Biblical Christianity and Historic Anglicanism in the North American Anglican Church: Beyond Hope of Recovery?

By Robin G. Jordan

At this moment in history genuine biblical Christianity and authentic historic Anglicanism appear to have little hope of recovery in the North America Anglican Church, much less of flourishing, for a variety of reasons. Let us take a look at those reasons that top the list.

1. Adherents of biblical Christianity and historic Anglicanism are treated as undesirables not only in the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church in the USA but also in the Anglican Church in North America and most of the Continuing Anglican Churches. Where they are present in these churches, their presence is begrudged.

2. The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion are not recognized as historic Anglicanism’s confession of faith as previous generations of Anglicans have recognized them. In the Anglican Church of Canada the Thirty-Nine Articles are far from a living formulary. In the Episcopal Church the Articles are treated as a relic of the past and are relegated to the historical documents section of the 1979 Prayer Book. The Fundamental Declarations of the Anglican Church in North America equivocate over the authority of the Articles for today’s church. While some clergy, congregations, and dioceses may accept their authority, the province as a whole, as attested by its formularies—its canons, its catechism, and its proposed service book—does not. In most of the Continuing Anglican Churches, if the Articles are acknowledged at all, they are misinterpreted much in the same way John Henry Newman misinterpreted them in the nineteenth century.

3. The Protestant Reformation is not given the recognition that it deserves as a spiritual movement that restored the gospel to the English Church.

4. The Protestant, reformed, and evangelical character of historic Anglicanism, its recognition of the plenary authority of the Bible in matters of faith and practice, and its adherence to such New Testament doctrines as salvation by grace through faith are not celebrated but are viewed as a defect that must be remedied by the propagation of unreformed Catholicism or some other form of beliefs and practices in the Anglican Church.

5. In place of proclaiming the gospel, making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them what Christ has commanded, the focus of the church is propagating whatever form of beliefs and practices is the confession de jure in a particular jurisdiction and making converts to this ideology.

6. The vision of the church that is pursued in the ecclesiastical entities which comprise the North American Anglican Church is a product of the human imagination—be it as recreation of a pure Catholic church that is supposed to have existed before the East-West schism of the eleventh century; the formation of a convergence church in which the three major theological streams of Christianity that historically have not only differed from each other but also have conflicted with each other somehow overcome their differences and conflicts, come together, and unite into a single river that suspiciously resembles the unreformed Catholicism of the pre-Reformation Medieval Church and which its adherents claim is the future of Christianity; or the establishment of an affirming church in which gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons (LGBT) are welcomed, homosexuality is not considered to be a sin, and the full inclusion of LGBT members in the church’s life and ministry is affirmed. All three visions of the church are evident in the North American Anglican Church.

What is missing is a commitment to God’s own vision of the church, which he has revealed in Scripture. For example, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” 1 Peter 2:9 ESV. Among God’s excellencies is that he “so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16 ESV.

7. Adherents of biblical Christianity and historical Anglicanism are hampered by what Anglican service books they may use in the North American Anglican Church. These service books are a ragbag of doctrine and practices.

The Order of Ministration of Holy Communion of the 1928 Prayer and 1962 Canadian Prayer Book contain elements that are historically associated with the medieval Catholic doctrine of eucharistic sacrifice. They also contain elements historically associated with a realist view of the eucharistic presence, which conflicts with the eucharistic doctrine of the 1662 Prayer Book.

The Ministration of Baptism of the two books emphasizes the priest’s consecration of the water in the font. In the case of the 1962 Canadian baptismal rites, the prayer for the sanctification of the water in the font is redundant since the rites contain an earlier text which recognizes that God, by the baptism of his Son, has sanctified all water for the purpose of baptism. The Ministration of Baptism of the two books also takes the position that the newly-baptized is regenerate and has received the Holy Spirit, a position which is not supported by Scripture, the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, and the early Anglican divines and over which Anglicans historically have been divided.

The Offices of Instruction of the 1928 Prayer Book contain prayers whose language infer that confirmation is a sacrament in which the confirmands receive a topping-up of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, a view of confirmation that is not agreeable to Scripture or the view of confirmation in Thirty-Nine Articles, the Homilies, and the 1662 Prayer Book and its predecessors, the 1552, 1559, and 1604 Prayer Books. In all these books confirmation is viewed as a catechetical rite, not a sacrament.

The preface to the Order of Confirmation in the 1962 Canadian Prayer Book contains references to passages in the Acts of Apostles and infers that confirmation is an apostolic practice, if not a sacrament, based on these passages. In Baptism and Fullness John Stott point out that the laying-on of apostolic hands and the receiving of the Holy Spirit described in these passages was special to Ephesus and to Samaria and the New Testament does not suggest that they are normative for all Christians. They were visible and public demonstrations of the incorporation of these particular groups into Christ by the Holy Spirit. What is described in these passages is not a primitive form of confirmation. The 1928 Order of Confirmation contains one of these passages as a reading.

The 1928 Prayer for the Whole State of Christ’s Church contain a petition for the dead and the 1928 Order for the Burial of the Dead contains prayers for the dead, including one which refers to the perfection of the dead after their death—an allusion to the doctrine of purgatory.

The 1928 Prayer Book and 1962 Canadian Prayer Book do not reflect the Protestant, reformed, and evangelical character of historic Anglicanism. The 1928 Prayer Book was compiled when the Anglo-Catholics and the Broad Churchmen formed the most influential church parties in the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA. There was also a movement to remove the Thirty-Nine Articles from the American Prayer Book. This movement lost steam with the adoption of the 1928 Prayer Book.

The 1962 Canadian Prayer Book was adopted at a time when there was a movement in the Anglican Communion away from the 1662 Prayer Book. The 1958 Lambeth Conference, rather than calling the Anglican Communion back to the standard of the 1662 Prayer Book, affirmed this movement. Instead of reaffirming the historic Anglican formularies as the basis for Anglican identity and unity, 1958 Lambeth Conference recommended the substitution of a form of the Holy Communion service based upon an ecumenical model. Much of the confusion over what is Anglican that we see in the Anglican Communion today can be traced to the recommendations of this Lambeth Conference.

The eucharistic rites of the 1979 Prayer Book, the 1985 Book of Alternative Services, and the 1996 Nigerian Prayer Book take a realist view of the eucharistic presence, which conflicts with the eucharistic doctrine of the 1662 Prayer Book. They also show the influence of the post-Vatican II Roman Rite and the 1958 Lambeth doctrine of eucharistic sacrifice. The latter is inconsistent with the principles of the Thirty-Nine Articles as J. I. Packer has shown in his book, The Thirty-Nine Articles: Their Place and Use Today.

I cannot comment upon the other rites and services in the 1996 Nigerian Prayer Book since I do not have access to a translation of these rites and services into English. In 2005 the Church of Nigeria reaffirmed its commitment to the historic Anglican formularies and stated that it would only be in communion with other Anglican churches that accepted the doctrine of these formularies. While its reaffirmation to this commitment is to be commended, it must be pointed out that the eucharistic rite of its own Prayer Book does not conform to this doctrine.

In addition to their eucharistic rites, a number of the other rites and services in the 1979 Prayer Book and 1985 Book of Alternative Services also do not conform to the doctrine of the historic Anglican formularies. Space does not permit me to go into all the details.

An Outline of the Faith in the 1979 Prayer Book affirms the 1958 Lambeth doctrine of eucharist sacrifice:

Q. Why is the Eucharist called a sacrifice?
A. Because the Eucharist, the Church's sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, is the way by which the sacrifice of Christ is made present, and in which he unites us to his one offering of himself.

In its description of confirmation, ordination, marriage, reconciliation of a penitent, and unction as “sacramental rites” An Outline of the Faith articulates a sacramental understanding of these rites, which conflicts with the Thirty-Nine Articles’ description of them as developments from “a false understanding of apostolic practice” and representations of “states of life allowed in Scripture.” It also affirms the practice of praying for the dead.

Like the 1928 Prayer Book and 1962 Canadian Prayer Book, the 1979 Prayer Book and 1985 Book of Alternative Services do not reflect the Protestant, reformed, and evangelical character of historic Anglicanism.

The Anglican Church of Kenya’s Our Modern Services (2002; 2003) is the result of a serious attempt at the indigenization of the rites and services of The Book of Common Prayer to meet the needs of the Kenyan Church. Its often lengthy and highly participative rites and services were prepared for an African cultural context and reflect an African sense of time and an African understanding of worship as an activity of the whole Christian community. Its eucharistic prayer evokes the descent of the Holy Spirit not on the communion elements but the communicants. Its baptismal rite has a lengthy prayer for the sanctification of the water in the font, which is a dialogue between priest and people.

An examination of its other rites and services and its revised catechism suggests that while the Anglican Church of Kenya does not call them sacraments but “sacramental ministries of grace,” it has a sacramental understanding of confirmation and ordination, holy matrimony, the ministry of absolution, and the ministry of healing. In its constitution and canons it does not accept the authority of the Thirty-Nine Articles, only that of the 1662 Prayer Book. For these reasons Our Modern Services cannot be viewed as reflecting the Protestant, reformed, and evangelical character of historic Anglicanism.

Another group of Anglican service books that have been used in the North American Anglican Church are the 2005 Reformed Episcopal Prayer Book and its modern English version, An Anglican Prayer Book (2008), and The Book of Common Prayer 2011. Here again space does not permit me to go into details. However, none of these books may be described as reflecting the Protestant, reformed, and evangelical character of historic Anglicanism.

As I have clearly shown in a recent series of articles, the 2019 Proposed Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Church in North America embodies a form of unreformed Catholicism, not historic Anglicanism.

This leaves the 1662 Prayer Book which a few churches are using in the ACNA and the Continuing Anglican Churches. The 1662 Prayer Book also has its drawbacks. It was compiled for a different place and time. Its language is challenging for North America’s younger generations and its rites and services are rather lengthy for their shorter attention spans. I have discussed elsewhere the problem of the redundant sanctification of the water in the font in its Ministration of Baptism and of the use of the language of charitable supposition in the references to newly baptized as being regenerate and as having received the Holy Spirit in the same office.

The one book that does appear to reflect the Protestant, reformed, and evangelical character of historic Anglicanism and which also appears to be simple, flexible, and adaptable enough for the North American mission field, Common Prayer: Resources for Gospel-Shaped Gatherings (2012), had not been compiled at the time of the formation of the Anglican Church in North America and therefore was not in use in any of the founding entities. The amendment of the ACNA’s canons to permit the continued use of the service books in use in those entities at the time of the province’s formation, subject to the permission of the ordinary of the diocese, does not apply to that book. Even if adherents of biblical Christianity and historic Anglicanism in the ACNA published their own edition of the book, its use would be unauthorized unless the canons were further amended.

I am not claiming that Common Prayer: Resources for Gospel-Shaped Gatherings (2012) is the ideal Anglican service book. As with any Anglican service book I can see room for improvement. The language of some of its services might benefit from a little polishing for a starter.

I must also point out that all of the other Anglican service books that I have mentioned have desirable features. It is regrettable that these features are not found in one book.

Although the picture that I have painted may be a grim one, I do not believe that adherents of biblical Christianity and historic Anglicanism should be dismayed over what may at first glance appear to be the slim prospect of a recovery for biblical Christianity and historic Anglicanism in the North American Anglican Church. If we look around us, we will discover that God has been at work making provision for their recovery.

God has inspired men and women to remain faithful to the teaching of the Holy Scripture and historic Anglican beliefs and practice. He has raised up leaders from their midst.

God has inspired the preparation and publication of resources like the New City Catechism. In the Introduction to the New City Catechism Tim Keller writes, “The New City Catechism is based on and adapted from Calvin’s Geneva Catechism, the Westminster Shorter and Larger catechisms, and especially the Heidelberg Catechism.” Calvin’s Geneva Catechism was used in the grammar schools and universities of Elizabethan England along with Nowell’s Larger and Shorter Catechisms to instruct the future clergy of the Church of England and other students in the fundamentals of the Christian faith. The Heidelberg Catechism was adopted by the Church of England in 1567. While the Church of England did not adopt the Westminster Shorter and Larger catechisms, Anglican divines were involved in their preparation as they were in the Westminster Confession. These three formularies, as J. I. Packer has pointed out, are a part of our Anglican heritage.

God has inspired the translation of the Heidelberg Catechism and the Prayer Book Catechism into modern English. The Prayer Book Catechism is based upon Nowell’s Shorter Catechism.

God has inspired the restatement of the Thirty-Nine Articles into modern English. The late Phillip Edgcumbe Hughes prepared a restatement of the Articles for the Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa (formerly the Church of England in South Africa) and Church Society prepared a similar restatement for An English Prayer Book (1994), its contribution to the development of revised services for the Church of England.

God also inspired the preparation and publication of Common Prayer: Resources for a Gospel-Shaped Gatherings (2012), church services and other gospel gatherings that are faithful to the Bible and historic Anglican beliefs and practices and which reflect the Protestant, reformed, and evangelical character of historic Anglicanism.

Let us pray that God will bring these elements together in our lifetime and we will be not only witnesses to the renewal of biblical Christianity and historic Anglicanism in the North American Anglican Church but participants in that renewal.

In the late 1980s or early 1990s I attended a mission conference in the Episcopal Church, a rarity in that denomination in those days and even more so now. On the last day of the conference one of the attendees shared a vision that she believed she had received from God. As she was speaking, her words became an image in my head. A great wheat field stretched to the horizon, ripe for harvest. Jesus stood over that field with outstretched arms, his head touching the heavens. Each grain of wheat was a human face, the face of a man or woman or child to whom he was offering salvation and to whom he wished not only those present at that gathering but all of his faithful disciples to bring the gospel. It was a powerful image.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send more laborers into the harvest. Rather than seeing the formation of a second alternative province in North America as a form of disunity, let us see it as one of the many ways that God is answering that prayer. He is inspiring the formation of new networks of churches to make new disciples and to plant new churches, to accomplish what he wants us to do—to bring the gospel to those to whom he is offering salvation.