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Pray Always

Michael W. Arnold — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 11:59:34 -0600

I come to you this morning “fresh off the plane” from the 148th synod of the Diocese of Quincy. Due to weather conditions, our flight was delayed and we ended up taking an in-air detour through Michigan and Ohio to get safely home to Tennessee at around 10:30p last night. But, neither the airport, hours in a cramped plane, hoards of travelers, nor the stresses of travel could remove the joy, hope, and peace I received at our synod.

Now, on face value, synod should not be a fun time, especially for an introvert like myself. Synod is a lot of small talk, a lot of church, a lot of meetings, many, many presentations, and a lot of patiently waiting. Truth be told, I don’t really know what’s going on most of the time at synod. I just wait for our dear vicar, follow his lead, and do what he volunteers me for.

And, yet, from all of this I come away from synod very, very tired, but also energized and glowing.

The theme of this year’s synod was “our labor is not in vain.” And, that, is the message that has so filled my heart with joy and renewed my hope for what God is doing in the world.

Now, what might be expected of me, is to share some deep and great insight from the episcopal address or one of the many great sermons. Or, maybe, I should have been deeply moved by one of the many presentations of the work God is doing at our missions around the world. With no disrespect to the many speakers and ministers, while those were all good and uplifting, they are not the greatest impact of synod. The greatest impact of synod is the people.

I’ve been to many, many church meetings in my life. They are formal, boring, bureaucratic, and outside of a few guys in strange clothing could easily be mistaken for a business meeting. There are arguments, debates, politics, and all the things you’d expect among fallen man trying to come to a common decision. Now, it is not to say that these things do not exist at our synod, they absolutely do. But, there is something at synod that transcends the ways of man and points us to a better Way.

At synod, you can sit back and see the workings of men who have come to know our Lord and have been deeply transformed by him. Without words, outside of presentations, and without knowing that anyone is watching; our bishop, our abbot, the many priests, nuns, deacons, and visiting bishops show the love, grace, mercy, and peace of God in their actions. It is in the smiles. The hugs of true fellowship and brotherly love. The willingness to serve at a moment’s notice. The earnest, passionate prayers. The love we all share for our bishop. The shared care and devotion we have to our Lord and His Holy Church. The sweet conversations we have about our parishes and the work God is doing within them. How the conversation changes from the conservation of money, space, or time to an exuberant generosity of all things when we talk about the poor, needy, lonely, and lost.

In all of these things, I am able to see God at work in real people and real places. I am reminded that St. Andrew’s doesn’t stand alone. Our labor is not in vain. God is doing a great work not just here in Nashville, but all over the world. God can and does change hearts. Years of prayer and service do make you a better person. I’ve seen holy men. I’ve received their kindness and care. Our God is at work and present in our world today. Our labor is, indeed, not in vain.

Which, brings me to our gospel reading today. St. Luke shares with us one of our Lord’s stranger parables. Jesus tells us a story about a city led by a powerful judge. This judge is not necessarily wise and I get the sense from Jesus’ story that the judge isn’t particularly kind or fair. This judge doesn’t respect God or care about people at all. Virtue, brotherly love, kindness, compassion, and so on, do not move this judge. He is a man that only cares about power and comfort. He wants the tax money and then he wants to be left alone to feast.

So far, so good. I’m sure the first hearers of this parable assumed Jesus was about to tell them a story about greed or power. They were ready to hear another powerful admonition directed towards the Romans and Jewish leaders. Instead, they got a joke. And I do mean a joke. Jesus has a sense of humor and it really shows in this parable. You see, in this city there isn’t just this awful judge, but there’s an equally awful old widow women. She, too, is grumpy, mean, and selfish. All she cares about is getting back at her enemy. In hearing the story, you can almost see Jesus winking to the crowd as he talks of her. We all have someone in mind. Mean old Gladys who’s still mad about what Margret did at the church raffle all those many years ago. Gladys who won’t stop talking about it and always seems to be out to find a way to get back at Margret. Glady’s who’s constantly bothering Father and whoever else will listen about it.

It’s funny! It’s okay to laugh when reading the Bible. I have no doubt Jesus got a good bit of laughter when he taught this to the crowds all those many years ago.

As the crowd laughs at the notion of the widow, Jesus tells them that she’s constantly hounding this judge about her “adversary.” I’m sure they laugh even harder thinking of the selfish judge who just wants to live alone in luxury constantly being bothered by this equally awful widow. The imagery is just too great!

Waiting for the punchline about greed, being annoying, or something else, Jesus instead turns to the crowd. This parable wasn’t for Rome. It wasn’t for the rabbis, the Sanhedrin, or the Temple priests. It was for them. I’ve no doubt a hush came over the crowd.

Jesus says, “Listen, guys. We’re all laughing because we know the old widow was right. You can annoy someone into getting what you want. We’ve done it to our parents in the market and our kids to it to us each and every day. We do this, without hardly thinking.”

“But, I am the God shepherd. I’ve heard the call of my people time and time again. I listen. I care. I act. And, yet, you don’t pray. You turn to idols. Your lips are silent towards me. Why don’t you pray? Why don’t you have faith in me, the good judge?”

Those words hurt. They hurt then and they hurt now.

At synod, a dear missionary bishop from India shared stories of his father’s missionary work and the work of the missionaries in India today. One story he shared was a of a young missionary who was more successful than the others. He was converting some of the most dangerous villages. Villages where previous missionaries had been beaten and almost killed. They wanted to know why this missionary was so successful. He wasn’t particularly smart. He wasn’t doing any special technique. He was small and didn’t dress any different from anyone else. Finally, in talking to the man, they figured it out. Between classes when others where talking, he’d stop off in a quiet corner to pray. He’d pray between meals, between calls, between chores, constantly through out the day. This is what made the difference in his ministry. He prayed constantly and God listened.

After this story, the bishop shared that the average Christian prays a total of four minutes each day; the average pastor, six.

We are the crowd Jesus is teaching today.

Thursday was the Feast Day of the Oxford Martyrs. On 16. October 1555 bishops Latimer and Ridley were burned at the stake. Five months later, on 21. March 1556 Bishop Cranmer was also burned.

These men, and those who labored diligently with them, gave their lives to restore the prayers of the English people to their native land and tongue.

The prayer book that sits before you in the pew and, hopefully, beside you at home is the fruit of their labors.

Men have died that we might pray. Not just the Oxford Martyrs, but many, many others.

In prayer we reveal ourselves fully before God. He sees us as we truly are and, yet, doesn’t look away. Instead, He pierces our heart with the mercy of His. He listens. He loves. And, He acts. In ways we can see (healings and miracles), in ways we can hear, but, often, in ways we hardly even notice.

Latimer, Ridely, and Cranmer restored some Anglo-Saxon prayers and translated some Latin ones into a book. A book, that was thrown with them in the fire and banned.

That prayers that that book ignited among the English people has nourished the Church and evangelized the nations for over four hundred years. Millions upon millions have been reached by the prayers of the English Church and the missionaries she supports. None of us in this room would be here today, were it not for the prayers of the great saints that came before us and the great saints who pray for us even today. Their labor was not in vain. The hours of work. The hours of prayer. They led to a revival of Christian in the British isles and around the world.

So, my brothers and sisters, let us strive for more of God than four minutes. Let us open our prayer books and our hearts to God. Pray to the Father knowing He listens, knowing the work of the Son, and expecting the presence of the Spirit. Pray knowing that our God lives and moves among us. Pray for missions. Pray for strength. Pray for healing. Pray for wisdom. Pray for forgiveness. Pray for mercy. Pray for your enemies. Pray for the unrepentant. Pray for the sick. Pray for the dying. Pray for the children.

Pray without ceasing.

God listens and answers our prayers. In prayer we draw closer to Him and are transformed into holiness in His presence. Our labor in prayer, is not in vain. Prayer is the very food of the gospel. In it, Christ nourishes us for the work of the kingdom. He transforms us into icons of His grace, mercy, and love. He makes us holy and in His holiness are participate is what He’s doing in the world. Our labor is but an outpouring of the work already accomplished on the cross. That work defeated sin, death, and the devil. It is complete. It is total. It is never in vain. Because of that final, once offered, full total and complete sacrifice; we can pray and work without ceasing or fear.

Hear the Words of our Lord:

“…will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night?”

“Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

“Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

In the name of God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The Toddler Evening Office

Michael W. Arnold — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 00:00:00 -0600

We started a pattern of family prayer back in Advent. Each night after dinner, I’d lead the family in prayer. Oliver (23 months) would listen(-ish) and join in the amens and Rosemary (~4) would chime in with the responses — “Hear our Prayer” — and lead the Lord’s Prayer. Having established a habit of prayer after dinner, I wanted to keep it moving forward even after the Advent calendars were empty and the wreath was put away.

After Christmas had ended, I decided to put our prayer books to use and keep the evening prayer train rolling. Our family dove in to using the new 2019 BCP’s Family Prayer in the Early Evening. The shortened office was nice and fit perfectly with the attention span of our small children. However, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t the real office.

I’ve been praying the Anglican offices for many years now. There’s a pattern. There’s a flow. There’s a connection between the daily offices and the Sunday liturgy. Family Prayer just didn’t feel right. I wanted to share with my children the liturgy that has been so foundational to my Christian life.

One evening while I was working on the order of worship for St. Mang it dawned on me. Why don’t I just shorten the normal service of Evening Prayer for my young family’s use? And that’s exactly what I did.

Toddler Evening Prayer Office

So, what’s Evening Prayer look like for toddlers? We start with the Invitatory on page 43.¹ After that, I let one of the kids choose if we do the Phos Hilaron on page 44 or the Magnificat on page 45.² For the lesson, we’re using the Beginners Bible 365 Devotions for Kids. The kids like the new picture each day and it gives Jennifer & I the opportunity to have a little discussion with the kids. After the lesson, I pray the collect of the day and then have Rosemary lead us in the Lord’s Prayer — which is usually sung.

Conclusion

A month in, I’m loving this way of praying the office together. I am happy that the words of the office are already implanting themselves into the minds of my children. The changing of the collect in synch with the Church calendar and the powerful words of the Magnificat ensure that I don’t feel that I’m giving my children a lesser office.

Though our current ordo will serve us for a good little while, I can already see where this office can build with us slowly, growing with the children as they age. First, I’ll add the confession of sin to our office, then the creed. After that the prayers and, over time, we’ll grow to adding more lessons.

I’m excited to have established a family habit of prayer that meets us where we are now, but can grow with us over time. It’s not easy doing the office with children. It’s a rare day when someone isn’t talking or whining while I’m praying. But, we power through. And, even though it doesn’t seem like they are always listening, the kids continually surprise me when they join in the liturgy and have entire sections memorized.

All citations are for the BCP 2019 ↩︎
Rosemary really loves the BVM, so usually the Magnificat wins out. If we do end up praying the Phos Hilaron, Rosemary will usually ask Alexa to play Mary Did you Know? to fill the BVM void. ↩︎

Why Worship with a Book of Common Prayer?

Michael W. Arnold — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 00:00:00 -0600

The English Church, her descendants, and her colonial heirs worship with a common book of prayer for a few historical and theological reasons. It might come as a surprise to many North American Christians, but liturgical worship is by far the norm in contemporary Christianity and, prior to the Reformation, was the universal form of worship in the Church. Before the upheaval of the Reformation, East, West, Ethiopian, Syriac, and more all worshiped God using liturgies attributed to the saints and apostles.

So, how did the Church come to worship liturgically in the first place? Jesus is a Palestinian Jew, and his ministry was among the Jewish people. Jewish worship in the temple and the synagogue was liturgic. Throughout the narrative of the Old Testament and the historical record, one sees that Jewish worship had a cycle of Psalms, seasons, and sacred rituals. As the first Christians were Jewish, it is no surprise that Jewish liturgical practice and ritual found its way into Christian worship.¹ The Psalms and readings of the synagogue — as seen when Jesus reads from Isaiah in Luke 4:16-20 — were continued by the Church and augmented with the teachings of Jesus and, later, the canon of the New Testament. The sacred rituals of baptism and Eucharist are deeply rooted in Jewish purification washings and post-meal prayers involving a chalice of wine. Over time, services were standardized, as they had been in the Jewish tradition, and regional liturgies formed.

At the earliest stages of his reformation, Martin Luther realized the importance of worshiping God and hearing the Word proclaimed in the common language of the people. As Dr. Luther broke with Rome, he simplified the Roman liturgy, translated it into the vernacular, and increased the congregation’s participation. No longer would those in worship be passive receivers of the liturgy, but the people would be participants with the priest.² Cranmer and other English reformers took the precedent from Luther and applied it to the English context. The English, too, would have a clear, easy to understand, liturgy for worship and personal devotion.³

Since the early days of Christianity, it was said, “lex orandi, lex credendi” — that what Christians pray leads to what they actually believe. Liturgy’s role in forming the theology of the ordinary Christian is why it has been so important and at times contentious in the history of the Church. The Reformers wanted to ensure prayers, scripture, and worship were in the vernacular because they wanted scripture to form the beliefs of Christians rather than the Magisterium. The counter-Reformers, likewise, would form liturgy to uphold the traditions of the Magisterium against Protestant critique. Liturgy does more than provide us with well-written prayers and an ordo for worship services. Liturgy molds the Church in her image. This power of liturgy is why liturgy is so slow to change and often the first target of theological reformation movements.

J.I. Packer’s lecture, “The Prayer Book Path,”⁴ is a great example of the power of liturgy to form a person. Over Packer’s eighty plus years with the English liturgy, it formed him and drew him closer to God. The prayers of the English Book of Common Prayer Packer found were set to be prayed by “spiritually alive people”⁵ who know God and seek to center their life in Christ. For Packer, the common prayers of the English Church formed his belief and daily practice to match what he prayed. I, too, have found this to be the case.

For me, an apology for a Book of Common Prayer is personal and theological. As an English descendant and someone who was raised outside of the Christian Church, I take great solace is praying the prayers of my forefathers. The ancient prayers of the Church give me a place in the Church’s history that I do not have by upbringing. In common prayer, I find a connection to the saints who have gone before me and a real spiritual and cultural home.

Theologically, the common prayer of the English Church does form. To my mind, the Book of Common Prayer and modernized and localized descendants are among the greatest disciple makers that have existed on this earth. Like the creeds, the Prayer Book sets boundaries for devotion, reflection, and belief. The Prayer Book, in its rhythms of daily prayer, collects, psalms, hymns, and feasts sets time to serve our worship of God. In the daily and weekly repetitions of the liturgy, prayers of saints past and the very words of scripture, weave themselves into the fabric of my being.

In times of stress, “Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.” are fresh on my lips. As I stroll down the hall between meetings at work, I am humming “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” Each night, we begin our prayers, “O God make speed to save us. O Lord make haste to help us.” and we pray the same prayers said by so many Christian before us. The Psalms, the collects, the simple responses — “and with your spirit” — encircle the very language of my family and me.

Through daily use of the Book of Common Prayer, my family’s words have been transformed to point to and glorify the Living Word. As Packer cites in his lecture⁶, the Prayer Book expects something of you. It lists prayers for birthdays, because it expects a birthday celebration to worship God ultimately. It lists prayers for births, deaths, harvests, storms, sickness and so much more because it wants us to render all things to Christ for the glory of God the Father. Were it not for the Prayer Book’s guiding hand, so many occasions in the daily life of my family would remain secular. We would miss the joys of a life fully lived with God.

Yes, transformation and discipleship can happen without a written liturgy and shared prayers, but the collected wisdom of generations should not be so easily dismissed. The Book of Common Prayer is the prayers of the saints, the prophets, the apostles, and — most importantly — the Eternal Logos. Standing upon the very words of scripture, the Book of Common Prayer forms Christians because God’s words will not return to him void.⁷ Praying with the communion of saints united to Christ in baptism and Eucharist can have no other effect than closer union with God.

Bibliography

Lindberg, Carter. The European Reformations. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.

Packer, James I. “‘Rooted and Built Up in Christ’ (Col. 2:6-7): The Prayer Book Path.” Toronto, Canada: Prayer Book Society of Canada, 1999. http://prayerbook.ca/resources/onlinelibrary/prayer-book-yesterday-today-tomorrow/#rootedandbuiltupinchrist.

Shepherd, Messey H., Jr. The Worship of the Church. Vol. 4. Greenwhich, Connecticut: The Seabury Press, 1952.

Shepherd, The Worship of the Church, 69-72. ↩︎
Lindberg, The European Reformations, 87-88. ↩︎
Lindberg, The European Reformations, 293-301. ↩︎
Packer, “‘Rooted and Built Up in Christ’ (Col. 2:6-7): The Prayer Book Path.” ↩︎
Ibid. ↩︎
Ibid. ↩︎
Isaiah 55:11 ↩︎

Anglican Baptism: Regenerative and Salvific Through Sacrament and Faith

Michael W. Arnold — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 00:00:00 -0600

Anglicanism is a diverse and varied tradition. Before the Reformation, Anglicanism refers to whatever Christians were doing¹ in the British Isles. Post-reformation, Anglicanism applies to the ecclesial bodies identifying with the pre-denominational Christianity of Britain and continuing to live in that communion.² Anglicanism, on the one hand, identifies as an ancient expression of the Christian faith existing before the Great Schism. Thus, Anglicanism is — with the Roman and Eastern churches — a Catholic and apostolic body. Further, however, the Anglican Communion did not resist the Reformation. It accepted and adopted many reformational tenants; Anglicans identify — to varying degrees — as at least Reformed, but also Protestant. Reformed and yet Catholic is the lived middle way — via media — of Anglicanism.

If any Christian tradition entirely lives lex orandi, lex credendi — what is prayed is what is believed —, Anglicanism is it. Having no particular founder, no fundamental specific doctrines, nor a specific initiatory event, Anglicanism is defined more by a common series of practices and rites rather than one particular dogma. Holy Scripture, Church tradition, and reason define doctrine in Anglicanism.³ (These are in order of authority. Though, depending on one’s churchmanship, Scripture and tradition can be seen as a single authority.)⁴ Unlike other Christian bodies during the Reformation period, the English saw no need to establish a new ecclesial body. The Reformation in England led not to new churches, but to a new freedom to those within the Church to broaden their theological perspectives. Within the Church of England, one could find those who held to traditional medieval theology, Lutherans, Calvinist, Arminians, and those holding to various shades and mixtures of these views.⁵ Because of this pluralistic theological environment, the English work of reformation sat not with a document of a doctrinal declaration, but rather with a movement to produce English-language materials for Christians; namely, the Bible and the liturgies/prayers of the Church.

Along with the various authorized English Bible translations, the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), became a primary source of doctrine within Anglicanism. Herein lies the difficulty in determining a single Anglican understanding of any particular belief. Though Anglicans share a baptismal rite, their interpretation of the words and actions in that ritual vary significantly. This, from the English Reformation to the present, has caused many theological debates and divisions within the English Church. Prime among the debates in Anglicanism is that of baptismal regeneration.

The rite of baptism for infants in the 1662 BCP⁶ makes it clear that no one can “enter into the kingdom of God” unless he or she is “regenerate and born anew of Water and of the Holy Ghost.”⁷ Before the baptism is performed the priest and congregation pray that the child, “may receive remission of his sins by spiritual regeneration.”⁸ After the baptism, the priest states to the congregation that the “Child is regenerate, and grafted into the body of Christ’s Church” and further a prayer of thanksgiving is given to God for making the child “regenerate” with his Holy Spirit.⁹ The 39 Articles of Religion¹⁰ further state that baptism is “not only a sign of profession” but “also a sign of Regeneration or New-Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church.”¹¹ It also states that sacraments are “not only badges or tokens” — signs — of an outward profession. Sacraments are “sure witnesses, and effectual signs of grace” through which God works “invisibly in” Christians to not only “quicken” — make alive — “our Faith in him” but also to “strengthen and confirm” it.¹²

The beauty and also problematizing wording of the common rite of the Prayer Book is that it intentionally allows for a variety of readings. Anglo-Catholics holding to more traditional and Thomist views of the sacraments can faithfully pray the rite meaning every word. Highly Reformed Anglicans, too, can faithfully pray the rite. The traditionalist/Anglo-Catholic view is that baptism is a sacrament that effects a real change in the recipient.¹³ Through God’s grace, baptism regenerates¹⁴ the recipient into a new birth whereby it washes the effects of original sin away. In baptism, the person is justified — saved from eternal damnation through the merits of Jesus Christ — and can live a new life of sanctification empowered by the Holy Spirit.¹⁵ Though the recipient can resist the fruits of regeneration and reject God’s justification, the change is real and through repentance can be re-engaged. The Evangelical/Reformed view of baptism is that the regeneration or new birth¹⁶ is affected by the Holy Spirit when a person accepts the gracious gift of salvation from Jesus.¹⁷ Though baptism is a sign of this new birth and is a public covenant made by the recipient of accepting and living into the lordship of Jesus Christ, it is God the Holy Spirit through the merits of God the Son who affects the change.¹⁸ There is an effect from the new birth and baptism is God’s provided form of worship to initiate that covenant publicly, but the rite in and of itself is not the source of the new birth; that is an act of the Holy Spirit on the believer.¹⁹

In contemporary Anglican practice, the traditionalist/Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical/Reformed views still carry much weight; however, the majority party in the Communion holds a view more in line with the via media of the English Reformers. The middle way of baptismal regeneration stays true to the words of the Prayer Book but does not necessarily define the how or why.²⁰ Both the Reformed and Anglo-Catholic views of baptism are correct and differ mostly in emphasis of viewpoint. Sacraments do have effects, but God is the source of those effects. Whether sacramentally endued through the mediation of the faithfulness of Church of God or given by grace through a personal relationship with God and signified to the community through tokens, the end effect is an extraordinary measure of God’s grace breaking into the life of a once-dead sinner.²¹ The majority view is merely to affirm what the Prayer Books says and nothing more; to live into the tension and mystery of sacraments, of God’s election, and humanity’s intersection and interaction with it all.

In reaction to the baptismal regeneration debates of the past centuries, modern Prayer Books within Anglicanism intentionally have removed “regeneration” from the text and standardized on “new birth” instead. The 1979 BCP²² ritual for baptism, for example, thanks God for bestowing upon the baptized, “the forgiveness of sin” and raising them, “to the new life of grace.”²³ The draft 2019 BCP service of baptism similarly states that the baptized are, “reborn by the Holy Spirit” and “cleansed from sin.”²⁴ The focus on “new birth” instead of “regeneration” eases discomfort for the Evangelical party while having limited impact on the traditionalist and moderate majority’s interpretation of baptism.

The Anglican Church in North America’s (ACNA) catechism continues in the “yes, and” nuanced tradition of Anglicanism. The Catechism provides wording that can imply sacramental effects of baptism “[t]he inward and spiritual grace set forth [in baptism] is a death to sin and a new birth to righteousness.”²⁵ It also makes it clear that sacramental grace is received, “through union with Christ in his death and resurrection.”²⁶ Sacramental grace is given only when “rightly received” in faith.²⁷ Modern Anglican practice, then, — in general — is an outward and pastoral high-sacramental stance, with a nuanced Reformed theological view when pressed for a systematic response.

J.I. Packer in his essay on baptism and regeneration for the ACNA’s Liturgy Task Force,²⁸ stands as an example of recent engagement with baptism and baptismal regeneration in the Anglican tradition. Packer sees baptismal regeneration or new birth as a relational change between the Divine and the baptized. Baptism — through God’s grace made manifest in the communal life of the Church — brings people into a “new and richer pattern of living.”²⁹ In this new life, Christians share in the Triune life of God in their daily lives so far as they display a “personal faith.”³⁰ Baptism, received in faith, does indeed regenerate the recipient and lead her or him into a new life stage of sanctification or Christian growth.³¹

This concern for Christian growth is the reason for the 2019 BCP’s pastoral concern for sponsors for the baptismal candidate and the instruction to baptize publicly during the parish’s chief Sunday service. Baptism, rightly, is a communal act of the entire Church, in fidelity to God, won through the merits of Jesus Christ. The congregation covenants before God to aid in the baptized’s Christian growth, because baptism grafts the baptized into the Body of Christ; the Church is one Body.

The Anglican doctrine of baptism — especially as it related to regeneration — was confused during the awakenings of the eighteenth-century. George Whitefield, the Wesleys, and others compounded the regeneration of baptism with the emotional, “born again” experiences of the evangelical movements. Baptism moved from the “sacrament of remission and regeneration”³² envisioned by the Anglican Reformers, to a symbolic act of admission into Church membership. Baptism was further drawn away from traditional Anglican understandings by theologians like William Perkins and Jonathan Edwards citing Continental Reformers, and by seventeenth-century Puritanism. The nineteenth-century Tractarian — Anglo-Catholic — response to Continental Reformed theology, further confused the Anglican understanding of baptism by introducing Medieval theological terminology foreign to the 39 Articles and the Prayer Book.³³

The 2019 BCP and the ACNA Catechism show the contemporary Anglican response to the theological movements and confusions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Modern practice elevates baptism as a sacrament with real effect. Not only a symbol, baptism is said to make the baptized, “God’s child by grace.”³⁴ Further, in the 2019 BCP baptism rite, it is made clear that baptism effects regeneration and justification. The baptized are given “forgiveness of sin,” adopted as God’s children, made members of God’s church, and raised to a “new life of grace.”³⁵ Pastorally, the continued language of baptismal regeneration and justification brings peace and solace to parents. Additionally, it gives assurance to those struggling with the life of faith, that their faith in Jesus is sufficient for salvation.

Rejecting the loaded term of “regeneration” and standardizing on “new birth” — while also redefining its Anglican use — has brought theological clarity to the Anglican tradition. Using Evangelical/Reformed terminology, baptism still provides a real soteriological effect. Though an “outward and visible sign” of an “inward and spiritual grace” — Reformed language — baptism provides what the Catechism calls a “tangible assurance” of one’s justification.³⁶ Shedding the language of Medieval Christian theology that caused so much theological strife, the modern Anglican tradition can still proclaim baptism as a true sacrament — more than a symbol or ordinance. All the while, to counter any notion of baptism imparting justification ex opere operato, the Catechism continues to make it clear that the effects of baptism only come through faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.³⁷ Embracing the via media, modern Anglican formularies of baptism are both Catholic, Evangelical, and Reformed; leveraging the pastoral and theological possibilities all three traditions provide.

Though theological parties within the Anglican tradition continue to debate and discuss the details, recent Prayer Books — as exemplified by the proposed 2019 ACNA BCP — show an effort to transcend theological tensions and reclaim a shared theology of baptism. The modern rites of baptism show a core Anglican understanding of baptism emerging from centuries of conflict. Without defining the exact details, sacraments are “an encounter between God and his people” through material means.³⁸ God the Holy Spirit works through material things — “common stuff” — to impart God’s grace.³⁹ Baptism brings the Christian into the death of Jesus spoken of in Romans 6⁴⁰ and into full membership of the Church.⁴¹ Jesus shows his faithfulness to the Church by ensuring that all who remain faithful to him cannot have their justification taken away from them. In baptism, we are adopted as sons and daughters of God by Jesus’ initiative. Baptism is not something we do ourselves, but an act of God. Yes, the believer must faithfully accept God’s offer of grace, but this is all. Baptism is a means of justification because Jesus alone can save. No person is faithful or good enough for justification outside of the unmerited mercy and grace of God won through Jesus on the cross.⁴² The Anglican view of baptism provides room for theological exploration — Catholic, Reformed, Evangelical, etc. — while maintaining a pastoral stance where baptism applies the salvation won by Jesus to the life of the sinner and assures eternal justification through continued faith in Jesus’ work on the cross.

Bibliography

Anglican Church in North America, and Catechesis Task Force. To Be a Christian: An Anglican Catechism. Ambridge, PA: Anglican House Pub Inc, 2014.

“Anglican Church in North America: Texts for Common Prayer.” Accessed October 28, 2017. http://anglicanchurch.net/?/main/texts_for_common_prayer.

Bromiley, G. W. Baptism and the Anglican Reformers. London: Lutterworth Press, 1953.

Church of England. The Articles of Religion: Agreed upon by the Archbishops, Bishops, and the whole clergy of the Provinces of Canterbury and York. London, 1562.

Church of England. The Book of Common Prayer …: Together with the Psalter … and the Form & Manner of Making, Ordaining & Consecrating, Bishops, Priests and Deacons. London: Printed by His Majesties Printers, 1662.

Episcopal Church. The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church : Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David According to the Use of the Episcopal Church. New York : [Greenwich, Conn.]: Church Hymnal ; Seabury Press, 1979.

The High-church Theory of Baptism. Philadelphia: T.K. & P.G. Collins, 1853.

McKenzie, Thomas. The Anglican Way: A Guidebook. Nashville, TN: Colony Catherine, 2014.

Tyng, Stephen H. Fellowship with Christ: A Guide to the Sacraments. New York: Protestant Episcopal Society for the Promotion of Evangelical Knowledge, 1854.

Ritual, theology, and ecclesiology, for example. ↩︎
McKenzie, The Anglican Way, 13-16. ↩︎
McKenzie, The Anglican Way, 7. ↩︎
Anglo-Catholics, specifically, are more likely to see Scripture and tradition as a single source of authority instead of two sources. ↩︎
McKenzie, The Anglican Way, 19-25. ↩︎
Church of England. [The Book of Common Prayer …: Together with the Psalter … and the Form & Manner of Making, Ordaining & Consecrating, Bishops, Priests and Deacons]. London: Printed by His Majesties Printers, 1662. ↩︎
Ibid., “The Order of Baptism both Public and Private”, 263-278. ↩︎
Ibid. ↩︎
Ibid. ↩︎
Church of England. The Articles of Religion: Agreed upon by the Archbishops, Bishops, and the whole clergy of the Provinces of Canterbury and York. London, 1562. ↩︎
Ibid., Article 27. ↩︎
Ibid., Article 25. ↩︎
The High-Church Theory of Baptism, 6. ↩︎
“Regeneration” is the preferred term of the Anglo-Catholic party within Anglicanism. ↩︎
Ibid., 6-8 & Bromiley, Baptism and the Anglican Reformers, 171. ↩︎
Though synonyms, “new birth” is the preferred terminology of Reformed and Evangelical Anglicans. This is due to “regeneration” having strong associations with Anglo-Catholic baptismal theologies. ↩︎
Tyng, Fellowship with Christ, 11. ↩︎
Ibid., 48-50. ↩︎
Ibid., 18-20. ↩︎
McKenzie, The Anglican Way, 152-153. ↩︎
Bromiley, Baptism and the Anglican Reformers, 6-7, 12, 17, 174, 193. ↩︎
Episcopal Church. The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church : Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David According to the Use of the Episcopal Church. New York : [Greenwich, Conn.]: Church Hymnal ; Seabury Press, 1979. ↩︎
Ibid., “Holy Baptism”, 299-314. ↩︎
“Anglican Church in North America: Texts for Common Prayer.” Accessed October 28, 2017. http://anglicanchurch.net/?/main/texts_for_common_prayer. ↩︎
Anglican Church in North America and Catechesis Task Force, To Be a Christian, 106. ↩︎
Ibid. ↩︎
Ibid. ↩︎
“Anglican Church in North America: Texts for Common Prayer.” Baptism and Regeneration, Accessed October 28, 2017. http://anglicanchurch.net/?/main/texts_for_common_prayer. ↩︎
Ibid., 5. ↩︎
Ibid. ↩︎
Ibid. ↩︎
Bromiley, Baptism and the Anglican Reformers, xiii. ↩︎
“Anglican Church in North America: Texts for Common Prayer.” Baptism and Regeneration, Accessed October 28, 2017. http://anglicanchurch.net/?/main/texts_for_common_prayer, 6. ↩︎
Anglican Church in North America and Catechesis Task Force, To Be a Christian, 106. ↩︎
“Anglican Church in North America: Texts for Common Prayer,” Holy Baptism, Accessed October 28, 2017. http://anglicanchurch.net/?/main/texts_for_common_prayer. ↩︎
Anglican Church in North America and Catechesis Task Force, To Be a Christian, 102. ↩︎
Ibid., 107, 108. ↩︎
McKenzie, The Anglican Way, 149. ↩︎
Ibid. ↩︎
Ibid., 151. ↩︎
Ibid., 152. ↩︎
Ibid., 153. ↩︎