This work is confined to no specific churchmanship or tribe or prayer book, yet affirms the [Catholic] faith that we have received. Further, it represents the applied principles—a method1—consistent with the stated principles of the province in which all contributing writers find themselves. Crucially, this includes the guardrails and boundaries of that path, in order to liberate those who travel on their pilgrimage to have confidence in these ancient ways we have been called to travel.

—Fr J. Kelman, SSC

Orienting Toward Jerusalem: On the Jerusalem Declaration

The Jerusalem Declaration (2008)

• Commentary Preamble: Orienting Toward Jerusalem

We, the participants in the Global Anglican Future Conference, have met in the land of Jesus’ birth. We express our loyalty as disciples to the King of kings, the Lord Jesus. We joyfully embrace his command to proclaim the reality of his kingdom which he first announced in this land. The gospel of the kingdom is the good news of salvation, liberation and transformation for all. In light of the above, we agree to chart a way forward together that promotes and protects the biblical gospel and mission to the world, solemnly declaring the following tenets of orthodoxy which underpin our Anglican identity.

• Commentary Introduction: A Note on Schism, Donatism, and Catholicity

1. We rejoice in the gospel of God through which we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Because God first loved us, we love him and as believers bring forth fruits of love, ongoing repentance, lively hope and thanksgiving to God in all things.

   • Commentary: The Gospel of God

2. We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Word of God written and to contain all things necessary for salvation. The Bible is to be translated, read, preached, taught and obeyed in its plain and canonical sense, respectful of the church’s historic and consensual reading.

   • Commentary: The Holy Scriptures

     • Supplementary Essay: Creedalism Apart from Conciliarism Leads Only to Confusion

3. We uphold the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds as expressing the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

   • Commentary: The Apostolic Rule of Faith
     

4. We uphold the Thirty-nine Articles as containing the true doctrine of the Church agreeing with God’s Word and as authoritative for Anglicans today.

   • Commentary: The Authority of the Thirty-Nine Articles

5. We gladly proclaim and submit to the unique and universal Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humanity’s only Saviour from sin, judgment and hell, who lived the life we could not live and died the death that we deserve. By his atoning death and glorious resurrection, he secured the redemption of all who come to him in repentance and faith.

   • Commentary: Proclaiming and Submitting to Christ
     

6. We rejoice in our Anglican sacramental and liturgical heritage as an expression of the gospel, and we uphold the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer, to be translated and locally adapted for each culture.

   • Commentary: Our Sacramental and Liturgical Heritage

7. We recognize that God has called and gifted bishops, priests and deacons in historic succession to equip all the people of God for their ministry in the world. We uphold the classic Anglican Ordinal as an authoritative standard of clerical orders.

   • Commentary: On the Historic Succession and Ministry

     • Supplementary Essay: Women’s Ordination and the Ordinal

     • Supplementary Essay: The Necessity of Ecclesial Discipline

8. We acknowledge God’s creation of humankind as male and female and the unchangeable standard of Christian marriage between one man and one woman as the proper place for sexual intimacy and the basis of the family. We repent of our failures to maintain this standard and call for a renewed commitment to lifelong fidelity in marriage and abstinence for those who are not married.

   • Commentary: On Theological Anthropology and Holy Matrimony

9. We gladly accept the Great Commission of the risen Lord to make disciples of all nations, to seek those who do not know Christ and to baptize, teach and bring new believers to maturity.

   • Commentary: The Great Commission

10. We are mindful of our responsibility to be good stewards of God’s creation, to uphold and advocate justice in society, and to seek relief and empowerment of the poor and needy.

    • Commentary: On Stewardship and Justice

11. We are committed to the unity of all those who know and love Christ and to building authentic ecumenical relationships. We recognize the orders and jurisdiction of those Anglicans who uphold orthodox faith and practice, and we encourage them to join us in this declaration.

    • Commentary: On Ecumenical Unity

12. We celebrate the God-given diversity among us which enriches our global fellowship, and we acknowledge freedom in secondary matters. We pledge to work together to seek the mind of Christ on issues that divide us.

    • Commentary: On God-given Diversity and Freedom in Secondary Matters

13. We reject the authority of those churches and leaders who have denied the orthodox faith in word or deed. We pray for them and call on them to repent and return to the Lord.

    • Commentary: The Authority of Churches That Have Denied the Orthodox Faith

      • Supplementary Essay: Retrieving Irenaeus’ Three Marks of Faithfulness

14. We rejoice at the prospect of Jesus’ coming again in glory, and while we await this final event of history, we praise him for the way he builds up his church through his Spirit by miraculously changing lives.

    • Commentary: On the Second Advent of Christ

Bidding Prayer?

The Episcopal church’s dictionary provides us a quick sketch of the Bidding Prayer:

An informal intercessory prayer, covering a wide variety of concerns such as the church, the state, the living and the dead, and public and private necessities. It followed the sermon and the dismissal of the catechumens in the early church. The celebrant bid a particular intention of prayer, and the congregation joined in silent prayer for a short time until the celebrant summed up the congregation's prayers with a collect. Another bidding would follow, until the bidding prayer was concluded. The bidding prayer is the oldest form of intercessory prayer and has traditionally been said in the language of the people. It was replaced by the litany in the sixth century, and the litany later fell into disuse. The bidding prayer subsequently appeared as an unofficial group of intercessions in the Latin Rite in the middle ages. It was known as the “bidding of the bedes,” which means the praying of the prayers. The bidding prayer was flexible, and it could be adapted at the discretion of the celebrant.

I would always ignore the 1928 note that a bidding prayer may precede the sermon (or that the 1604 canons required it), and look curiously at it included within Prayers and Thanksgivings. Whenever I read it seemed to me profoundly redundant with the abundance of similar prayers within the Holy Communion, and even more redundant if one is following Morning Prayer and Holy Communion. What I have until very recently1 let go unnoticed was the place and usefulness of the Bidding Prayer.

In addition to the above history I would add these emphases:

1. The church, well before a prayer book in English, and preserved after it, had a use and tradition of primitive, guided, informal prayer, where the people were instructed in vernacular, about what to pray about, and invited to pray.

2. In different times, the bidding prayer followed the sermon or it preceded it. (this is important to remember given the placement of the contemporary prayers of the people), but the Prayer Book tradition took up a Bidding Prayer before the Sermon.

3. It was required to invite people into prayer before the Sermon (which was after the creed). The 1604 Canons, canon 55, “Before all Sermons, Lectures, and Homilies, the Preachers and Ministers shall move the people to join with them in Prayer”

   1. This means that there is ancient and classical Prayer Book precedent for a time of less-formal prayer before any sermon, lecture, homily, most especially a Holy Communion. Even if it is “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our strength, and redeemer.”

   2. 1604 canons having no bearing on the American tradition, the 1928 places this canon as an optional rubric: “¶ Here, or immediately after the Creed, may be said the Bidding Prayer, or other authorized Prayers and intercessions.”

The Bidding Prayer, in parallel to the use of the present liturgical movement (1979-based) texts, is the less formal time of prayer of bringing to mind intentions of the people, where the people pray and move to the next petition (led by someone who may be, but is not necessarily, the celebrant).

For those familiar with the 2019, the Anglican Standard Text Prayers of the People generally follows the classical Book of Common Prayer tradition (1549 - 1662/1928/1962). Its contemporary relocation from after the offertory to prior to it similarly relocates the theology of the Prayers themselves, the classical use being offerings brought by the Priest, contrasted with a less formal set of prayers often prayed by a deacon of reader, in which the people responsorially participate. This means that, though the words are similar, their use is different, according to 20th century Liturgical Movement expectations for the liturgy.

But this is a deviation of the classical Prayer Book tradition. 1549 placed it as an offering so strongly that it followed the Sursum Corda, forming part of the consecration prayers, and 1552 until 1979 placed it after the offertory, continuing its use as an offering of prayers with alms and the elements.

In the 2019 revision of the Book of Common Prayer (page 139) provides for an open-ended Prayers of the People, provided certain conditions are met. Typically I have thought of this as a way for informal churches (1979 Rite III) to have extemporaneous or less scripted times of worship. And at the same time, I have never preferred the Renewed Ancient Text’s Prayers of the People. Coming from the classical tradition, the Renewed Ancient, despite a Byzantine influence, has felt too sparse when said. If sung, that might be another matter. But as one reticent to write any ‘new’ liturgy, the provision always felt suspicious. The 2019 says:

In both the Anglican Standard and Renewed Ancient Texts, other forms of the Prayers of the People may be used, provided the following concerns are included:

• The universal Church, the clergy and people

• The mission of the Church

• The nation and all in authority

• The peoples of the world

• The local community

• Those who suffer and those in any need or trouble

• Thankful remembrance of the faithful departed and of all the blessings of our lives

The Bidding Prayer quite naturally fits all of these—save for an explicit reference to “peoples of the world” but borrowing the Anglican Standard Text’s petition for mission (the non-Classical prayer included in AST), meets that expectation. And it fits the new framing of the Prayers of the People being a less clerical, less formal (before the altar, by the priest) time of offering-prayer. Without composing anything new, the classical Prayer Book tradition—and the practice of the church well before the Prayer Book itself has provided a well formed Prayers of the People.

The Bidding Prayer in the link below is the 1928 version, with only the following modifications:

• “Ye shall” has been changed to “Let us” — Americans do not taking being told what to do kindly, so a collaborative “Let us pray” communicates the same without implicit exertion of power.

• “Good Christian people” has been changed to “Fellow Christians.” This is a minor tweak to emphasize the communal nature of the time of prayer

• An explicit pause where the historic Bidding Prayer expected but did not name following each invitation to pray:

  • {Silence}

  • Lord in your/thy mercy:

  • Hear our Prayer.

• To close the Bidding Prayer a suitable petition from Morning/Evening Prayer: the Prayer of St John Chrysostom, which qualifies the prayers “as may be best for us.” The language of “Grant these our Prayers” in AST retains an offering quality that seems best used in the 1662 order: following the offertory (“We humbly ask you mercifully to receive our prayers”)

This is offered here for those who might want to try something different during a particular season or observance, or as a fuller set of prayers of the people than the Renewed Ancient, yet upholds the Liturgical Movement priority of Prayers of the People, while being a step more classical rather than self-written.

Google Drive Link:

Bidding Prayer for the Holy Communion

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Unserious title aside, the following resources have been the product of much thought, research, energy, and practical trial.

For ideological background on all of this, please see A Case for the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and A Prayer Book Catholic Sensibility.

Included in this notice:

• Annotated Devotional Guide to the Prayer Book Service (2019TLE 1662 Order). (Pew Booklet)

• Missal Supplement for the Prayer Book Society One-Year Lectionary Book. (2019TLE 1662 Order Missal, with 2019 & 1662 Canon)

• Altar Service Cards for the celebration of the Eucharist. (Ad Orientem crib notes)

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More resources can be found on the Resources Page.

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If you notice typos, you can report them here.

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Annotated Devotional Guide to the Prayer Book Service (2019TLE/1662 Form).

This service book is a 24-page half-sheet booklet. In it there are instructive comments and quotes about the liturgy, as well as devotional prayers to aid in praying with the liturgy. It matches the use of the other resources given here, namely a 2019TLE service that can be followed from a 2019TLE or 1662 book, as much as with this booklet.

Pew Booklet Download:

(Note: some typos need fixing in this, and will be revised/updated early 2026.)

Annotated Eucharist Booklet 2019TLE, 1662 Order

1.79MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Half-sheet pages

Download

Annotated Eucharist Booklet 2019TLE, 1662 Order (Double-Page Booklet Format)

1.93MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Print double-sided landsape on letter-size paper, fold for saddle-stitch.

Download

Missal Supplement for the Prayer Book Society One-Year Lectionary Book

Below is a substantial revision of the former Altar Book liturgy. Its first iteration preceded the ACNA Altar Book (both Modern and Traditional), the publication of the then-trial 2019TLE, and also preceded the 1662:International Edition Service Book.

Most recently, the Prayer Book Society Canada issued a One-year Lectionary book, with Historic (1962) collects and lections. Some changes would need to be made to the collect text but they are generally minor. I have noted the scriptural differences here. But in this publication is 30-pages of blank pages in the center for pasting a liturgy to use.

My chief complaint about the 2019 Book of Common Prayer is that the historic lectionary—collects and lessons—is not anywhere included. The philosophy, according to Arnold Klukas, was that those who wanted that would just use the 1928 or 1662, books which few in the College at the time had used.1 However, since 1662 is the standard for worship in the ACNA, there is canonical precedent to using 1662 lections, and constitutional support for the 1928 and 1662 books as pre-authorized books of the province.2

But what if one wants to, for various reasons, technically use the 2019TLE, but follow the other half of the value of the traditional book: the Scripture and Collects?

For this use case I produced all these various things: the niche-case of those who are using 2019TLE (1662 service order). Secondly, I decided to set this insert in a dyslexic-accessible serif font. This may not be for everyone, but it fits a use case, and is something that few altar books do, if any.3

Some ceremonial notes have been added in harmony with Readiness and Decency (1946).

About this digital edition

The following pages can be used on their own, printed in for use in binder, supplementing with the appropriate collect (or additional preface); however, they are intended to be affixed to the Prayer Book Society Canada’s One Year Lectionary Supplement, available very affordably in traditional (ecclesiastical) English and KJV (also ESV w/2019 Psalter).

To affix, print this document (pages 2 - 30) on standard letter paper, at about 90% size, trim paper to about 7.5” x 10”, and tape / paste pages in the 30-page section provided in the PBS book. Pages are set so that the page number is on the outer edge of the page. Pasting in the center with pages trimmed this way means that the gutter is not crowded with 3x more page thickness, and the outer margin is still one page (not thumbing through three-pages-per-turn).

Double-stick document tape is recommended, with Book Darts for marking important sections or page turns. Pages that are not desired can, of course, be omitted for convenience. The Rubrics rendered as a guide and should not be considered authoritative; one’s celebration should follow the use and authority of the BCP used, alongside devotional supplements.

Sylexiad Serif font, a research-based dyslexia-accessible font, was chosen for the main Prayer Book text. For altar use, attempts have been made to set according to page turns, as well as increased font size for sections where the celebrant would be kneeling.

PBS Missal Insert Download:

The Eucharist Missal Insert - PBS Lectionary Book

15.7MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Containing the 2019TLE in 1662 Order.

Download

See also these inserts for the 1662IE Service Book:

Download

Altar Service Cards

Previously these were professionally printed on thick, premium cotton cardstock, available at a low-enough price. (These hardcopies are still available, contact me for info):

The plan was always to release a PDF version, once costs from the print run was recouped, now accomplished. The cards are for use as a ‘crib sheet’ of prayers and addresses said when facing the people during an ad orientem celebration: which is also normative for the ante-communion in versus populum. These were designed to aid a priest or deacon towards the memorization of these portions of the liturgy as well as reduce the need for picking up the Altar Missal, which can be either clumsy or unwieldy. Or in the case of some, if the altar book is spiral bound, or three-ring binder, it is not convenient to pick up just to say a few words, much less hold it for a while (as in the Exhortation).

Service Cards for 2016TLE, 1928, 1662IE

1.12MB ∙ PDF file

Download

5.5 x 8.5 half-sheet cards

Download

The Prayer Book Service (2019TLE & 1928)

• Decalogue & Summary of the Law

• Invitation to Confession

• Absolution

• Comfortable Words

• Sursum Corda

• Benediction

The Exhortation

• 1662/1928

• 2019TLE

Following my post on the 1662, I’ve completed Missal inserts for the 1662: International Edition Service Book.1 While I do have some issues with the design of the Service Book,2 it is an incredibly high quality publication, from binding, to paper, to ink: It could easily last for a hundred years or longer.

The PDF can be printed “actual size” on Ledger (11 x 14) and cut down to 9.5 x 12. It is set so that one follows page 264 → 264b, flip insert, 265 → 265b, flip and continue at 266, opting for the Prayer of Thanksgiving after the Lord’s Prayer. Page 249 would be used instead of the Service Book’s p.249, providing Appendix III Summary of the Law (from the English Proposed 1928), as well as the Collect provided in 1928 BCP, instead of the prayer for the State. The Sarum Missal prayer includes language from 1549 & 2019 BCPs (Word and Holy Spirit).

1662IE Service Book Missal Insert

1.92MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Print double-sided, actual size on Ledger (11 x 14), then cut down to 9.5 x 12.

Download

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1

Note that the small portion of the 1662 Service use comes from eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/communion and no part of this insert uses 1662IE text.
The Prayer of Oblation used in the 1892 American position is from the American 1928 BCP nearly identical to 2019 TLE, and differs chiefly in the 1928’s inclusion of the phrases “… may worthily receive the most precious Body and Blood of thy Son Jesus Christ …” and “… benediction, and made one body with him, that he may dwell in us, and we in him …”:

1928 vs 2019TLE Prayer of Oblation:

The PDF linked below is a sheet of vesting prayers, for use when a priest is preparing for the Mass. The words are edited from C.P.A. Burnett’s Mass Ceremonial, and a few Eastern Orthodox vesting prayers. The page is taken from the Eucharist Altar Book, but with an updated font:

View/Download PDF

This is part of the more extensive revision of some of the resources, plus some new things in the works, which will be announced in 2025. Other projects are here: newhighchurch.com/s/anglicancenter

The Eucharist: An Anglican Liturgy, Altar Edition

For the commemoration of E. B. Pusey a substantial update to the The Eucharist is ready to be released!

The Eucharist: An Anglican Liturgy in the tradition of the Ecclesia Anglicana, originally released Fall 2021, is an edited liturgy following the historic Anglican Holy Communion order, using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer form with optional, devotional additions from the Sarum Rite. The former is the use of the church since the 16th century; the latter the centuries which preceded it.

The source material comes from 1892, 1928, 1662 Books of Common Prayer, as well as English translations of the Sarum Rite. Some of the renditions from Sarum are not available online elsewhere, and come from Bishop Frank Weston’s (Zanzibar) work on the rites of the Church in England, from Sarum to 1662. Illustrations come from my copy of Percy Dearmer’s The English Liturgy, which was also lent to the editor of the ACNA Altar Book to use for the official Altar Book, released mid-2022 (in case the art looks familiar!).

While this may be a very niche project, this fulfils several use-cases. It is hoped that the hard work on this project will help reduce the barrier to entry for these situations, which are commendable but not the mainstream of American Anglicanism.
The aim is to provide:

1. An Anglo-Catholic Altar Book for those churches who wish to try, where permitted, the 1662: International Edition, either in special services, mission / church planting, or full parish adoption. For those who want a strict BCP, no catholic devotional additions (or Appendix III options), etc, IVP offers a PDF of the Holy Communion.

   1. For those in Gafcon or ACNA, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, with the books that preceded it is “the standard for the Anglican tradition of worship.” And the Anglican tradition includes Catholic (or High Church) expressions of worship, befitting our apostolic faith and practice.

      As an example, from (now) Bishop Paul Thomas, SSC:

2. A traditional prayer book service order using the 2019 Anglican Church in North America Book of Common Prayer. While this option is provided for in the 2019 Prayer Book,1 there exists few resources to implement this should one want to lead a service in this way.
   This may be an occasional service, or potentially for those churches who want to (or are required to) use the 2019 book, but have come from a 1928 background or prefer the historic prayer book tradition. For others, there are compelling missional reasons to follow the historic Prayer Book standard for worship as Reformed Catholics.

3. A budget 1928 Holy Communion with Catholic Devotions. The Prayer Book Society USA Altar Book for 1928 is $150, and the Lancelot Andrewes Press American Missal reprint is $200. This work is a free PDF or budget hard copy project. As such, it is hoped this might be useful in mission and church plant work in those jurisdictions that still use the 1928 as primary prayer book.

The 2021 Altar Book release has been considerably revised to include options and multiple canons so that one can use a single, budget Altar Book for leading either the 1662 BCP: International Edition, the 2019 ACNA Traditional Language Edition (1662 form), or the 1928 American liturgies. This edition includes both the traditional, historic 1-year and contemporary lectionary collects. The included 1-year scripture lectionary includes a listing of the First Lessons from Morning and Evening Prayer, as well as abbreviated Old Testament lesson options, if a third lesson/Psalm is to be added to Holy Communion where Morning or Evening Prayer is not celebrated. A suggested Psalm for the Gradual or responsive reading is included.

In other respects it is the same as the 2021 edition, including Sarum portions. Other than turning to the back for collects, one turn pages forward (no flipping back and forth for options), whether a celebrant is using the 1662:IE, 2019TLE, or 1928 Holy Communion Service. Pages have been set, where possible, to expect page turning at appropriate points for pausing, similar to the typography of the 1928. Font size is intentionally variable, with some portions large print when a priest might be kneeling, and otherwise appropriately fitting the page. This variable size was inspired by a few Anglo-Catholic altar books of the early 20th Century. It has also been re-titled: The Eucharist: An Anglican Liturgy in the tradition of the Ecclesia Anglicana.

Print-on-demand spiral-bound 7” x 10” hard copies are available for purchase and will reflect the intended size, 80lb white paper and higher DPI. As PDFs, the 7 x 10 layout formed a good compromise for home printing: it is usable in 5.5 x 8.5 half-sheet for normal print, and 8.5 x 11 / A4 for large print.

Go to Anglican.Center to read more

ACNA Contemporary Language

Additionally, a contemporary language Altar Book edition for use with the ACNA 2019 is available for download, along with a word document reorganizing the sections according the the rubrically-allowed 1662 service order. The official prayer book allows for a Traditional 1928/1662 service order, but no official resources have been made available. These are being made available free (download), or at-cost-of-printing (print-on-demand).

For more information, please visit anglican.center#acna

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Embroidered corporals!
The Anglican Center just received its limited run of red-on-white embroidered corporals produced for Convocation of the West clergy (and a few other clergy in FiFNA, ACNA, APA). Screen printed corporals were also produced and provided for other clergy; extras from these runs are available on Anglican.Center.

Contents:

• Missionary Use of a Blessed Corporal

• Corporal Design

• The Blessing of Corporals

• Corporal page on Anglican.Center

• Recommended Reading: Sacred House: What Do You Need for a Liturgical, Sacramental House Church?

The inspiration for doing this was the need for creating reverent space within mission and church planting contexts.

Missionary Use of a Blessed Corporal

While a plain white linen corporal is the most appropriate in the English tradition, frequently churches in America, especially in the American West following the Affirmation of St Louis and the Anglican Realignment of the 2000s, do not have spaces that have consecrated altars. To put another way, they do not have dedicated sacred space. Many parishes operate in rented space, and the custom of some churches and dioceses would expect that the space should be consecrated for religious use before service starts, and then deconsecrated.1 A blessed corporal makes a potential mission use a little less cumbersome in those places where this might be expected. It is appropriate to set apart a corporal for such blessed/sacred use by way of religious design making it clear for what use it is intended, and only that use. In places where there is no such expectation of a ‘blessed’ object, have a dedicated space, or even a consecrated altar, then a seemly design is helpful in religious devotion for drawing those in the altar to a greater awareness of the sacred space that is, and always has been, present.

So why produce these when “Plain Linen” is the Anglican, even the pre-medieval Western, norm?

The inspiration for producing a seemly embroidered (or printed) corporal comes from the Byzantine tradition of the Antimension: literally, “without the table,” the portable altar. The history of the Antimension is interesting: in Byzantine practice, it was the property of the bishop, and carried by the priest as evidence of his licence to officiate communion. In a society where some could not be vetted quickly, it functioned alongside the Letters Dimissory as the way to validate that the Priest was functioning within the unbroken Catholic church. In Byzantine use, consecration of the cloth for use as a portable altar cannot happen unless there is a relic.

In the Roman tradition, a consecrated altar would have an altar stone containing a relic. Pre-conciliar (pre-Vatican II) Rome has provisions2 for the consecration of antimension, provided there is a relic enclosed in the cloth. It became more common for chaplain clergy during World War I and World War II, where there was an increased need for sacramental celebration, but access to consecrated stone altars, or even carrying portable wooden altars with altar stones, was impractical if not impossible.

Anglicans, of course, have no historic provision to require relics, so the cloth alone could be specifically for use as a western Antimension: it designates the sacred altar space where a dedicated place for worship might not be possible.3

The Antimension was often covered in an Eleiton, which translating into western custom would be the burse which holds the corporal. This corporal-in-burse, when blessed, should be treated with the reverence of sacred space. In the Eastern practice, only a priest or bishop is allowed to carry the Antimension, in an Eleiton, and it is expected the priest wears a stole when handling such consecrated relics.

In an Anglican context, I would suggest that the same reverence be applied to a blessed corporal in this context as one would with a tabernacle, pyx, or other vessels which might contain Eucharistic elements. Indeed, given that it is the cloth upon which the elements for Holy Communion are consecrated, it is likely that pieces of the elements may be present in the cloth (in the case of crumbs and drips).

Again, no such devotion is required in the Anglican tradition, but may be expedient as part of a community’s connection with Catholic devotion throughout history.

Corporal Design

Three designs were made: red-on-white, white-on-white, and a screen printed alternate. Red-on-red was the primary design, provided to Convocation of the West clergy as well as a few others in FiFNA, ACNA, and APA invited to be part of the preorder. With the color intended to match a deep rubrical red found in some prayer books. White-on-white was alternate design with only a few made following more of a classical aesthetic insipired by the proposed society norms. Another experiment was in creating a screen printed version, in hopes of having a lower-cost alternate, especially for outdoor or travel use, especially if cleaning is necessary.

The design is based on E.B. Pusey’s private-use corporal made by Mother Marian Rebecca Hughes, currently held at Pusey House:

The design is a derivative of above as well as of Brandon LeTouneau’s design. I made some chages to elements and typography, as well as modifying the Latin to follow 1662 BCP in Latin, as well as the Roman Liturgy. Thanks to Fr Wes Walker for helping me revisit my high school Latin on this (any errors are mine).

An Art-Nouveau font was chosen to align with Tiffany & Co Episcopal design and Dearmer/Alcuin Club sensibilities.

IHS4 design is adapted from St Nicholas Church, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, UK.

There are eight exterior fleurs-de-lis (lilies) and four interior, framing the Holy Name. Beginning in the 11th century, the ‘flower of the lily’ began to symbolize alternately and simultaneously The Blessed Virgin Mary, The Holy Trintiy, and The Virtues.

[Bernard of Clairvaux’s] readings of the biblical lily as a Marian symbol and attribute are reflected in medieval depictions of the Virgin Mary, which frequently included a white lily intended to symbolise chastity.5

and

the triangular part of the lilium mysticum is associated with the members of the Holy Trinity – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – which establish for the first time the connection between the flower and the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. In the Vitis mystica, the symbolism of the lily is thus extended beyond Marian interpretation, with its interpretation based on the physical characteristics of the flower.6

Twelve crosses on the corporal are similarly found on the Coptic Prosphora Stamp, the stamp used when baking Eucharistic bread:

Ordering the Design

In addition to the embroidered run, a small run of the design printed on a 20” x 20” corporal was made. Those clergy who might be interested in obtaining an affordable screen printed version, email through the Anglican.Center page. Priority given to Convocation of the West or Forward in Faith clergy.

{ιμκ☩}

Blessing of Corporals

From The English Ritual: A Companion to the English Missal

This blessing is a reserved blessing and may only be given lawfully by the following: 1) All Bishops. 2) Ordinaries, not being Bishops, for Churches in their own territory, e.g., Deans of Cathedrals and Peculiars. 3) Parish Priests for Churches in their Parish, and Rectors of Churches for their Churches. 4) Priests delegated by the Ordinary of the place. 5) Religious Superiors and Priests delegated by them for their own Churches and for Churches of nuns subject to them.

V. Our help is in the name of the lord.
R. Who hath made heaven and earth.

Y. The Lord be with you.
R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

Collect.

MOST gracious Lord, whose power is unspeakable, and whose mysteries are celebrated with hidden wonders: grant we beseech thee, that this linen cloth may be sancti᛭fied by thy merciful bene᛭diction, that thereon may be consecrated the Body and Blood of our Lord and God Jesus Christ, thy Son: Who with thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God: world without end.
R. Amen.

Let us pray.

Collect.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, vouchsafe to bl᛭ess, sancti᛭fy and conse᛭crate this linen cloth, that it may cover and envelop the Body and Blood of thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ: Who with thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God: world without end.
R. Amen.

Let us pray.

Collect.

ALMIGHTY God, shed upon our hands the help of thy blessing: that through our bene᛭diction this linen cloth may be sanctified, and may be made by the grace of thy Holy Spirit a new winding-sheet for the Body and Blood of our Redeemer. Through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord: Who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the same Holy Spirit, God: world without end.
R. Amen.

And let them be sprinkled with holy Water.

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This liturgy is for pastoral use in a local congregation, wherein a desirous candidate by reaffirmation of baptismal vows and the teaching of the Church (as expected in confirmation), is publicly welcomed as a full member of the local parish or congregation. If the member has not received the oil used in a Baptismal liturgy, it is offered, regularising non-confirmed baptised Christians with the baptismal chrism. This answers two expectations in 20th century prayer book liturgies: that a communicant be anointed Holy Chrism following baptism (which is an ancient prerequisite found in East and West, with no firm agreement on age, faculty, or maturity1), and that the communicant “be ready and desirous to be confirmed.”

More practically, this offers a public, formal declaration of membership (and therefore is eligible for ministry participation/leadership, vestry, lay licensure). Membership in this context is public affirmation and personal reception of those things which are the teaching of the Church.2 This is the same declaration as found in the confirmation liturgy, but since not all who have been confirmed presently adhere to the teaching of the Church, such may become a safety measure for the local membership. No part is written to conflict with Confirmation or Baptism, whether in liturgical redundancy or in theology, and this use, without redundancy, harmonizes with rubrical options in both the baptism and confirmation liturgies of the 2019.

The rational for this liturgy is as follows:

1. The 1979 and 2019 Books of Common Prayer have inconsistent practice and theology of confirmation (“a rite in search of a theology”) and operate in tension with the classical Anglican tradition of the 1662 and 1928 Books of Common Prayer. The former books frame the imposition of Chrism at baptism as a soft-Chrismation, borrowed from the East, and practically instituted as part of the justification of unconfirmed baptised communing.

2. The 1662 BCP, as with 1928 BCP, charges that only those who are confirmed by a bishop, or ready and desirous to be confirmed, should be welcome at the communion table.3

3. While modern Anglican practice welcomes baptized Christians to the table, only those able to commune in the church according to the practice of the classical Anglican tradition should be serving in the leadership or vestry of a parish or congregation.

As written this regularizes concerns related to confirmation and communion in those churches that welcome baptized Christians to the communion table. More importantly, it allows churches a formal procedure for recognizing those who desire membership and therefore would be eligible for service in the church, whether already confirmed or awaiting confirmation.

Read the Liturgy (below)

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Background:

I’ve been thinking about writing this up for a few years now, and presented it to a few clergy for feedback. This is to address a few issues.

First, a theological motivation: It is expedient to have a public process for the adding of new members to a church, as a way for the congregation to know that the person, who may be volunteering or eligible for election to vestry, is publicly affirming the beliefs of the church and of the orthodox, Creedal Christian faith. Not all who are baptized, nor all who have been confirmed, would publicly affirm these, even as they may be communicants within the church.

Second, a historical motivation: the early church did not so severely separate the use of chrism from baptism. This use is still maintained in the east, and does not, historically speaking, conflict with the laying on of hands for the sevenfold gifts of the spirit. In fact, the traditional prayer book confirmation rite does not expect any use of Chrism, the baptism rite having mention of the sign of the cross only.

Third, a ecclesiological motivation: Conversations I have had over the last year have sparked the motivation to formalise this, owing to the difficulty of some churches—especially those in non-geographic dioceses or diocese with severely spread out geographies—in having a bishop visit for confirmation. One church has had their bishop visit twice in ten years, both only recently, and neither for confirmations.

Without changing the rites of the church, and since the church is currently hesitant to increase the number of assisting bishops, there needs to be a recognition for those who wish to be full members of the local church—in communing, in church discipline, in leadership & vestry roles—while those who are not confirmed wait for a bishop to visit. In some cases this might take—has taken—years of waiting.

RECEPTION OF NEW MEMBERS
with RENEWAL OF BAPTISMAL VOWS
and CHRISM4

Person(s) to be received stands.

The Celebrant says,  

Dearly beloved, it is essential that [those who wish to be welcomed as members of this church,] publicly confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior; become his disciples; know and affirm the Nicene Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments; and have received instruction in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and the Catechism of the Church.

Now, these Candidates desire publicly to confess their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and their commitment to follow him as Lord.

[Those not yet confirmed by a bishop] also desire the strengthening of grace through the laying on of hands, that the Holy Spirit may fill them more and more for their ministry in the Church and in the world, [and therefore publicly commit their readiness and intention to be confirmed at the next opportunity.]

Do you, here in the presence of God and the Church, renew the solemn promises and vows made at your Baptism and commit yourself to keep them?

   Answer   I do.

  Question   Do you renounce the devil and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?

   Answer   I renounce them.

Question   Do you renounce the empty promises and deadly deceits of this world that corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?

   Answer   I renounce them.

  Question   Do you renounce the sinful desires of the flesh that draw you from the love of God?

   Answer   I renounce them.

  Question   Do you turn to Jesus Christ and confess him as your Lord and Savior?

   Answer   I do.

Question   Do you joyfully receive the Christian Faith, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments?

   Answer   I do.

  Question   Will you obediently keep God’s holy will and commandments, and walk in them all the days of your life?

   Answer   I will, the Lord being my helper.

The Celebrant continues

Let us now reaffirm our faith in the words of the ancient baptismal confession, the Apostles’ Creed.

Celebrant   Do you believe and trust in God the Father?

     People   I do.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

Celebrant   Do you believe and trust in Jesus Christ?

     People   I do.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Celebrant   Do you believe and trust in the Holy Spirit?

     People   I do.

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.

If the candidate has not been confirmed, the Celebrant says,

[Since you are not yet confirmed,] you are to come to the Bishop to be confirmed [at the next opportunity,] that you may be further strengthened by the Holy Spirit to serve Christ and his kingdom.

If the unconfirmed candidate has not received the Oil of Chrism at Baptism, the Celebrant uses the Oil of Chrism to make the sign of the Cross upon the forehead of the new Member of the church, saying

N., receive the sign of the Cross as a token of your new life in Christ, in which you shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, to fight bravely under his banner against the world, the flesh, and the devil, and to continue as his faithful soldier and servant to the end of your days. Amen.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their doctrine, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

[Please welcome N. as a member of this church]

The liturgy continues with the Prayers of the People.

Notes for Anglican Ceremonial is a new-typeset combined edition of Readiness and Decency and At the Lord's Table. A spiral-bound (lay-flat) edition is available print-on-demand. Price for print-on-demand is "at cost" - we do not make anything.
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These ceremonial guides are republished here with the hope “that priest and people may worship with undisturbed recollection, and that the ways of the minister may help, not hinder, the devotion both of the congregation and of himself.” (ATLT, p.65)

Readiness and Decency is one of the more concise ceremonial guides for a traditional Prayer Book Service. It was written before the Canadian revision of 1962, but as such serves as an excellent Prayer Book Catholic ceremonial guide for those using the 1928 American, 1928 English Proposed, 1662, 1662: International Edition, as well as, with some service order adjustments, the 2019 revisions of the Book of Common Prayer. Of particular interest is the ceremonial instruction for North End Celebration, once ubiquitous and now almost entirely in disuse. Some parishes are beginning to use the 1662: International Edition with North End, so this work may have increased contemporary usefulness.
This text is also available for download from the Prayer Book Society Canada, who have made available PDF downloads of the 1946 edition and 1961 expanded revision.

At the Lord’s Table is an obscure (and very out of print) practical manual for an Anglo-Catholic celebration of mass, utilising the English Missal or 1662 BCP with Catholic additions, and is useful for any Anglo-Catholic mass, adjusting according to one’s Missal or Prayer Book. Unlike a work such as Ritual Notes, this is very practical, and expects a small group at the altar. Of particular note is the Common Mistakes sections, which give a humorous snapshot of various mistakes ministers have made, and ways in which one can avoid distracting the worshippers.

PDF Available here as a spiral-bound (lay-flat) edition
_{Released on Feast of the Conversion of St Paul, © 2023}

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These altar service cards are intended to serve a mnemonic aids—crib sheet, if you will—for the portions a priest or deacon would use when he is facing the people in a traditional ad orientem celebration, including the exhortation to communion.

With these and a Holy Gospel book, one would not need to pick up the altar book/missal or carry an extra prayer book at the altar. This is especially helpful if one is using a loose-leaf or spiral bound Altar Book, neither of which carry well.

One of the cards includes a woodcut from Percy Dearmer’s The English Liturgy, which is intended look aesthetically pleasing on the altar (if cards are not laid flat), and can be held as a decent cover to the cards when facing the people.

The service card set consists of 4 double-sided cards, which include prayers for four Prayer Books with page references: 1928, 2019, 2019-Traditional Language Edition, and the new 1662: International Edition. The 1928 card is also suitable for 1979 BCP Rite I/Anglican Service Book excluding the “Word of God” phrase in the Comfortable Words; the 1979 exhortation is too different to account for...

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Preview of ACNA 2019 Modern along with 2019 TLE Exhortation

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An Anglican Altar Book

The Eucharist is an altar book that follows the Anglican Holy Communion Liturgy, using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer form with optional, devotional additions from the Sarum Rite.

The former is the use of the church since the 16th century; the latter the centuries which preceded it.

The source material comes from 1928 or 1662 Prayer Book sources, and English translations of the Sarum Rite. Some of the renditions from Sarum are not available online elsewhere, and come from Bishop Frank Weston’s (Zanzibar) work on the rites of the Church in England, from Sarum to 1662.

It is designed for use with the 1662 BCP: International Edition, the 1928 BCP, and the 2019 ACNA Traditional Language Edition prayer books. To ease transition for those coming from post-1970s liturgies, an alternate Contemporary Language 1662 edition is also available. For those in jurisdictions where 1662:IE is prohibited, the complete 1928 canon is included in the 1662 edition.

A complete set of collects as well as lectionary is included. This Lectionary includes a listing of the First Lessons from Morning and Evening Prayer, as well as abbreviated OT Lesson options, if a third lesson/Psalm is to be added to Holy Communion where Morning or Evening Prayer is not celebrated.

It is available for purchase (low cost) or download (free).

A few notes

These are, hopefully, the final versions; countless hours have been spent preparing these. It has been a labor of love and learning; no agenda is offered here but to share the fruits of that labor for those who are interested.

If you are happy with your liturgy, please do not change it; the non-prayer book additions offered are to be considered devotional unless possible to use in one’s respective jurisdiction. All the material is derived from authoritative liturgies; this serves as a non-Roman missal/Western Rite alternative set of devotions. For those not so inclined to the ‘Catholic’ devotions, the Prayer Book prayers are set and arranged for easier use at the altar, and devotional portions easy to pass over. First and foremost, this is to make my own use of 1662:IE or ACNA:TLE more prayerful. If you happen to see a typographical errors, please do reach out.

Print-on-Demand hard copies

Low-cost spiral-bound 7” x 10” hard copies are available for purchase and will reflect the intended size, 80lb white paper and higher DPI. While I would love to have a professionally sewn edition of this, like Percy Dearmer’s The English Liturgy, from which most of the illustrations came, the cost to do this was prohibitive for what is commonly called a ‘vanity’ project. I put many hours into finding a supplier for a ‘proper’ hard cover, including purchasing proofs, but no affordable options had binding that would stay open on a missal stand. The compromise is this low-cost softcover spiral bound in a size similar to Oxford’s ~1930 edition of the 1662 Altar Book. What it lacks in ‘religious aesthetic’ it gains in affordability and usability.

As PDFs, the 7 x 10 layout formed a good compromise for home printing: it is usable in 5.5 x 8.5 half-sheet for normal print, and 8.5 x 11 / A4 for large print.

• The Eucharist: An Anglican Altar Book for the 1662:IE and 1928 Books of Common Prayer

• The Eucharist: An Anglican Altar Book for the ACNA 2019BCP: Traditional Language Edition

• The Eucharist: An Anglican Altar Book, 1662 Contemporary Language Edition (and the pocket-sized people’s edition)

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Thank you for your interest; if you are interested in contributing essays, theology, art, or liturgical resources, please do reach out.

JMK+

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