The ACNA's Prayer Book 2019: Catholic but not Reformed

In this post I compare the Reformed sacramental doctrine of the 1552 Prayer Book with that of the ACNA's Prayer Book 2019.

By Robin G. Jordan

The purpose of yesterday’s article, “A Visit to an ACNA Church and What Happened Afterwards,” was to illustrate the differences between the ACNA’s eucharistic rite and a more flexible eucharistic rite like A Service of Holy Communion for the North American Mission Field. The Book of Common Prayer 2019’s The Holy Eucharist: The Standard Anglican Text and The Holy Eucharist: Renewed Ancient Text are really the same rite. The only differences between them are the form for the Prayers of the People and the Eucharistic Prayer. The two forms for the Prayers of the People are two versions of the same prayer.

Even if you reduce the ACNA’s eucharistic rite to the minimum elements permitted by the rubrics, it is a tediously long rite that lacks flexibility. The structure of the rite is quite rigid. The rite has too many fixed elements. It is also very wordy. It is not adaptable to the wide variety of circumstances and situations of ACNA churches on the twenty-first century North American mission field. The rite lends itself only to certain styles of music and worship.

In my description of the two celebrations of the Holy Eucharist I drew upon my personal experiences worshiping with a number of Anglican and Episcopal churches over a period of more than 35 years. This includes worshiping in non-traditional settings as well as parish churches. The people in the descriptions of the two Eucharistic celebrations are based on real people. I also have a pinched nerve and suffer shooting paints in my left thigh when I stand too long.

The foregoing are not the only drawbacks of the ACNA’s Eucharistic rite. The doctrine of the rite reflects what may be described as the progressive departure of the American Prayer Book from the Reformed doctrine of the 1552 Book of Common Prayer. The beginning of this movement away from the 1552 Prayer Book’s Reformed doctrine can be traced to the 1637 Scottish Book of Common Prayer which influenced the Baptism service of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and the Scottish Non-Jurors’ 1764 Communion Office. These two offices would in turn influence the Baptism and Communion services of the 1789 Book of Common Prayer. The movement away from the 1552 Prayer Book’s Reformed doctrine would become more pronounced with each revision of the American Prayer Book. The American Prayer Book would become more unreformed Catholic in doctrine. The Book of Common Prayer 2019 represents the latest phase in the American Prayer Book's movement away from the 1552 Prayer Book’s Reformed doctrine.

A comparison of the 1552 Communion service and the 1552 Baptism service with the equivalent 2019 rites is helpful in understanding this movement in the direction of unreformed Catholicism. When these rites are compared, a major shift in focus is discernible. In the two 1552 services the focus is the recipient of the sacrament. In the 2019 rites the focus is the matter of the sacrament, the minister of the sacrament, the role of the minister of the sacrament in the consecration of the matter, and in the eucharistic rite, the minister of the sacrament’s offering of the consecrated bread and wine to God.

In the 1552 services God is the consecrator. The minister of the sacrament plays no role in the consecration of the matter of the sacrament. This is more evident in the 1552 Baptism service than in the 1552 Communion service. The forms of prayer before the communion of the people and the baptism of an infant in the 1552 Book of Common Prayer are not prayers of consecration. While they may contain references to the matter of the sacrament, they are prayers for the recipient of the sacrament.

The form of prayer before the communion of the people consists of an introductory dialog, a laudatory preface culminating in the Sanctus, a prayer that the communicants will be worthy recipients of the sacrament, a commemoration of Christ’s salvific work, a prayer that communicants will receive the inward grace of the sacrament, and the words of institution. The form of prayer before the baptism of an infant is a prayer that the baptismal candidate will receive the inward grace of the sacrament. Both forms of prayer assume that God has already consecrated the matter of the sacrament and therefore no prayer asking God to consecrate the matter of the sacrament is needed.

On the other hand, the 2012 rites assume that God has not consecrated the matter of the sacrament. In order for God to consecrate the matter the prayer of a minister of the sacrament who possesses a special grace is needed. Only the prayer of such a minister will be effectual.

Needless to say this doctrinal view is not found in Scripture nor can it be proved by Scripture. It is solely based upon Church tradition. The Synoptic Gospels speak of Jesus blessing the bread and the cup but they also speak of him give thanks over the bread and the cup. While Catholics maintain that these passages show that Jesus consecrated the bread and cup, they are references to the Jewish table graces that were said over the bread at the beginning of the Passover meal and over a cup of wine later in the meal. They are not prayers of consecration.

Jesus dedicated bread and wine for the purpose of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper when he spoke of the bread and wine as symbols and tokens of his suffering and death for the sins of humankind and commanded his disciples eat and drink them in remembrance of him. The bread and wine are not in need of further consecration for sacramental use. In using them for sacramental use, we are acknowledging that Jesus dedicated them to that use.

One of the results in this shift in focus is unnecessarily elaborate and lengthy rites whose sole purpose is to magnify the bishop or priest as the minister of the sacraments. Such rites are not a gospel asset on the twenty-first century North American mission field. They are a liability. Whether they help or hinder clergy and congregations seeking to reach and engage North America’s unchurched population, however, is not really a concern of those compiling such rites.

Where does the Communion and Baptism services of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer fit into this picture? In their revision of the 1552 Book of Common Prayer which in its 1559 revision had been the prayer book of the Church of England for almost 100 years, the Restoration bishops made three significant changes. These changes can be attributed to the influence of the 1637 Scottish Prayer Book. In the Communion service they added the title “Prayer of Consecration” after the Sanctus and before the commemoration of Christ’s salvific work and an “amen” after the words of institution. These changes suggest that they may not have understood the nature of the form of prayer before the communion of the people. With these changes they made the form consecratory.

In the Baptism service the Restoration bishops also added to the form of prayer before the baptism of an infant a petition asking God to “sanctify” the water in the font. This petition, however, was redundant since the Flood Prayer earlier in the 1662 Baptism service stated that God had sanctified all water for the mystical washing away of sin through the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan. If God had already sanctified water for the purpose of the sacrament, there was no need to ask him to sanctify it again. This is as far as the Restoration bishops went. They did, however, give the minister of the sacrament a role that went beyond administering the sacrament. He also played a part in the consecration of the matter of the sacrament. The implication was God’s original setting apart of water for the purpose of baptism was somehow defective or incomplete. It required human involvement.

In the 1552 Communion service the priest is simply an administrator of the sacrament, a humble steward who serves the meal of the Lord’s Supper. Before the meal he reminds his fellow communicants why they are observing the Lord’s Supper and prays for them and himself. In the 1552 Baptism service the minister is also simply an administrator of the sacrament. Before dipping the baptismal candidate into the water or pouring water on the candidate, he prays for the candidate. He exercises these roles as a minister of God’s Word.

The implications for anyone preparing a modern liturgy that embodies the sacramental doctrine of the 1552 Prayer Book are that the structure of the Communion and Baptism services do need to exactly follow the structure of the 1552 services. However, the form of prayer that is used before the communion of the people should consist of a brief prayer of thanksgiving and praise introduced by the Sursum Corda and concluding with the Sanctus, a commemoration of Christ’s salvific work, a prayer for the communicants, and the words of institution. The only references to sacrifice in this form of prayer should be confined to Christ’s suffering and death on the cross. Any prayers of thanksgiving that refer to our offering of praise and thanksgiving and ourselves should follow the communion of the people.

The form of prayer that is used before the baptism of an infant or an adult should consist of prayers for the baptismal candidate. It may be appropriate to omit any reference to the newly-baptized being regenerate after the baptism.

Tomorrow I plan to post an example of the form of prayer that might be used before the communion of the people in a modern service of the Lord’s Supper embodying the sacramental doctrine of the 1552 Prayer Book.