By Robin G. Jordan
In this article I take a look at the form for Reception into Communicant Membership authorized for use in the Diocese of Sydney of the Anglican Church of Australia
as well as the Service for Confirmation that the Archbishop of Sydney’s Liturgical Panel put together as a part of its further development and expansion of Sunday Services (2001). They come from Common Prayer: Resources for Gospel-Shaped Gatherings (2012).
Under the provisions of the constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia dioceses may
develop alternative forms of worship for their own use provided that such forms
do not contravene any principle of doctrine or worship laid down in the
Thirty-Nine Articles and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which the ACA
constitution establishes as “the authorised standard of worship and doctrine”
in the Anglican Church of Australia. The Diocese of Ballarat (Anglo-Catholic) and
the Diocese of Sydney (evangelical) have taken advantage of these provisions to
produce liturgies of its own. The Anglican Church in Australia has also
authorized three service books for use in that body—The Book of Common Prayer
(1662), An Australian Prayer Book (1978), and A Prayer Book for Australia
(1995). The provisions of the ACA constitution and these three service books
embody the Anglican Church of Australia’s approach to theological diversity and
differences of churchmanship in the province.
I have reproduced below for educational purposes only A
Service of Confirmation and Reception into Communicant Membership from Common Prayer: Resources for Gospel-Shaped Gatherings (2012)
A SERVICE FOR
CONFIRMATION
The service takes
place within a Service of the Word and Prayer or the Lord’s Supper.
1. The candidates are
presented to the bishop.
2. The bishop says
Let us pray
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, by your Holy Spirit you have
called these your servants and made them your children by adoption and grace;
mercifully grant that, being strengthened by the same Spirit, they may continue
your servants and receive your promises; through our Lord Jesus Christ your
Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever. Amen.
THE COMMITMENT
3. The bishop says to
the candidates
Those who are to be confirmed are first invited to reaffirm
the promises made at their baptism. You must therefore declare again your
allegiance to Christ and your rejection of all that is evil: the devil and all
his works, the empty display and false values of the world, and the sinful
desires of the flesh.
The bishop may address
each candidate individually
Therefore I ask you
Do you turn to Christ?
I turn to Christ.
Do you repent of your sins?
I repent of my
sins.
Do you reject selfish living, and all that is false and
unjust?
I reject them all.
Do you renounce Satan and all evil?
I renounce all
that is evil.
The bishop says to the
candidates as a group
Will you each, by God's grace, strive to live as a
disciple of Christ, loving God with your whole heart, and your neighbour as
yourself, until your life’s end?
I will, with God's
help.
4. The bishop says to
the congregation
You have heard these our brothers and sisters respond to
God's call to love and serve him throughout their lives. Will you support them
in this high calling?
We will do so.
5. The bishop says to
the candidates
You who are to be confirmed must now yourselves affirm
before God and his church the Christian faith into which you were baptised.
Do you believe in God the Father?
I believe in God,
the Father Almighty,
creator of heaven
and earth.
Do you believe in God the Son?
I believe in Jesus
Christ,
God’s only Son,
our Lord,
who was conceived
by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin
Mary,
suffered under
Pontius Pilate,
was crucified,
died, and was buried;
he descended to
the dead.
On the third day
he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into
heaven,
and is seated at
the right hand of the Father;
from there he will
come to judge
the living and the
dead.
Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
I believe in the
Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic
church,
the communion of
saints,
the forgiveness of
sins,
the resurrection
of the body,
and the life
everlasting. Amen.
The bishop says to
the congregation
This is the faith of the Church.
The congregation
responds
This is our faith: We
believe in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
THE CONFIRMATION
6. The bishop says
We come now to confirm those who have been baptised and
instructed in the Christian faith, laying hands on them and praying that God’s
indwelling Spirit will strengthen and guide them throughout their lives.
Let us pray that God who has begun a good work in these our
brothers and sisters will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ. .
Almighty and everliving God, you have been pleased to grant
to your servants new birth by water and the Holy Spirit and have given them
forgiveness of their sins; strengthen them, we pray, with the Holy Spirit;
grant that they may grow in grace; and give them the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of discernment and inner strength, the spirit of
knowledge and true godliness, and fill them, Father, with wonder and awe in
your presence, now and for ever. Amen.
7. The bishop lays his
hand on each of the candidates individually.
Defend, O Lord, this your servant N with your heavenly grace, that he/she may continue yours for ever, and daily increase in your Holy
Spirit more and more until he/she
comes to your everlasting kingdom. Amen.
or
Strengthen Lord your servant N with your Holy Spirit. Empower and sustain him/her for your service. Amen
8. The bishop prays.
Let us pray.
Our Father in
heaven,
hallowed be your
name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our
daily bread.
Forgive us our
sins
as we forgive
those who sin against us.
Lead us not into
temptation,
but deliver us
from evil.
For the kingdom,
the power, and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.
Almighty and everliving God, we pray for these your servants
upon whom we have now laid our hands, following the apostles’ example, to
assure them of your love for them. May your fatherly hand ever protect them.
Let your Holy Spirit ever be with them to uphold them in the love of Christ and
to lead them in obedience to your word. Strengthen them with your heavenly
grace and keep them in eternal life; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
9. Other prayers
follow
10. The bishop
concludes the service with these words
Go forth into the world in peace; be of good courage; hold
fast that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the
fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; give honour to all; love
and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit; and the blessing
of God almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you and
remain with you always. Amen
The Archbishop of Sydney’s Liturgical Panel adopted the
order of A Service for Confirmation, Second Form from An Australian Prayer Book (1978) and made a number of alterations,
additions, and omissions. The panel incorporated material from the confirmation
rite in A Prayer Book for Australia (1995)
as well as composed original material for the service. The latter consists of explanatory
introductions to the Commitment and the Profession of Faith and the explanatory
introduction to the Confirmation with its concluding invitation to prayer.
While the panel omitted some elements found in the 1662 Order of Confirmation,
they did not diverge from the theology of confirmation embodied in the Anglican
formularies—the two Books of Homilies and the Articles of Religion as well as
the Book of Common Prayer. For example, they omitted the versicles and
responses before the prayer for the confirmands immediately preceding the
laying on of hands. The explanatory introduction to the Confirmation with its
concluding invitation to prayer, however, recognizes the confirmands’ ongoing
need for God’s help to make their election and calling sure and identifies as
the prayers of the gathered church the prayers that follow it. The catechetical
nature of the rite is quite evident. There is nothing to suggest that through
the laying on of hands the bishop imparts sacramental grace to the confirmands.
RECEPTION INTO THE
ANGLICAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA
The Reception Canon 1981 of the General Synod of the
Anglican Church of Australia provides a form that may be used ‘when a person
who has been baptised and who is or was a communicant member of another Church
which holds the apostolic faith but which is not in full communion with this
Church desires to become a communicant member of this Church’. The Synod of the
Diocese of Sydney adopted this canon in 1985.
RECEPTION INTO
COMMUNICANT MEMBERSHIP
1. The candidate is
presented by the minister or a lay sponsor
N has already been
baptised and has formerly been a communicant member of the . . . Church. He/She now asks to be received into
communicant membership of the Anglican Church of Australia and seek our prayers
in the fellowship of this parish.
2. The bishop says to
the candidate
Do you stand by the Christian confession and commitment
made at your baptism?
I do
Do you desire to be admitted into communicant membership
of the Anglican Church of Australia and accept its doctrine and order?
I do
3. The bishop welcomes
each person in these words, taking him/her by the hand.
We recognise you as a baptised and communicant member of the
Christian Church.
The congregation
responds
We receive and welcome you into the fellowship of the Anglican Church.
4. The bishop says –
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Let us pray.
God of wisdom and love, source of all good, by your Holy Spirit strengthen your servants and guide them in your way of peace and love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
5. The candidates,
kneel and the bishop lays his hands on the candidate’s head, saying —
N, may the Holy
Spirit direct and uphold you in the service of Christ and his kingdom in the
fellowship of his Church. God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit bless,
preserve and keep you. Amen.
The explanatory introduction to this form in its reference
to the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney’s adoption of the Reception Canon of 1981
points to provision of the ACA constitution, which is, as far as I have been
able to determine, unique to the Anglican Church of Australia. This is not to
say that a similar provision does not exist in the constitution of another
Anglican province. I have not yet run across such a provision in my comparative
study of the constitutions and canons of the provinces and dioceses of the
Anglican Communion.
Chapter V, Section 30 (a) of the ACA constitution states:
Any canon affecting the ritual, ceremonial or discipline of this Church shall be deemed to affect the order and good government of the Church within a diocese, and shall not come into force in any diocese unless and until the diocese by ordinance adopts the said canon.
This provision is an integral part of the Anglican Church of
Australia’s approach to theological diversity and differences of churchmanship
in the province. It reflects the particular history of the Anglican Church of
Australia which is confederation of dioceses that were established at different
times in the history of Australia and had their own separate relationship with the
Church of England. The entire range of contemporary schools of Anglican thought
is represented in the province.
In a number of ways the history of the Anglican Church in
North America is similar to that of the Anglican Church of Australia. Its
founding entities were organized at different times and had relationships with different
provinces of the Anglican Communion. The Anglican Church in North America
includes conservative evangelicals as well as Anglo-Catholics and charismatics.
The Anglican Church in North America would have done well to have adopted the Anglican
Church of Australia’s approach to theological diversity and differences of
churchmanship.
The Anglican Church of Australia was one of a number of
models that were available to the Common Cause Partnership when it established
the Anglican Church in North America. However, the CCP leadership formed an
ecclesial body that did not comprehend the theological diversity and
differences of churchmanship represented in that body, showing that it had no
commitment to a policy of comprehension.
The same element that occupied the place of power in the
Common Cause Partnership now occupies that position in the Anglican Church in
North America. Rather than responding to GAFCON’s call to restore the Bible and
the historic formularies to their rightful place in the Anglican Church, this element
has been working to entrench in the Anglican Church in North America an ideology
that has been identified along with liberalism as having toppled the Bible and
the historic formularies from that place in the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries.
What is notable about the form for Reception into
Communicant Membership is that the bishop extends to the person being received
the right hand of fellowship while recognizing that person as a baptized and
communicant member of the Christian Church. The congregation then receives and
welcomes that person into the Anglican Church. The person kneels. After saying
a brief prayer for the person, the bishop lays his hand on the person’s
forehead and invokes God’s blessing on him or her.
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