Sunday Forums, Continued

From yesterday's (March 11) forum on prayer and the Book of Common Prayer

Most Christian denominations have statements of what they believe, in addition to the Apostles' and the Nicene Creeds.

The Methodists have the Book of Discipline, which includes their articles of belief.

The Lutherans have the Augsburg Confession. The articles of belief included in this confession was later translated and enlarged to produce the Church of England 39 Articles.

The Presbyterians have the Westminster Confession of Faith.

The Episcopal Church at one time subscribed to the 39 Articles, adapted for post-revolution America. Currently you can find them at the back of the Prayer Book in the Historical Documents.

We continue to profess the Nicene Creed, or on baptismal Sundays the Apostles' Creed, every Sunday. However, we do not have any distinct statement of our doctrine above and beyond the creeds. Instead, when people ask what Episcopalians believe, we direct them to the Book of Common Prayer.

By reading and praying the BCP one "doctrine" you will find is our belief in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and the Psalms. We read a lot of scripture in worship and sing or say a lot of psalmody. In addition, we make a statement every Sunday when we pray the Collect of the Day. Pay attention to the collect next Sunday and see if you can discern some piece of what we believe. You will usually find it in the first sentence, before the colon.

Thought for the day: It is said that one can tell what a people believes by the way they pray. This is why we direct people to our BCP as the only faithful statement we can make of our belief. When you pray, what do you say? What do you ask for? What words, if any, do you use in praise or thanksgiving or confession, in your personal life? What do your prayers say to you about what you believe about God?

In preparation for next Sunday's forum, The Ministry, you might take a Prayer Book and read through the vows in each of the three services of ordination:
Deacons - pg. 543
Priests - pg. 531
Bishops - pg. 517
Also please note the order in which these ordination services are found: Bishops first, then priests, then deacons. Also please review the vows taken at baptism, before any other ordinations: pg. 304

Ask yourself, what might your vocation be? And are vocations only found in the Church? What is your evidence?

Next forum: Sunday, March 18 at 9:00 a.m.