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The Rule of '62 The North American Anglican

Clipped from https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/

THE RULE OF ’62

It becomes more readily apparent the longer I travel as an Anglican on the
Christian Way, that we are indebted (or should be) to our ancestors. I hold no
illusions about our Anglican forbears or even the Church Fathers being
infallible, but they were wise. As we find ourselves traveling in times of
uncertainties, illusions, and false paths that will lead us astray from the
depths of the loving gaze of Jesus Christ our Savior and our Lord, it is
critical to beat the bounds of our formularies and rediscover the ancient
landmarks which fence out irreligion and protect the flock.

Yet in this confusing age where the zeitgeist would see fit to dismantle whole
churches either through mimicking the world or downplaying doctrine for the sake
of false unity, we Anglicans should find comfort in the old ways – not because
they are old – but because they are immune to the whims of a Christless culture
and self-serving society. It is a blessing that orthodox Anglicans in the Global
South Fellowship of Anglicans, the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans
(better known as GAFCON), and the Anglican Church in North America, each ascribe
an allegiance and authority to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

The Covenantal Structure of the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans holds the
following:

a) the doctrine of their Churches is grounded in the Holy Scriptures, and in
such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are
agreeable to the said Scriptures. In particular, such doctrine is to be found in
the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, The Book of Common Prayer (1662), and The
Form and Manner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and
Deacons, annexed to The Book of Common Prayer, and commonly known as the
Ordinal;[1] [https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-0]

Likewise, the founding document of GAFCON states:

  1. 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.[2]
    [https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-1]

Finally, the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) concurs in Article I,
Section 6, the following:

  1. We receive The Book of Common Prayer as set forth by the Church of England in
    1662, together with the Ordinal attached to the same, as a standard for Anglican
    doctrine and discipline, and, with the Books which preceded it, as the standard
    for the Anglican tradition of worship.[3]
    [https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-2]

Notably, the ACNA also assents to the Jerusalem Declaration in the Preface to
its Constitution, stating, “We affirm the Global Anglican Future Conference
(GAFCON) Statement and Jerusalem Declaration issued 29 June 2008.” Id. The
Jerusalem Declaration is also invoked as authoritative in support of ACNA Title
II, Canon 8, “Of Standards of Sexual Morality and Ethics.” See Id. at p. 18,
(“In view of the teaching of Holy Scripture, the Lambeth Conference of 1998 and
the Jerusalem Declaration …”). This profession of the Jerusalem Declaration’s
authority is further evidenced by the ACNA publishing it along with the
Fundamental Declarations found in the ACNA Consitution in the 2019 ACNA Book of
Common Prayer, under the section “Documentary Foundations.”

Therefore, when the 1662 speaks, we should listen. Perhaps one of the most often
overlooked resources of 1662 is her rubrics. The word rubric, hearkens back to a
tool used to measure, a rule. Despite post-modern man’s attempt to redefine
language and reduce it to babble, even Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary
provides the following guidance by defining “rubric”
[https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rubric#:~:text=%3A an established rule%2C tradition%2C,academic papers%2C projects%2C or tests]
as “an authoritative rule,” “the title of a statute,” “an established rule,
tradition, or custom,” etc. Each is fitting, particularly “an authoritative
rule” for we Anglicans are (or should be) living under the rule of life the
prayer book prescribes for us “miserable sinners.”[4]
[https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-3] Since we
live under the rule of the prayer book life and what we pray forms what we
believe, the rubrics are as important in explaining why we pray as we do and
what we believe when we are praying. Hence, the authority of the 1662 should
compel us to seek her wisdom, her counsel, and her discipleship as we learn at
the feet of saints who have finished the race, who in turn followed the teaching
of the Apostles, and who sat at the feet of the Master, our Lord Jesus.

My encouragement, to lay and clergy alike, is to own, and more importantly, read
the 1662 for theological formation, guidance, and discipleship. I also encourage
you to pray with the 1662. Even if you use another authorized prayer book, such
as the 1928 American or 2019 ACNA, you will be enriched as to what Anglicans
have professed and believed for centuries.

A couple of examples regarding the formation provided by the rubrics are in
order. First, draw your attention to the rubric at the end of “The Publick
Baptism of Infants,” which pastorally reminds us of the peace it provides in
baptizing our children because “It is certain by God’s Word, that children which
are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are undoubtedly saved.” A
timely reminder considering a confusing piece published recently
[https://mereorthodoxy.com/the-case-for-baptist-anglicans].

The 1662 also brings clarity to issues that are commonly questioned by
Protestants, such as the sign of the Cross. Within the same service, it steers
us to a source outside the prayer book that clarifies why Anglicans retained the
ancient sign of the Cross “To take away all scruple concerning the use of the
sign of the Cross in Baptism; the true explication thereof, and the just reasons
for the retaining of it, may be seen in the xxxth Canon, first published in the
Year MDCIV.”[5]
[https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-4] The 1604
Canons [https://www.anglican.net/doctrines/1604-canon-law/] are publicly
available, and the rubric cites Canon 30, which explains in great detail why it
is retained.

Clear direction also exists as to how many persons are needed to celebrate Holy
Communion. Mid-week services and Holy Days are sadly notorious for having poor
attendance and the 1662 gives guidance that “yet there shall be no Communion,
except four (or three at the least) communicate with the Priest.“[6]
[https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-5] In other
words, the private masses where only clergy communed is forbidden. Or perhaps
one is curious about Anglican eucharistic theology? In addition to the relevant
Articles of Religion and Homily 15 from the Second Book of Homilies
[http://www.anglicanlibrary.org/homilies/bk2hom15.htm], the 1662 rubrics include
the “Black rubric” (due to printing this rubric in black ink versus the
normative red ink for rubrics). Or, perhaps the availability of private
auricular confession and its purpose is on your mind? Turn to the 1662
Visitation of the Sick rite which requires curates to urge the sick person to
make a confession and receive absolution for their sins “Here shall the sick
person be moved to make a special confession of his sins, if he feel his
conscience troubled with any weighty matter. After which confession, the Priest
shall absolve him (if he humbly and heartily desire it) after this sort.”[7]
[https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-6] I also
recommend the excellent introduction on page 222 of the 2019 ACNA Book of Common
Prayer before its rite of Reconciliation for Penitents.

In other words, the 1662 rubrics are catechetical in an age where anything goes,
especially in wax-nosed Anglicanism that pervades our continent and sadly
abroad. Speaking of catechesis, the 1662 provides the much-needed “short”
Catechism, used for centuries to confirm baptized children into the faith.
Additionally, the rubrics at the end of the Catechism include the following
commission to caregivers, “all Fathers, Mothers, Masters, and Dames, shall cause
their Children, Servants, and Prentices (which have not learned their
Catechism,) to come to the Church at the time appointed, and obediently to hear,
and be ordered by the Curate, until such time as they have learned all that is
here appointed for them to learn.” It is a reminder that parents and pastors,
curates and caregivers, are responsible for raising all those in their household
into the household of faith. Our faith is not our own, it is a gift and we are
called to teach and gift it to our own. Hence, the original rubrics of the 1662
service for Private Baptism of Infants states, “The Curates of every parish
shall often admonish the people, that they defer not the Baptism of their
Children longer than the first or second Sunday next after their birth, or other
Holy-day falling between, unless a great and reasonable cause, to be approved by
the Curate.” There is no reason to withhold the gracious gift of God that was
bestowed upon sinners – adult or infant.

Note that I mentioned the original rubrics of the 1662. Since the 1662 was first
published, changes have been made – typically minor alterations. However, during
the 1870’s until the 1960’s, the rubrics were unfortunately adulterated,
therefore beware that the 1662 you purchased from Cambridge or online resources
will likely reflect the newer rubrics – which have theological implications.
Fortunately, there is an online resource that highlights the older and original
language of the rubrics
[https://www.andrews.edu/~toews/classes/sources/modern/Thirty Nine Articles/notes/changes.html].
Furthermore, the 1662 International Edition
[https://www.ivpress.com/the-1662-book-of-common-prayer] reproduces the original
rubrics and, although it was not drafted by ecclesial authority, it is
authorized by several dioceses, including the Jurisdiction of the Armed Forces
and Chaplaincy [http://anglicanchaplains.org/].

The rubrics, indeed the whole 1662 Book of Common Prayer and our formularies are
more than our heritage, they are our guidestones. As an Anglican by conviction,
not by birth, I “read” my way into the Anglican faith and submit myself to the
rule of faith outlined in our formularies because they best reflect, in this
sinner’s opinion, the biblical Way. Therefore, since my sinful judgment is oft
in error, I submit my heart, my will, and my mind to walking, stumbling,
falling, getting back, and staying on the Way through the crutches of our
Anglican spirituality guidestones, the formularies. I submit because saints
before me have walked the prayer book tradition and served God well. Lord
willing, I pray to do the same. Therefore, I encourage fellow Anglicans who
traversed another trail from other traditions, like myself, to resist the
temptation to import your prior tradition into or onto the Anglican formularies.
The temptation to cut a new trail connecting the old trail, your old tradition,
onto the ancient path is strong. Resist such a temptation. Instead, be still and
drink from the deep well of the ancient Way. Allow yourself to be molded and
formed by the prayer book life.

My suggestion is first that you become familiar with the entirety of the prayer
book – yes, every service. Allow the biblical theology to marinate into your
bones, into your soul. Live the life of an Anglican – daily, and not just on
Sunday mornings. Learn to fast and learn to feast on the calendar of the church.
And as you inevitably have questions, dive into the catechism, the Articles of
Religion, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the Ordinal, and the two Books of
Homilies. Be refreshed weary soul and see how deep the well is that we drink
from. Others may veer off and wish to drink “stolen waters
[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+9%3A17&version=KJV]”
from other traditions but at the detriment of the riches and biblical truth
hidden in plain sight in the prayer book tradition
[https://cwtc.gitlab.io/scriptural-bcp//index.html].

NOTES

  1. Section I, 1.1(a), Doctrinal Foundation: Fundamental Declarations,
    Covenantal Structure, (available at:
    https://assets-global.website-files.com/64c7520a09b851adae283880/64f6cf1ea4f7e1c49c0619c3_GSFA Covenantal Structure (adopted on 15 Oct 2021).pdf
    [https://assets-global.website-files.com/64c7520a09b851adae283880/64f6cf1ea4f7e1c49c0619c3_GSFA Covenantal Structure (adopted on 15 Oct 2021).pdf]).
    Throughout the Covenantal Structure, the 1662 is simply referenced as “The
    Book of Common Prayer” except when referencing the 1790 American edition on
    one occasion. ↑
    [https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-ref-0]
  2. Point 6, Jerusalem Declaration, The Jerusalem Statement, (available at:
    https://www.gafcon.org/about/jerusalem-statement
    [https://www.gafcon.org/about/jerusalem-statement]). ↑
    [https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-ref-1]
  3. Constitution of the Anglican Church in North America, (available at:
    _resources/20240425T173420/20240425T173420_40498.pdf
    [_resources/20240425T173420/20240425T173420_58464.pdf]).
    ↑ [https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-ref-2]
  4. The Litany, 1662 Book of Common Prayer. ↑
    [https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-ref-3]
  5. See The Publick Baptism of Infants, 1662 Book of Common Prayer. ↑
    [https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-ref-4]
  6. Holy Communion, 1662 Book of Common Prayer. ↑
    [https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-ref-5]
  7. Visitation of the Sick, 1662 Book of Common Prayer. ↑
    [https://northamanglican.com/the-rule-of-62/#post-24415-footnote-ref-6]