Liturgy and Formulary
“Lex orandi, lex credendi” is Latin for “the law of praying is the law of believing. What we pray in the Sunday service we come to believe in life. This is what makes the Book of Common Prayer more than a ceremonial guide. A new liturgy can lead to new doctrine if more than a translation is done.
In the Church of England, after a
decade or more of trial services, a collection of new services under the title,
“An Alternative Service Book” (1980) was published. At the same time it was made clear that the
primary and official Prayer Book remained “The Book of Common Prayer” (1662)
and that the content of the new book should be interpreted by the doctrine
within the official Book. The same situation
applied in
ECUSA took a different approach. They produced a new book of varied and multiple services similar to the English one of 1980. But they did not intend for it to exist alongside the traditional “Book of Common Prayer” (1928) nor under its doctrinal authority. They called it a name that did not truly reflect its experimental content. They replaced the 1928 BCP and its doctrine entirely with what was labeled the BCP 1979. The naming of the new book misled many into believing it followed in the tradition of the originals. The 1789, 1892 and 1928 revisions of the 1662 edition were true revisions of one book, done with a sense of reverence and respect. The 1979 revision was an entirely new book.
As stated in the Latin phrase above, the new Prayer Book created new Formularies. The Classic Ordinal was replaced and an “Outline of Faith” replaced the historic Catechism and Articles of Religion. The new book became the only Formulary of ECUSA as the traditional Formularies were relegated to the status of “historical documents.”
In the real BCP the word “Order” appears often in “The Contents.” There is an Order for the reading of the Psalter and for the rest of Scripture. There is the Order for Morning and Evening Prayer, for the Ministration of Holy Communion, Baptism, Confirmation, Visitation of the Sick and Burial of the Dead. Each service or rite has a beginning, a means and an end. Thus it is insured that each service is an ordered whole and promotes order in worship and eventually minds ordered to the knowledge and service of Almighty God. The 1979 book refers to “an” or “a” order as opposed to “the” order in the three times it appears. Variety in worship can encourage variety in piety and then disorder in life.
The Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church contains, “Blessed be the kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, now and always even unto ages of ages.” The 1979 book rephrased this as “Blessed be God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever.” Based on its grammar this means there is One God, with Three Names, who has a kingdom. The Outline of Faith asks “What is the Trinity?”. Note it asks “what” not “who”. The answer is, “one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” It fails to teach, “The Holy Trinity is the ordered relation of the Three Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, all of whom possess fully the one Godhead, so that the Father is of the same substance as the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
The Outline of Faith can be interpreted as teaching that Jesus was adopted as the Son of God at his Conception or Birth or at his Baptism. It fails to make clear that Jesus is one person made known in two natures, divine and human. He existed with his divine nature from all eternity and took on human nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary without diminishing his divine nature.
In the 1979 book, sin is presented as the wrong use of freedom and the making of bad choices. Conveniently it fails to recognize our inclination to pride and does not require a Savior or a full substitutionary sacrifice and atonement for sin.
The traditional Psalms start with “Blessed is the Man”. The 1979 book uses dynamic equivalency to produce, “Happy are they”. This carries no special reference to God the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit. In other words, “Don’t worry, Be Happy.” The use of inclusive language undermines the doctrine of order. “Man” includes man, woman and the children of a family. The inclusive language appears to place men and women in two different types of humanity. It breaks down the divine order in creation and in the new creation, the Body of Christ.
The Confirmation service in the 1979 book is optional and pastoral rather than sacramental and ordered. It is not intended to be the completion of Baptism nor a prerequisite for receiving Holy Communion. Entry into the fullness of membership of the church is presented for both adults and infants as taking place in Baptism (usually administered with chrism). Children and infants are given Holy Communion before they have understanding or commitment. This removes the established discipline and order in the administration of Holy Communion and challenges belief in its nature as a sacrament.
The 1979 book does not directly suggest that same-sex couples are worthy recipients of the blessing of the Church because that doctrinal and liturgical development came after the book was published. The “Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage”, however, accommodates further changes inspired by new social trends. It says, “The union of husband and wife in heart, body and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God’s will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord.” If the reference to God is removed, it states the purpose of marriage as, “for personal fulfillment of sexual needs, for companionship and, if it seems right and is convenient, to have children.” The 1973 General Convention officially allowed re-marriage of divorced persons in church with only the permission of the priest. This effectively removed marriage from the list of sacraments and sanctioned a practice occurring for over a decade.
In 1970, the General Convention declared all deaconesses to be “within the diaconate” after Bp. Pike ordained a woman using the rite for ordaining deacons rather than the order for setting apart deaconesses as provided in ”The Book of Offices”. In 1974 eleven women were ordained to the priesthood in violation of canon law. In 1976 the General Convention made the ordination of women legal in the ECUSA and backdated the provision to legitimize the 1974 ordinations. The preface for the ordination rite in the 1979 book refers to “the persons who are chosen by the Church as being called of God”. The rites contain the words “his” and “him” and “brother” in italics. The italics mean they can become, as needed, “hers”, “her” and “sister”. The first woman bishop was consecrated in 1989.
In the 1980s the Eames Commission developed the doctrine of reception. This allowed freedom of conscience for all of the Anglican Communion where these changes could not be fully embraced by either clergy or laity. In 1997, ECUSA canon law was changed to require that women have the right of access to ordination in every diocese and the right to exercise their ordained ministry in every diocese. In 2000, every office-holder in the ECUSA was required to accept the ordination of women as a fact. ECUSA not only set aside the received divine order for the Ministry; it forced the disorder upon all its members. This disallowed any further discussion on this issue.
Sacraments Devalued by the 1979 Book
Confirmation Communion
Matrimony Holy Orders
Penitence Unction
For more details, read “Episcopal Innovations 1960 – 2004” by The Rev. Dr. Peter Toon, M.A., D.Phil.
(Preservation Press of the Prayer Book Society of the USA 2006)