Lecture notes by Venerable (Dr) I.
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CONTENTS
A. What Is Anglicanism And Anglican Communion?
C. Anglican Traditions or Churchman Ships
D. GAFCON Final Statement on The Global
Anglican Future
H. The
Liturgy of The Book Common Prayer
A. WHAT IS ANGLICANISM AND ANGLICAN COMMUNION?
Anglicanism is the form and pattern of Christianity as it is expressed in the Anglican Communion. It is a Reformed arm of the worldwide Catholic Christianity.
Anglicanism is a form of Christianity Committed to the supremacy of Scriptures and importance of worship, mission and revival, evangelism and ecumenism.
The Anglican Communion is the international descendant of the Church of England, which together with the Lutheran church and the Reformed church, separated from the doctrinal and jurisdictional control of the Roman Papacy during the 16th Century Reformation.
Its fundamental declaration is that:
It is a part of the one holy, Catholic and apostolic Church worshiping the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
It professes the faith uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the Catholic Creeds which faith the Church is called upon to proclaim afresh in each generation.
Led by the Holy Spirit, it has born witness to Christian truth in the historic formularies, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the ordering of Bishops, Priests and Deacons.
The 1930 Lambeth conference describes the Anglican Communion as:-
“A fellowship within the one holy Catholic and apostolic Church of those duely constituted dioceses, provinces or regional Churches
in Communion with the see of
which have the following characteristics in common
They uphold and propagate the Catholic and apostolic faith and order as they are generally set forth in the Book of Common Prayer as authorized in their several Churches.
They are particular or national Churches, and as such promote within each of their territories a national expression of Christian faith, life and worship.
They are bound together not by a central legislative and executive authority, but by mutual loyalty sustained through common council of Bishops in conference”.
During the 16th century
Reformation, there were both political and religious upheavals in
The Anglican Communion is essentially a worshiping community. Her history is embedded in the history of a liturgy. Her doctrine is embedded in the liturgical worship set forth in the Book of Common Prayer. Her Reformation is the Reformation of the liturgy. To know what the Anglican Church believes and teaches, you must join her in worship.
We shall therefore follow the Prayer book history for the historical background of Anglicanism. But first what was English Reformation all about? It was a move to have a Reformed Catholic Church. Under Henry VIII, Archbishop Cranmer led the Church in a reform which:
► Retained things agreeable to scriptures.
► Retained things agreeable to the practices of the early church.
► Removed all things unscriptural.
► Made Scripture and Worship available in the mother tongue in accordance with the Pentecostal event.
► Promoted the reading and exposition of the Scriptures of OT and NT.
► Started a liturgical reform of Church liturgy aimed at, as Crammer put in 1543, getting liturgical documents of the middle ages to be:
“.....newly examined,
corrected, reformed, and castigated from all manner of mention of Bishop of
Rome’s name, from all apocrypha, feigned legends, superstitions, orations (i.e.
prayers), collects, versicles and responses, and that
the names and memories of all saints which be not mentioned in Scripture, or authentical doctors, should be abolished”.
► Formulated the 39 Articles of Religion as the doctrinal stand of the Anglican Church (complementing the doctrinal content of the liturgies of the Book of Common Prayer).
Anglicanism is therefore founded on:-
- The Scriptures
- The Apostolic traditions
- Expression of doctrine and faith in worship.
This is best evident in the 1888 Lambeth Quadrilateral which gave as common grounds for Christian unity the following:
► The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament as ‘Containing all things necessary for salvation’, and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith.
► The Apostles’ Creed, as the Baptismal Symbols: and the Nicene Creed, as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith.
► The two Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself - Baptism and the Supper of the Lord-ministered with unfailing use of Christ’s words of Institution, and of the elements ordained by Him.
► The Historic Episcopate locally adapted in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God into the Unity of His Church.”
The historical development of what is known today as Anglicanism is best evident from the following time chart history of the prayer book and liturgical reforms.
1534 - Henry
VIII broke with
1543 - Cranmer announced the Prayer Book Reforms and put the Great Bible to liturgical use.
1545 - Published the primer of the king and Clergy which omitted Marian Worship and all processionals except a New Litany.
1546 - Henry VII authorized the change of mass to Holy Communion and stopped the veneration of the Cross.
1547 - Edward VI came to the throne and:
Book of Homilies published and read weekly;
Scriptures to be read in vernacular (English);
Litany no longer as procession, but in the Church, kneeling;
Vernacular services started.
1547 - Invocation of the saints removed from the new litany.
1548/49 - Influx of reformers from the continent.
1548 - (Sept 9) A panel of Bishops, Church deans and Bible scholars mainly reformers (New learning) and a few others (of old learning and moderates) was constituted to write a Divine Service book for UNIFORM, QUIET AND GODLY ORDER” of Service, which was to be based on “MOST SINCERE AND PURE CHRISTIAN RELIGION TAUGHT BY THE SCRIPTURES, AS TO THE USAGE IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH”. This led to the BCP. This panel was led by Crammer who was of the “New learning”.
1549 - (21 Jan) - BCP passed by Parliament.
(7 March) - Copies put on sale.
(10 March) - 1st Sunday in Lent, BCP put on preliminary use.
(9 June) - Whitsun. BCP put on general use.
The BCP Morning Prayer (Matins) was formulated by merging the medieval offices of Matins, Lauds and Prime.
The BCP Evening Prayer (Evensong) was formulated by a fusion of elements from the medieval offices of Vespers and Compline. The other Little Hours of Tierce, Sext and None were discarded altogether.
1550 - Order of making Archbishops, Bishops, Priests and Deacons published. All other orders discarded.
1552 - BCP revision which removed the Mass and Altars from being mentioned replacing them with the Lord’s Supper and the Lord’s Table.
- Ash Wednesday rite removed and discarded.
- Penitential introduction added to the Divine Services.
1553 - Cranmer, under the King, published the 42 Articles of Religion.
1553 - Mary Tudor came to the throne and banned the BCP, restoring Roman Catholicism. Reformers were burned alive on the stakes (including Cranmer, the then Archbishop of Canterbury).
1558 -
1559 - 1552 BCP restored by the Act of Uniformity with some minor alteration. e.g. The ten Commandments not pictures nor the Cross to be hung at the Lord’s table.
1562 - (Two candles retained on the Lord’s Table).
- 39 Articles of religion published.
1567 - Many unofficial counter reforms at various churches e.g. restoration of the Cross at the Holy Table.
- Restoration of the Little Hours etc.
1571 - 39 Articles signed and ratified into law.
1603 - James I came to the throne.
1604 - Jacobean settlement revised the Canons and the Prayer Book.
1611 - King James Bible published excluding the Apocrypha.
1634 - Another unofficial Prayer Book revision which gave birth to the Scotch Prayer Book in 1637 and later the American Prayer Book followed its example.
1661 - Savoy Conference aimed at further purifying the Prayer Book. Involved were Presbyterians, Puritans, Moderates and Laudians (High Churchmen).
1662 - King Charles II famous Prayer Book.
1790/92 - American Prayer Book.
1927/28 - Revised Prayer Book rejected by Parliament on two attempts.
1929 - The
1928 proposed Prayer Book permitted for use by the
1930 onwards - Other communions produce their BCP.
1980 - The alternative Services Book Published (ASB).
- The Nigerian Prayer Book based on ASB and American Prayer Books.
C. ANGLICAN TRADITIONS OR
CHURCHMAN SHIPS
The Anglican Church has traditionally sought “to maintain a balance between the old and the new” and “to keep the mean between the two extremes of to much stiffness in refusing and of too much easiness in admitting any variations” from her original liturgical and doctrinal stand.
CANON A5 STATES
“The doctrine of the Church of
England is grounded in the holy scriptures, and in such teachings of the
ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the said
Scriptures. In particular such doctrine is to be found in the Thirty-nine
Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal.”
The Anglican Church is thus a comprehensive Church which has given her both weakness and strength. She has player the role of the “Via Media” of Christianity due to this her historical position in the universal Church. As archbishop William Temple put it, in the 19th century, the special characteristics of Anglicanism is that
“...owing to historic
circumstances, we have been enabled to combine in our fellowship, the
traditional faith and order of the Catholic Church with that immediacy of
approach to God through Christ to which the Evangelical Churches especially
bear witness, and freedom of intellectual inquiry, whereby the correlation of
the Christian revelation and advancing knowledge is constantly effected.”
Jeremy Taylor also of the 17th century expressed the Anglican mind when he said,
“ I affirm nothing but upon grounds
of Scripture or universal tradition or right reason discernable by every disinterested
person”
From these statements we can see the tripartite comprehensiveness in the Anglican theology. This triangular tension within the Anglican Church has led to both negative and views of Anglicanism and has resulted in both strength and weakness of the Anglican Communion. This triangular attitude has resulted in the three churchman ships or the three traditions within Anglicanism. We shall briefly look at these traditions of Anglicanism.
1. Anglican Evangelicalism: This tradition emphasizes the protestant heritage rather than the Catholic heritage of Anglicanism as well as emphasis on biblical faith, personal conversion and piety. They are the out growth of the Clapham sect of the 18th century. Their fore-runners were the Low Church men (Puritans) of the 16th century. Extreme Evangelicals give the episcopacy, sacraments and liturgy a low place of importance while prominence is given exclusively to the Word of God. The Evangelical Anglicans believe in Christ in as much as he is the Christ of the Gospel (Evangel). They believe because it is written in the Word of God.
2. Anglo-Catholicism: This tradition emphasizes the catholic rather than the protestant heritage of Anglicanism. They are the outgrowth of the 19th century Oxford movement. They fore-runners are the high Churchmen (Laudians) of the 16th century. Extreme Anglican-Catholics give high regard to the episcopacy, sacraments and liturgy with a little regard to the word of God. These catholic Anglicans believe in Christ in as such as he is the Christ portrayed in Church formal traditions and aching. They believe because is traditional.
3. Anglican Liberal Traditions:
The Liberal Tradition upholds a Man-centred rather than a God-centred religion Man’s reason or experience is held in conflict to Scripture and Tradition.
a. Latitudinarianism: This emphasizes the place of scientific researching in the interpretation of Christian or biblical faith. They are the product of the renaissance of the 16th century, the 18th century Enlightenment and 19th century Modernism. This tendency to buy new ideas as long as they appeal to reason, experience or scientific intellectualism has become the mark of the Liberal tradition. They have come to be designated the Broad Churchmanship since the 19th Century. They believe in Christ in as much as He is the Christ understandable through science and common sense. They believe because it is rational to the natural mind. Today, the latitudinarians and revisionist liberals accommodate and advocate for homosexual priests and same-sex partnership unions in the Church.
b. Charismatism: This emphasizes the place of emotional experience and certain manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit such as prophesyings, revelations, speaking in tongues, warming of the heart, shocking waves, falling down, ecstasies and other phenomena. Many Charismatics are however of the Evangelical tradition.
NOTE: Anglicanism has been able to see these three attitudes to Christianity coexist in the Church taking the best of each, especially the non-conflicting aspects, to weave out a model of Christianity which has continued to grow despite the three tensions within it. Bishop Paget puts it this way, “Anglicanism has the distinctive strength and hope which rests on equal loyalty to the unconflicting rights of reason, Scripture and tradition”.
By and large the final
authority in the Anglican Church still remains the Holy Scriptures. Tradition,
reason and Experience are only Anglican if they are agreeable to the Holy
Scriptures. This position has never changed since the Reformation. This is
evident from Canon A5, the Declarations, the 39 Articles, and other official
approved formularies of the Anglican Church world-wide. Recent attempt to
violate this tenet of Anglican unity on the issue of human sexuality has led to
the split that gave birth to The Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON)
held in
Also many Anglicans have a touch of all the traditions to varying degrees. For instance Evangelicals are first Scriptural, the traditional and then rational. Anglo-Catholics are first traditional, then Scriptural and then rational, etc.
D. GAFCON FINAL STATEMENT ON THE GLOBAL ANGLICAN FUTURE
Praise the LORD!
It is good to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise
is fitting.
The LORD builds up
Brothers and Sisters in
Christ: We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, send you
greetings from
Introduction
The
Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON), which was held in
GAFCON is not just a moment in time, but a movement in the Spirit, and we hereby:
· launch the GAFCON movement as a fellowship of confessing Anglicans
· publish the Jerusalem Declaration as the basis of the fellowship
· encourage GAFCON Primates to form a Council.
The Global Anglican Context
The future of the Anglican Communion is but a piece of the wider scenario of opportunities and challenges for the gospel in 21st century global culture. We rejoice in the way God has opened doors for gospel mission among many peoples, but we grieve for the spiritual decline in the most economically developed nations, where the forces of militant secularism and pluralism are eating away the fabric of society and churches are compromised and enfeebled in their witness. The vacuum left by them is readily filled by other faiths and deceptive cults. To meet these challenges will require Christians to work together to understand and oppose these forces and to liberate those under their sway. It will entail the planting of new churches among unreached peoples and also committed action to restore authentic Christianity to compromised churches.
The Anglican Communion, present in six continents, is well positioned to address this challenge, but currently it is divided and distracted. The Global Anglican Future Conference emerged in response to a crisis within the Anglican Communion, a crisis involving three undeniable facts concerning world Anglicanism.
The first fact is the acceptance and promotion within the provinces of the Anglican Communion of a different ‘gospel’ (cf. Galatians 1:6-8) which is contrary to the apostolic gospel. This false gospel undermines the authority of God’s Word written and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the author of salvation from sin, death and judgement. Many of its proponents claim that all religions offer equal access to God and that Jesus is only a way, not the way, the truth and the life. It promotes a variety of sexual preferences and immoral behaviour as a universal human right. It claims God’s blessing for same-sex unions over against the biblical teaching on holy matrimony. In 2003 this false gospel led to the consecration of a bishop living in a homosexual relationship.
The second fact is the declaration by provincial bodies in the Global South that they are out of communion with bishops and churches that promote this false gospel. These declarations have resulted in a realignment whereby faithful Anglican Christians have left existing territorial parishes, dioceses and provinces in certain Western churches and become members of other dioceses and provinces, all within the Anglican Communion. These actions have also led to the appointment of new Anglican bishops set over geographic areas already occupied by other Anglican bishops. A major realignment has occurred and will continue to unfold.
The third fact is the manifest failure of the Communion Instruments to exercise discipline in the face of overt heterodoxy. The Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada, in proclaiming this false gospel, have consistently defied the 1998 Lambeth statement of biblical moral principle (Resolution 1.10). Despite numerous meetings and reports to and from the ‘Instruments of Unity,’ no effective action has been taken, and the bishops of these unrepentant churches are welcomed to Lambeth 2008. To make matters worse, there has been a failure to honour promises of discipline, the authority of the Primates’ Meeting has been undermined and the Lambeth Conference has been structured so as to avoid any hard decisions. We can only come to the devastating conclusion that ‘we are a global Communion with a colonial structure’.
Sadly, this crisis has torn the fabric of the Communion in such a way that it cannot simply be patched back together. At the same time, it has brought together many Anglicans across the globe into personal and pastoral relationships in a fellowship which is faithful to biblical teaching, more representative of the demographic distribution of global Anglicanism today and stronger as an instrument of effective mission, ministry and social involvement.
A Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans
We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, are a fellowship of confessing Anglicans for the benefit of the Church and the furtherance of its mission. We are a fellowship of people united in the communion (koinonia) of the one Spirit and committed to work and pray together in the common mission of Christ. It is a confessing fellowship in that its members confess the faith of Christ crucified, stand firm for the gospel in the global and Anglican context, and affirm a contemporary rule, the Jerusalem Declaration, to guide the movement for the future. We are a fellowship of Anglicans, including provinces, dioceses, churches, missionary jurisdictions, para-church organisations and individual Anglican Christians whose goal is to reform, heal and revitalise the Anglican Communion and expand its mission to the world.
Our fellowship is not breaking
away from the Anglican Communion. We, together with many other faithful
Anglicans throughout the world, believe the doctrinal foundation of
Anglicanism, which defines our core identity as Anglicans, is expressed in
these words: The doctrine of the Church is grounded in the Holy Scriptures
and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable
to the said Scriptures. In particular, such doctrine is to be found in the
Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal.
We intend to remain faithful to this standard, and we call on others in the
Communion to reaffirm and return to it. While acknowledging the nature of
The
In the name of God the Father, God the Son
and God the Holy Spirit:
We, the participants in the Global Anglican
Future Conference, have met in the
The Road Ahead
We believe the Holy Spirit has
led us during this week in
Primates’ Council
We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, do hereby acknowledge the participating Primates of GAFCON who have called us together, and encourage them to form the initial Council of the GAFCON movement. We look forward to the enlargement of the Council and entreat the Primates to organise and expand the fellowship of confessing Anglicans.
We urge the Primates’ Council to authenticate and recognise confessing Anglican jurisdictions, clergy and congregations and to encourage all Anglicans to promote the gospel and defend the faith.
We recognise the desirability of territorial jurisdiction for provinces and dioceses of the Anglican Communion, except in those areas where churches and leaders are denying the orthodox faith or are preventing its spread, and in a few areas for which overlapping jurisdictions are beneficial for historical or cultural reasons.
We thank God for the
courageous actions of those Primates and provinces who have offered orthodox
oversight to churches under false leadership, especially in North and
We believe this is a critical
moment when the Primates’ Council will need to put in place structures to lead
and support the church. In particular, we believe the time is now ripe for the
formation of a province in
Conclusion: Message from
We, the participants in the Global
Anglican Future Conference, were summoned by the Primates’ leadership team to
The meeting in
It is our hope that this Statement on the Global Anglican Future will be received with comfort and joy by many Anglicans around the world who have been distressed about the direction of the Communion. We believe the Anglican Communion should and will be reformed around the biblical gospel and mandate to go into all the world and present Christ to the nations.
Feast of St Peter and
1. Whatever the Churchmanship, Anglicanism holds to the Supremacy of the Scriptures. The Apocrypha is only accepted for moral rather than doctrinal purposes.
2. Anglicanism has upheld the importance and centrality of liturgical worship in the Church.
3. Anglicanism holds to the twofold ministry of the Word and the Sacraments.
4. As Anglicans, we are committed to the three-fold Orders of the ministry- the orders of Deacon, Priest and Bishop. Other offices are considered lay and not ordained clergy.
5. The Anglican Church holds to the supremacy and centrality of Jesus and the Trinity concerning the knowledge of God.
6. Anglicanism also holds that the whole Church (Bishop, Clergy and Laity) participate in matters of worship, doctrine, and practices of the Church (Best seen at Synods).
7. Anglicanism has upheld a characteristically open church, adaptable and accommodating, with a strong commitment to Evangelism and Ecumenism.
8. Anglicanism has upheld a standard for Christianity which is “universal unity in diversity”. Bishop William Wand described main features of Anglicanism as “tolerance, restraint, and learning”.
These are the unique legacies of Anglicanism to the Church and the society.
Together with the expansion of the
The Evangelicals were able to get the
Being founded by the CMS, the Nigeria Anglican Church
is fundamentally Evangelical in persuasion and form. She belongs to the Low
Church tradition, however through the years, she been able to accommodate and
blend together, the other difference traditions of the Anglican Church, in a
very unique way. In addition she has become influenced by
Although the English Reformation was mainly liturgical, it was not without complementary attempt to clearly define and state doctrines as in the great historic confessions of the reformed and Lutheran Churches of the continent.
As early as 1536 before the prayer Book reforms took
any definite shape the Bishop of the Church of England published the Book of
the Article which spoke on the sacramental doctrines and church ceremonies,
rejecting the papacy and embracing the
supremacy of the Scripture. The following year the Bishops again published
another Book of VI Article which expounded the creed, grounds. Parts of this
still appear I the Anglican Catechism of today. In 1553, Archbishop Crammer
wrote a more extensive XLII Article of religion which was published by then
king Edward VI. After the havoc of Queen Mar, by 1558 queen
(1) To set forth the Church’s true doctrine of God
(2) To get away from all “carnal and prudential” teachings contrary to that of the Church.
(3) Transmit to posterity a true and explicit from of doctrine when accords to the Scriptures.
(4) To promote legal and authorized statement on and taste off the doctrine of the Church of England on the issues treated.
(5) “For the avoiding of adversity of opinion and for the establishment of consent touching true religion.”
BROAD ANALYSIS OF THE 39 ARTICLES
(a) The God of our faith (Art 1-5)
(b) The rule of our faith (Art 6-8)
(c) The limitations n Christ of our nature (Art 9 – 10)
(d) Our Salvation in Christ (Art 11-18)
(e) The Household of faith (Art 19-39)
(i) The scope of the Church (Art 19-22)
(ii) The Ministry in the Church (Art 23, 24)
(iii) The sacraments of the Church (Art 25-3)
(iv) The Discipline in the Church (Art 32, -36)
(v) The Church and the state (Art 37-39)
The BCP is one of the greatest legacies of the historic reformation. It is a very good example of an order of worship that agrees entirely with the scriptures. If follows in the power of the Holy Spirit, it becomes full of life culminating in true worship (in spirit and truth). However, if followed I the flesh or ignorantly, it becomes empty and cold, resulting rigid formalism without life.
The first BCP was launched into use on Whitsun, 9th
June. 1549, after being passed by the parliament of
In order to make the BCP as agreeable as possible to
the scriptures and to the practice of the apostolic and sub-apostolic Church,
the book has seen various revisions to accommodate all bible-based criticism.
The most important revisions which
passed through the parliament of
The 1928 proposal was rejected by the parliament, but
passed by the
The BCP contains many books in one volume.
Book 1 (The two daily offices, penitentials and prayers)
Book 2 (Holy Communion for the whole liturgical year)
Book 3 (Rites and ceremonies from birth to death)
Book 4 (Psalms or the psalter for liturgical singing)
Book 5 (The Bishops’ book called the ordinal)
Book 6 (The Lectionary for the whole year)
Today’s Daily offices of the Morning and Evening Prayers which replaced the medieval Office Hours are ordered as follows.
a. Penitential (ending with the absolution)
b. Praises/Songs (Canticles)
c. Ministration of the Word (including the Creed)
d. Prayers and Thanksgivings
NOTES:
1. Great care was taken to ensure that, the prayers are straight to the point, short and in agreement with sound biblical doctrine. We should therefore learn from this in our extemporaneous prayers.
2. We must lead or participate in the worship services in Spirit (under the inspiration and power of the Holy Sprit), and in Truth (with a good knowledge of the truth about the God who is Spirit).
3. Only the Priests have authority to declare and pronounce the Absolution. The Priest has no power to forgive sins but has power to pronounce the absolution. Only God has power to forgive sins.
4. Sunday worship services I the Anglican Communion should always follow the BCP or any other order of service approved by the Diocesan Bishop.
Venerable (Dr)
website: http://priscaquila.6te.net
e-mail: ifeogo@yahoo.com
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