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Study resource released to explore Ordination

27 June 2007

 

More than 560 men and women will join the Church of England’s clergy this year – the highest number since 2000.

Among the 566 being ordained as deacons this year, 283 will go on to stipendiary ministry - a figure that has risen over the last two years. Many of this cohort are just days away from this life-changing event: the period following the feast day of St Peter the Apostle, celebrated on 29 June, is traditionally one of the times when the Church of England ordains most of its deacons and priests to serve within the Church.

For the candidates, and their friends and family, the forthcoming Ordination service will be immensely memorable; through the words, music and symbolism of the rite, they will not only experience a major milestone in their lives but also glimpse something of the significance of their calling to ordained ministry.

It is therefore a fitting time for the Church of England to publish a new resource that, in one volume, brings together the Common Worship Ordination Services and the 1662 Book of Common Prayer Ordinal, alongside a brief history of ordination rites and a commentary by the Liturgical Commission. Common Worship: Ordination Services also includes a comprehensive practical guide to planning ordinations, including sections on using the worship space, vesture, music, and compiling the service booklet.

The Church’s understanding of ordained ministry is expressed in its liturgy, and the book – designed in the award-winning Common Worship format - unpacks the recently authorised services with helpful annotations, including detailed references to Scripture and the Canons of the Church of England, guiding the reader through the background to each element of the rite.

Not only is the new resource essential material for those preparing for - or preparing others for – ordination, it also provides a rich seam of material for anyone interested in the Church of England’s understanding of holy orders.

The Rt Revd Stephen Platten, Bishop of Wakefield and Chair of the Liturgical Commission, writes in the book’s foreword that study of holy orders and ordination rites “points beyond those subjects in two directions – to reflection on the Church as a whole, ‘Christ’s beloved bride, his own flock, bought by the shedding of his blood on the cross’ and on Christ himself, ‘the Apostle and High Priest of our faith and the Shepherd of our souls’.”

Common Worship: Ordination Services – study edition, priced £16.99 (paperback, ISBN 978-071512131-3) or £30 (hardback, ISBN 978-071512130-6), is available from Christian bookshops including Church House Bookshop, 31 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BN, telephone 020 7799 4064, email bookshop@c-of-e.org.uk, or on the web (mail order available).