Institution of Ministers Rubrics (1928 BCP)

Institution of Ministers Rubrics (1928 BCP) are the directions governing the Office of Institution of Ministers into Parishes or Churches in the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer. They show how a rector's cure is received publicly: the bishop or his institutor, the elected priest, the clergy, the wardens, the keys of the church, the altar, the Bible, the Prayer Book, and the canons all appear within one ordered act.

The rubrics are therefore not merely ceremonial notes. They define public recognition, episcopal oversight, parochial consent, objection, canonical rule, and sacramental ministry. The office is not an ordination, because the incumbent is already a priest; it is the Prayer Book's way of receiving that priest into a definite parish charge.

Placement in the 1928 Prayer Book

The Institution rubrics stand among the late Prayer Book offices associated with episcopal ministry and church order: the Ordinal (1928 BCP), the Litany and Suffrages for Ordinations (1928 BCP), the consecration of a church, and this office for instituting a rector. E. Clowes Chorley explains that the rite grew from colonial and early national practice in which induction gave a minister legal possession of a parish charge.

The General Convention of 1804 added to the 1789 Prayer Book "An Office of Induction of Ministers into Parishes." Its use was made obligatory. In 1808, to avoid conflict with some state laws, the use was made optional and the title was changed to "An Office of Institution."

William Reed Huntington made the same historical point in broader form. For him, the office is a distinctively American addition that has binding ecclesiastical force even though it is not, strictly speaking, part of the 1789 Prayer Book text.

The Ordinal, the Articles, the Consecration of Churches, and the Institution of Ministers made no part of the Prayer Book as it was set forth in 1789; nor do they, even now, strictly speaking, make a part of it, although in the matter of binding force and legal authority they are on the same footing.

Entrance, Altar, and Public Objection

The first rubrics place the bishop or institutor, the new incumbent, the clergy, and the wardens in view of the congregation. The setting is juridical and liturgical at once: the action happens in the chancel, at the altar rails, with the keys of the church visible in the senior warden's hand.

At the time designated for the new Incumbent's Institution, the Bishop, or the Institutor appointed by him, attended by the new Incumbent, and by the other Clergy present, shall enter the Chancel.

The next rubric prevents institution from becoming a private arrangement between bishop, vestry, and priest. The congregation hears the reason for the assembly, the election and letter are acknowledged, and space is given for objection before the office proceeds.

But if any of you can show just cause why he may not be instituted, we proceed no further, because we would not that an unworthy person should minister among you.

This is a significant rubrical safeguard. The rector has been elected, but the public office still treats worthiness and ministerial reception as matters for the Church's order. The institutor must judge whether an objection supplies "just cause to suspend the Service."

Keys and Parochial Recognition

The rubrics then require the senior warden, or another vestry member in his place, to present the keys of the church. This is the most visible parochial act in the rite. The bishop institutes; the wardens recognize; the incumbent receives a pastoral trust.

In the name and behalf of —— Parish (or Church) I do receive and acknowledge you, the Rev. A. B., as Priest and Rector of the same; and in token thereof, give into your hands the keys of this Church.

I, A. B., receive these keys of the House of God at your hands, as the pledges of my Institution, and of your parochial recognition, and promise to be a faithful shepherd over you; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

The keys do not confer priesthood and do not make the parish independent of the bishop. They are "pledges" of institution and recognition. The rubric thus holds together episcopal jurisdiction and local reception without confusing them.

Bible, Prayer Book, and Canons

After the opening prayers, the institutor receives the incumbent within the altar rails and presents three books: the Bible, the Prayer Book, and the books of canons. The rubric interprets rectoral ministry by those three authorities.

Receive these Books; and let them be the rule of thy conduct in dispensing the divine Word, in leading the Devotions of the People, and in exercising the Discipline of the Church; and be thou in all things a pattern to the flock committed to thy care.

This rubric is a compact account of Anglican pastoral order. Scripture rules the preaching of the divine Word; the Prayer Book rules the congregation's common devotion; the canons rule discipline. The rector is not licensed for private religious improvisation, nor reduced to a manager of parish property. He is charged to serve the flock by Word, prayer, discipline, and example.

Prayer and Sacramental Charge

The rubrics also show that institution is completed by prayer. After the books are delivered, the office prays for the minister, the congregation, and the unity of the Church. The instituted minister's own supplication explicitly joins altar service, Scripture, preaching, doctrine, and sacramental administration.

To thee and to thy service I devote myself, body, soul, and spirit, with all their powers and faculties. Fill my memory with the words of thy Law; enlighten my understanding with the illumination of the Holy Ghost; and may all the wishes and desires of my will centre in what thou hast commanded.

Grant that I may faithfully administer thy holy Sacraments, and by my life and doctrine set forth thy true and lively Word.

The final rubric moves naturally from institution to Holy Communion when there is a Communion. The newly instituted minister administers the Eucharist to his congregation; the wardens, vestry, and others then salute and welcome him. Institution therefore culminates not in possession of keys alone, but in sacramental ministry and parochial communion.

Rubrical Authority

The 1928 debates around liturgical authority show why these rubrics mattered. In a Project Canterbury transcription of Carl Eckhardt Grammer's critique of the American Missal, Grammer quotes the House of Bishops' 1928 appeal for obedience to the newly authorized Prayer Book. The passage is polemical in its original setting, but it is directly relevant to the authority of rubrics in the same Prayer Book revision.

Such loyalty does not, of course, preclude, as occasions may require, special services as provided for in the rubrics of the Prayer Book or authorized by the Bishops but it does demand of the authorized Ministers of the Church obedience to the rubrical directions of its authorized book of worship, as at all times binding upon priest and people.

Let us have prophets, let us have life and initiative, but let us remember that there is a norm of teaching and of worship in the Prayer Book. The ordination vows of the Clergy pledge them to loyalty to 'the doctrine, discipline and worship' of this Church.

Read in that light, the Institution rubrics are part of the Church's public discipline. They protect the people from clerical individualism, protect the minister from being treated as merely hired staff, and protect the parish's worship by anchoring it in the Bible, Prayer Book, and canons.

Theological Significance

The Institution rubrics express a classical Anglican doctrine of ordered ministry. They distinguish ordination from institution, episcopal authority from parochial recognition, and ceremonial action from private devotion. They also connect the pastoral office to Scripture and the Church's visible order: the rector receives books, not simply symbols; he kneels at the altar, not merely at a civic installation; and the congregation is prayed for as part of the one apostolic Church.

For High Church and traditional Anglican Catholic readers, the altar setting, episcopal institution, apostolic-succession language, and sacramental charge are especially prominent. For classical Anglican, Evangelical, and Reformed Episcopal readers, the same rubrics emphasize public accountability, Word and Sacrament, common prayer, lawful discipline, and the minister's obligation to teach and live sound doctrine. The rite is characteristically Anglican because visible order serves evangelical and pastoral ends.

See Also

• Book of Common Prayer (1928)
• Occasional Offices (1928 BCP)
• Institution of Ministers (1928 BCP)
• Ordinal (1928 BCP)
• Consecration of a Church or Chapel (1928 BCP)

External Links

• 1928 Book of Common Prayer: Institution of Ministers
• E. Clowes Chorley, The New American Prayer Book
• William Reed Huntington, A Short History of the Book of Common Prayer