In determining the outward form of any religious action, our chief goal should be the edification of the church. Men are edified either when their minds are led by such actions to the consideration of some truth that demands our attention, or when their hearts are moved with any suitable affection—when they are in any way stirred up to an appropriate reverence, devotion, attention, and due regard.
Therefore, not only speech, but also many different sensible means have always been thought necessary for this purpose. Let us not presume to condemn as follies the things which the long experience of all ages has proven profitable, just because we do not always know the reason for them. — Richard Hooker, Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity
The Book of Common Prayer (2019) is…a form of prayers and praises that is thoroughly Biblical, catholic in the manner of the early centuries, highly participatory in delivery, culturally adaptive and missional in a most remarkable way, utterly accessible to the people, and whose repetitions are intended to form the faithful catechetically and to give them doxological voice. — Preface to the 2019 Book of Common Prayer
Anglicans are the glad recipients of a rich liturgical heritage. Our communal prayers and practices, thoroughly beautiful and biblical, have been curated over centuries. This is a deep well of gathered wisdom that is a true gift to the church. And yet this beloved tradition, with its scripted prayers and aesthetic form, is merely the setting. Christ is the jewel. The church’s liturgy serves to display the person and work of Jesus Christ, presenting him in all His splendor through Word and Sacrament.
In order to enhance your engagement with God in the service, we offer the following guide. Consider it Anglican Liturgy 101. Similar to a legend on a map, this overview will help explain or interpret the waypoints of our journey through the liturgy. Though primarily written for the newcomer, these footnotes may benefit even the most seasoned Anglican. We are, after all, simply summarizing chapters of the greatest story ever told—The gospel of Jesus Christ!
Gathering
Processional
Graduation. Weddings. Olympics. These all begin with a procession. But what about in church? Isn’t that just a Catholic thing? Well, not really.
Processing into worship is actually an ancient practice with deep meaning (Ps. 42:4). At times throughout history the church has gathered outside and processed into worship together. Christ’s own procession into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday not only fulfilled the scriptures (Ps. 118:20-27) but foretold his ultimate triumph (Rev. 7:9-12).
And so this is how we begin. The cross is brought in, followed by the Bible, and then the priest. This order is intentional and sets a gospel tone of celebration and victory, for it is “Christ who leads us in triumphal procession” (2 Cor. 2:14). As we stand, turn, and sing, we are reminded that it is God who has gathered us in (Ez. 36:24; Ps. 50:5) through the cross of Jesus (Jn. 11:52), who is our Great High Priest (Heb. 4:14) and true worship leader (Jn. 4:23-24).
Opening Acclamation
We open with a few short sentences from scripture (frequently the Psalms) or the trinitarian “Blessed be God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and blessed by His Kingdom forever”. It is both a call to worship and an affirmation of our purpose here—to declare the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9).
Opening Prayer
Then follows a corporate prayer asking God to help us, by His spirit, worship and love Him as we ought. The traditional “collect for purity” is frequently used here. As we begin worship, we humbly acknowledge that all we are about to do is lifeless without the inspiration and kindling of the Holy Spirit (Ps. 51:10,15).
Hymn of Praise
We now offer up a hymn of praise for who God is, the many attributes of His glory—His holiness, worthiness, beauty, power, mercy, and love. This vertical focus encourages a God-centered reverence, awe, and wonder in our worship, during which we join our voices with the invisible church and are caught up in the ceaseless heavenly chorus (Heb. 12:22-24).
Reading of the Law
This is the first step in a liturgical sequence with historic and biblical precedent that is, unfortunately, often omitted in contemporary churches. We read a summary of the law, confess our sins, and hear God’s word of forgiveness (absolution). This sequence is an enactment of the threefold gospel pattern—sin, grace, faith. The reading of the law is a direct quote of Jesus' words (Matt. 22:37-40). It reveals both God’s heart and ours. He desires us to love Him and each other, and yet we fall woefully short (Rom. 3:20).
Confession of Sin
In light of the glory of God and His law, we are confronted with our own sin. Repentance is, therefore, the only right response to God’s revelation (Is. 6; Lk. 5). We kneel as an act of humility and pray a corporate confession of sin. Often we will sing “Lord, have mercy”. We do all this in supreme confidence before the “throne of grace” (Heb. 4:14), knowing “the Lord longs to be gracious…he will rise up to show compassion!” (Is. 30:18).
It must be said that confession in Christian worship is not a mechanism to secure God’s forgiveness. The price for our sins has already been paid (Eph. 1:7), and those in Christ will never be put to shame (Rom. 10:11). When we confess, we are simply being honest with God about what He already knows. We are stepping back into the light (1 Jn. 1:7), coming face-to-face not with a tribunal, but with the triune God of love. Confession then restores intimacy, clears the conscience, and aligns our hearts with God’s truth.
Absolution
We stand and hear God’s assurance of pardon pronounced by the priest. The Confessional Anglican tradition teaches that only God can forgive sins. So it is here, at a tender moment in the service, where the priest, as an authorized messenger of Christ (Jn. 20:23), has the profound privilege of formally declaring God’s promised forgiveness to repentant sinners.
Hymn
We sing in joyful response to the good news of God’s grace. Augustine famously said "cantare amantis est” (only the lover sings). Our song is an overflow of being filled with the love of God by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18-19). It is simply the most natural response to God’s salvation. After the Exodus, God’s people sang (Ex. 15). After being rescued from the hand of Saul, David sang (2 Sam. 22; Ps. 18). At the annunciation, Mary sang (Lk. 1:46-55). And now, we too, join the song of the redeemed.
Collect of the Day
Collects are a particularly beautiful aspect of the Anglican tradition. They are short, structured prayers that “collect” the voices of the congregation into one. These model prayers follow a particular form. There is an initial address to God which names an aspect of His character or work, then a petition and its purpose, and ending with an invocation or doxology. We rotate through the Collects for the Christian Year. Many of the Collects were collected, translated, and adapted from ancient and medieval sources. Others were composed by Thomas Cranmer, the primary architect of the Book of Common Prayer.
Prayer for Children
In reflecting the heart of Jesus (Matt. 19:14), our worship strives to be honoring and hospitable to children. For these young souls, precious to our Lord, worship is not only taught, it is caught. And so each Sunday, before the liturgy of the Word, we openly pray for the children among us. After the prayer, the children are invited to attend children’s ministry, where they receive age-appropriate teaching and bible instruction.
Liturgy of the Word
Scripture Readings
Depending on the liturgical season (e.g. Advent, Lent) or sermon series, we have up to four scripture readings in each service. These are usually drawn from the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) Lectionary (2019), a prescribed reading plan for worship that follows the church year. These include a passage from the Old Testament, a Psalm (read responsively or sung), a New Testament passage, and a Gospel reading. The Gospel is read in the center of the sanctuary, among the people, as a symbol of Christ, the Word made flesh who dwelt among us (Jn. 1:14).
A hallmark of Anglican worship is the abundance of scripture. The Bible is read aloud, sometimes in lengthy portions; in addition, most of the prayers in the liturgy are derived or distilled from scripture. The Book of Common Prayer has been called “the Bible arranged for worship”. Indeed, it is, quite simply, a feast of scripture. This is born out of the biblical principle of edification in worship (1 Cor. 14:26), and the belief that “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). Cranmer famously described the scriptures as “the fat pastures of the soul”.
The Sermon
In regards to preaching, we hold to the confessional Anglican tradition, which is articulated well by Michael Jensen, who says that
[pastors are] ministers of the word, which means they are not simply in the business of giving advice, or of pop psychology. The tool of their trade is the Bible, since by serving it they serve the gospel of the Lord they have sworn to serve. (2021, 103).
The minister should be “able to teach” (2 Tim. 2:24), and is called to labor diligently so that the people of God might be “filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Col. 1:9).
The first Fundamental Declaration of the ACNA declares the Bible to be “the inspired Word of God, containing all things necessary for salvation, and to be the final authority and unchangeable standard for the Christian faith and life.” The 39 Articles of Religion, a confessional standard for our diocese, calls the Bible “God’s word written”. John Stott, the famous 20th century Anglican minister, expounds on this:
Through this written Word he continues to speak with a living voice powerfully. And the Church needs to listen attentively to his Word, since its health and maturity depend upon it. So pastors must expound it; it is to this they have been called. Whenever they do so with integrity, the voice of God is heard, and the Church is convicted and humbled, restored and reinvigorated, and transformed into an instrument for his use and glory. (Jensen, 2021, 106)
The Creed
Following the sermon we stand and recite the Nicene Creed. This is a communal declaration of orthodox faith that unites us with the global, historic church. At its heart, the Nicene Creed is not merely didactic. It is doxological. More than just an intellectual assent to orthodox doctrine, or — God forbid — a dry list of facts, the Creed is a praise-filled rehearsal of the gospel story, a verbal proclamation of the greatest realities of all time: The saving work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Prayers of the People
The Book of Common Prayer provides a framework for The Prayers of the People, and each week those categories get fleshed out by a lay person who leads us in an extended time of intercession. The prayers begin broadly, for the world and the universal Church, then move to local churches and the community, and end with individual and personal needs. Our Rector, Casey Bedell, says that
in these prayers we are “doing something the Church has always done: bringing the voice of the congregation before God in words shaped by Scripture, ordered by the wisdom of the tradition, yet sensitive to the real circumstances of life.”
The Peace
Affectionately called “Anglican Halftime”, the passing of the peace can seem like a post-sermon seventh-inning stretch, during which we clog up the center aisle or give awkward handshakes to strangers. But like all elements of our liturgy, there is a gospel-centered purpose. We pass the peace for several biblical reasons, both of them connected to the sacrament of Communion.
First, it’s a sign of reconciliation before coming to the table. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said,
if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there, you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. (Matthew 5:23-24)
Second, we offer peace to each other simply because the Lord offers it to us. Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27), and later he said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12). Offering the peace of Christ to each other is a way to obey our Savior and tangibly share His love.
Liturgy of the Table
Offertory
The offertory marks the beginning of the Liturgy of the Table. This moment is a deliberate act of worship that sets the tone of thanksgiving and mutual exchange. That is, just as Christ offered himself for us, so we gratefully surrender our possessions and lives back to Him (Rom. 12:1; Gal. 2:20). The congregation’s monetary gifts are, with the bread and wine, all fruits of human labor and signs of God’s goodness and provision. During the Offertory hymn, the table is prepared. A prayer of thanksgiving is offered followed by the Doxology. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Holy Eucharist
The word Eucharist means ‘thanksgiving’. The meaning helps define the purpose of this climactic moment in our liturgy. We come to the table every week in joyful gratitude for God’s grace to us in Christ Jesus, whose all-sufficient sacrifice has atoned for our sin and given us peace with God (Rom. 5:1; Col. 1:20). The Anglican tradition sees the sacrament of communion as an “effectual sign of grace, and God's good will towards us” (ACNA, 2019). We receive Christ’s benefits by faith, and through the work of the Holy Spirit, we are also inwardly nourished and strengthened (Jn. 16:13-15).
The eucharistic liturgy not only celebrates God’s saving work in the past, and his grace to us in the present, but it repeatedly reminds us of our future hope—that this humble feast is but a foretaste of the heavenly banquet, the marriage supper of the Lamb in glory (Rev. 19:6-9). Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. Alleluia!
Practical instructions on receiving communion can be found in our weekly bulletin under the heading “Liturgy of the Table”.
Sending
The Blessing
This memorable moment in our liturgy originated in Kenya and has been since adopted across the ACNA. It is a series of responsive lines that give voice to the redemptive hope we have in Christ. We extend our arms to the cross and declare that Jesus holds the answer to all of our problems, sins, and the devil’s work (1 Cor. 15:57; Jn. 16:33). We then lift our arms upward and say “all our hopes, we set on the risen Christ!”. The celebrant then pronounces God’s blessing over us.
Recessional
We finish the way we started, with the cross leading the way. As it is carried out, we sing another hymn. The focus here is on mission and the hope of heaven. Having been renewed and replenished by His Spirit, Christ now leads us out into the world to faithfully serve him and do His kingdom work until He comes again (Matt. 28:18-20).
Dismissal
The priest declares God’s commission to us, and we respond with joyful gratitude. What we have received in worship, we now take to the world. Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
References
Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). 2019. The Book of Common Prayer. Huntington Beach, California: Anglican Liturgy Press.
Hooker, Richard. 2018. Book IV - Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. Moscow, Idaho: The Davenant Institute.
Jensen, Michael. 2021. Reformation Anglican Worship: Experiencing Grace, Expressing Gratitude (the Reformation Anglicanism Essential Library, Volume 4). Edited by Ashley Null and John W. Yates III. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway.
Scripture from the English Standard Version. 2001. Crossway Bibles.
