Ordinal in the Book of Common Prayer
The Ordinal in the Book of Common Prayer is the liturgical form for admitting ministers to the three historic orders of bishop, priest, and deacon in Anglican churches. In classical Anglican usage it is closely associated with the Book of Common Prayer and with the doctrinal standards of Anglicanism, because it joins public worship, pastoral office, episcopal oversight, and the ministry of the Word and Sacraments in one rite. The Ordinal is not merely an administrative manual for clergy appointment; it is a liturgical statement about how the Church understands ordered ministry under Scripture and within the visible life of the congregation.
Historical development
A distinct English Ordinal appeared in the Reformation period alongside the early Prayer Books. Its purpose was to provide reformed English services for the making of deacons, the ordering of priests, and the consecration of bishops. Later Prayer Books retained this threefold pattern, with revisions of language and ceremony according to the settlement of each church.
The 1662 Book of Common Prayer includes the Ordinal under the title "The Form and Manner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons".[1] In the Church of England this text became part of the received Prayer Book tradition and was connected with the legal and theological identity of the national church. In other Anglican provinces, later Prayer Books and authorized liturgies often preserve the same basic structure while adapting the wording for local pastoral and ecclesial contexts.
The Ordinal also has an apologetic significance in Anglican history. Article XXXVI of the Thirty-Nine Articles defends the Prayer Book ordinal against claims that it lacked lawful authority or sufficient form for ministry.[2] This article places the rites within the wider Anglican claim that reformation of worship did not require abandonment of episcopal ministry.
Liturgical structure
The classical Ordinal contains separate rites for deacons, priests, and bishops. Each rite is public, scriptural, and ecclesial. Candidates are presented before the congregation, examined concerning their calling and doctrine, prayed for by the Church, and admitted by the laying on of hands. The presence of a bishop is central to the rite, especially as the minister who ordains or consecrates.
The service for deacons emphasizes service, assistance in worship, reading of Scripture, catechetical work, care for the poor, and support of priestly ministry. The ordering of priests includes a fuller charge concerning preaching, pastoral oversight, administration of the Sacraments, absolution, and the care of souls. The consecration of bishops concerns oversight, discipline, teaching, unity, and the guarding of doctrine within the Church.
Prayer Book ordination rites typically include lessons from Scripture, an examination of the candidate, invocations of the Holy Spirit, and a solemn act of laying on of hands. The rite therefore presents ministry as both a divine calling and a public ecclesial act. The candidate does not simply assume a function; the Church receives, tests, prays for, and commissions the minister.
Theological themes
The Ordinal expresses a characteristically Anglican balance between catholic order and reformed doctrine. It maintains the threefold ministry of bishops, priests, and deacons, while strongly emphasizing the authority of Scripture and the pastoral duties of preaching, teaching, and sacramental ministry. The questions addressed to candidates place the ministry under the Word of God and require diligence, moral seriousness, and fidelity to the Church's doctrine.
The rite also shows that Anglican ordination is ecclesial rather than private. The congregation is present, the bishop acts in the name of the Church, and prayer surrounds the admission of the candidate. This public setting reflects the Anglican conviction that ordained ministry exists for the edification of the whole body, not for personal status or individual spiritual advancement.
Another important theme is continuity. Anglican churches have often appealed to the Ordinal as evidence that the English Reformation sought to reform the Church's ministry, not to create an entirely new ministry detached from earlier Christian order. At the same time, the simplified ceremonial and scriptural emphasis of the Prayer Book rites reflect the reforming concerns of the sixteenth century.