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Although the Protestant Reformation may seem historically far removed from the modern church, the reformational nature of Anglicanism is crucial to understanding its practice. The Reformation has incredible effect upon how Anglicans practice liturgy, the sacraments, and prayer.
The Falls Church Anglican (TFCA) Rector Sam Ferguson spoke on doctrinal reforms and expounded upon the history and practice of the English Reformation at History and Hope: Reformed Theology in the Anglican Tradition. The February 4 Reformed Theological Seminary collaboration with TFCA focused on the reformational roots of Anglicanism and its doctrinal convictions. (Readers may access part one History (English Bibles, Refuted Clericalism, and Reformation Anglicanism) here and part two, Scripture in Reformation Anglicanism, here).
Book of Common Prayer
The Reformation led to Christianity being practiced through the Book of Common Prayer. Compiled by Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, it made prayers and liturgies accessible and available to common people in their vernacular.
While the Medieval Church performed liturgies in Latin, and prayers were said on behalf of the congregation, the people did not understand the words. For the Reformers, it was crucial that both the Bible and church liturgies were in the vernacular. Through the prayer book and worship, God’s people were able to hear His voice in a language that they understood.
Additionally, liturgies set out in the Book of Common Prayer allow flexibility in worship. Article 34 from the 39 Articles articulates the normative principle of worship, allowing various expressions of Anglican worship across “diversity of countries, times, and men’s manners, so that nothing be ordained against God’s Word,” once again emphasizing the wide-tent expression of the Anglican tradition.
Sacraments
As Protestant Reformers moved from the doctrine of transubstantiation, the nature of the Lord’s Supper was hotly debated. Cranmer and other Reformers believed that Christ’s presence in the Lord’s Supper was a dynamic spiritual presence that was effective when participating in faith. When administered in the vernacular, both the liturgy and the sacrament preached the gospel.
Ferguson noted that communion liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer speaks of this dynamic spiritual presence of Christ.
During the communion liturgy, the celebrant states “The gifts of God for the people of God. Take them in remembrance that Christ died for you, and feed on Him in your hearts by faith.”
Likewise the post-communion prayer states,
“Almighty and Ever-living God, we thank you for feeding us in these Holy Mysteries with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of your Son Jesus Christ.”
This liturgy and these prayers speak of the dynamic spiritual presence of Christ. The Reformers’ understanding and reform of the nature of Christ in the Lord’s Supper is not an intangible idea but affects how Anglicans understand the nature of the Lord’s Supper.
Prayer
The Reformation also impacted the Anglican tradition’s understanding and practice of prayer. The Book of Common Prayer was created to guide Christ-followers in prayer. Most laity in the Reformation era could not understand the Latin prayers of the church. While religious leaders prayed on behalf of the congregation, lay persons did not pray on the same level as religious leaders.
Cranmer wanted prayer to be for everyone, not primarily for priests and monks. Crucial to this goal, the Book of Common Prayer guides through prayer that involves the whole of life. It assumes that people could read Scripture and pray through the prayer book. Daily morning and evening office made a layperson’s home into a prayerful monastery with accessible scripture, meditation, and lay services dedicated around the average work day. Cranmer made it possible for the regular secular person to enter a biblical rhythm of prayer for “whole life discipleship.”
Liturgy
Cranmer changed the church liturgy to prioritize grace. He moved confession to collective worship. After the priest announced the absolution of sins, he recited to the congregation “comfortable words” from scripture.
Ferguson ended his talk with several of these “comfortable words”:
“Come to me, all ye, who trival and are heavily laden, and I will give ye rest.
“For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
“This is a trustworthy saying, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
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