FrFrank. The Ordinal does not include a Communion Service either. In other words, this has nothing to do with the Consecration liturgy. It has to do with the Holy Communion liturgy which FOLLOWS the Consecration. Only the ’79 grants to celebrant the right to skip a confession of sin, and in my experience it is done all the time by those that use the ’79, for reasons having nothing to do with ordinations or consecrations, sometimes replacing it with a “confession of need”. Given the emphasis that Cranmer placed upon knowing the consequences of our sin in the light of the Law, in public worship with or without Communion, I should hope that you might recognize this as terribly un-Anglican if not un-Christian. The Gospel contains both Law and Grace. When one is presented without the other, it is either antinominan or pelagian. My complaint is not merely academic or for the sake of tradition, but rather for the Gospel.
Methinks you strain at gnats, Hudson, looking for reasons to be critical.
The Ordinals mentioned may not include the celebration of Eucharist, but they certainly anticipate it. The Ordinal itself, makes explicit what is implicit throughout the entire liturgy, that the bishop-elect is a sinful man in need of Christ’s redeeming. Further, it makes a positive public confession, by both the bishop-to-be-consecrated and the congregation, with specific regard to the universal depravity of man and to Christ’s sacrificial death as the only means acceptable to God to atone of man’s sin and the consequent undeserved grace and mercy bestowed upon the elect. Additionally, the Litany for Ordination EXPLICITLY seeks God’s forgiveness of our sins and the liturgy, again, at the conclusion of the Prayer of Consecration, seeks God’s grace for our sinful nature by the inclusion of the Prayer of Humble Access.
Secondly you grossly overreach in your assertion of a universal practice, your broad generalization, and the grounding of your conclusion in your experience. You write: “Only the ’79 grants to celebrant the right to skip a confession of sin, and in my experience it is done all the time by those that use the ’79.” To answer according to your folly, it is not my experience that a confession is left out “all the time” by those who use the ’79 Prayer Book and I need to look no further than my own parish to negate your universal. Additionally, having worshiped at St. Andrew’s, they too include a confession in their weekly celebration of Eucharist. Furthermore, all of the ACNA parishes which I am familiar with that have used, and still use the ’79 Prayer Book, parishes such as Christ Church in Plano or St. Stephen’s in Sewickley, or The Falls Church, include a confession as a normative element in their weekly services, Eucharistic settings or not. In fact, in my experience, I have not found an ACNA parish that does not consistently include a confession though I have no doubt they may exist.
Thirdly, the while the Ordinal is normative for the making of deacons, priests, and bishops, it is not a normative weekly service of public worship. And, in the case of the consecration in question, was not presented as the weekly remembrance and Eucharistic celebration of Christ’s sacrifice by the local community of faith. Considering that the people present, as well as the parish itself, had celebrated the Eucharist the Sunday previous and would again the following day, I would gently suggest that the overall context of the consecration gave shape and determination as to particulars. Were it to be normative within the ACNA and its parishes to omit the confession as a standard practice of the liturgies practiced in the ongoing life of their congregations I would share your concern.
Fourthly, as you make an inference and correlation, noted in two paragraphs above, regarding previous practices performed – or not performed – informing current ACNA practice, I, too, will draw a correlation from my own inference. J.I. Packer, whom we can, perhaps, agree has thoroughly reformed bona fides and is quite clear about the nature of God and the condition of man that necessitates confession of sin – negatively as well as positively – sits on the ACNA Prayer Book commission. As such, the current ACNA Ordinal and Consecration service has passed both his eyes and was shaped by his input. And, while he is not the be all end all, his Impra Mater helps, me at least, give rest to the angst and agitation you profess.
As you say, the presence of Packer on the Prayer Book commission is an “Impra Mater”, but there is no indication that it bears actual substance. As for Bp. Woods skipping the confession of sin, it is more than anything a puzzlement. I had hoped it to be the first ACNA consecration that would abide by the standards of the 1662 BCP. The fact that it didn’t suggests to me that the false theology and liturgy of ACNA and the ’79 BCP are here to stay. I hope I am wrong, and in fact I have prayed that Woods will turn the ship back toward Calvinism; not holding my breath.
To the Anglican Diocese of the Carolinas: I commend your courage, sacrifice, and grace shown over the last several years. Y’all rock!!!
Once again, an ACNA bishop is consecrated and then celebrates Holy Communion without a Confession of Sin…. and nobody even notices. Shameful.
Hudson, not sure why you’re surprised. A quick perusal of the 1662, 1928 and 1979 Ordinals include no confession of sin.
FrFrank. The Ordinal does not include a Communion Service either. In other words, this has nothing to do with the Consecration liturgy. It has to do with the Holy Communion liturgy which FOLLOWS the Consecration. Only the ’79 grants to celebrant the right to skip a confession of sin, and in my experience it is done all the time by those that use the ’79, for reasons having nothing to do with ordinations or consecrations, sometimes replacing it with a “confession of need”. Given the emphasis that Cranmer placed upon knowing the consequences of our sin in the light of the Law, in public worship with or without Communion, I should hope that you might recognize this as terribly un-Anglican if not un-Christian. The Gospel contains both Law and Grace. When one is presented without the other, it is either antinominan or pelagian. My complaint is not merely academic or for the sake of tradition, but rather for the Gospel.
Methinks you strain at gnats, Hudson, looking for reasons to be critical.
The Ordinals mentioned may not include the celebration of Eucharist, but they certainly anticipate it. The Ordinal itself, makes explicit what is implicit throughout the entire liturgy, that the bishop-elect is a sinful man in need of Christ’s redeeming. Further, it makes a positive public confession, by both the bishop-to-be-consecrated and the congregation, with specific regard to the universal depravity of man and to Christ’s sacrificial death as the only means acceptable to God to atone of man’s sin and the consequent undeserved grace and mercy bestowed upon the elect. Additionally, the Litany for Ordination EXPLICITLY seeks God’s forgiveness of our sins and the liturgy, again, at the conclusion of the Prayer of Consecration, seeks God’s grace for our sinful nature by the inclusion of the Prayer of Humble Access.
Secondly you grossly overreach in your assertion of a universal practice, your broad generalization, and the grounding of your conclusion in your experience. You write: “Only the ’79 grants to celebrant the right to skip a confession of sin, and in my experience it is done all the time by those that use the ’79.” To answer according to your folly, it is not my experience that a confession is left out “all the time” by those who use the ’79 Prayer Book and I need to look no further than my own parish to negate your universal. Additionally, having worshiped at St. Andrew’s, they too include a confession in their weekly celebration of Eucharist. Furthermore, all of the ACNA parishes which I am familiar with that have used, and still use the ’79 Prayer Book, parishes such as Christ Church in Plano or St. Stephen’s in Sewickley, or The Falls Church, include a confession as a normative element in their weekly services, Eucharistic settings or not. In fact, in my experience, I have not found an ACNA parish that does not consistently include a confession though I have no doubt they may exist.
Thirdly, the while the Ordinal is normative for the making of deacons, priests, and bishops, it is not a normative weekly service of public worship. And, in the case of the consecration in question, was not presented as the weekly remembrance and Eucharistic celebration of Christ’s sacrifice by the local community of faith. Considering that the people present, as well as the parish itself, had celebrated the Eucharist the Sunday previous and would again the following day, I would gently suggest that the overall context of the consecration gave shape and determination as to particulars. Were it to be normative within the ACNA and its parishes to omit the confession as a standard practice of the liturgies practiced in the ongoing life of their congregations I would share your concern.
Fourthly, as you make an inference and correlation, noted in two paragraphs above, regarding previous practices performed – or not performed – informing current ACNA practice, I, too, will draw a correlation from my own inference. J.I. Packer, whom we can, perhaps, agree has thoroughly reformed bona fides and is quite clear about the nature of God and the condition of man that necessitates confession of sin – negatively as well as positively – sits on the ACNA Prayer Book commission. As such, the current ACNA Ordinal and Consecration service has passed both his eyes and was shaped by his input. And, while he is not the be all end all, his Impra Mater helps, me at least, give rest to the angst and agitation you profess.
As you say, the presence of Packer on the Prayer Book commission is an “Impra Mater”, but there is no indication that it bears actual substance. As for Bp. Woods skipping the confession of sin, it is more than anything a puzzlement. I had hoped it to be the first ACNA consecration that would abide by the standards of the 1662 BCP. The fact that it didn’t suggests to me that the false theology and liturgy of ACNA and the ’79 BCP are here to stay. I hope I am wrong, and in fact I have prayed that Woods will turn the ship back toward Calvinism; not holding my breath.