you and through you by His Holy Spirit. Drink deeply from the wellspring of prayers that saints of old have prayed and learn to start your day and end it with the comfort of confessing your sins and hearing them forgiven at the daily offices.
North Americans need not know how to pronounce the word “Anglican,” but need to know Anglicans pray and conform to the Good Book of Holy Scripture, through the rule of life distilled by the Book of Common Prayer. Let us show our faith and share Christ crucified by dying ourselves daily, picking up our cross, fasting frequently, and praying without ceasing, and embodying the doctrine and discipline of the prayerbook life.
