From the Offices of Instruction:
Statements of Faith
The Book of Common Prayer, TPEC, A.D. 1928
1. My Christian Name is .
2. My Sponsors gave me this Name in Baptism;
wherein I was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven.
3. My Sponsors did promise and vow three things in my name:
First, that I should renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanity of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh;
Secondly, that I should believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith;
And Thirdly, that I should keep God’s holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of my life.
4. Yes, verily, I am bound to do these vows; and by God’s help so I will.
5. My Sponsors promised and vowed that I should believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith. I will now recite the Articles of the Christian Faith as contained in the Nicene Creed, the summary of our faith:
I BELIEVE in one God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
And of all things visible and invisible:
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God;
Begotten of his Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God;
Begotten, not made;
Being of one substance with the Father;
By whom all things were made:
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven,
And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary,
And was made man:
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate;
He suffered and was buried:
And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures:
And ascended into heaven,
And sitteth on the right hand of the Father:
And he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead;
Whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord, and Giver of Life,
Who proceedeth from the Father [and the Son]*;
Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified;
Who spake by the Prophets:
And I believe one Catholic and Apostolic Church:
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins:
And I look for the Resurrection of the dead:
And the Life of the world to come. Amen.
*NOTE: add much later, not biblical nor from an ecumenical council.
6. I chiefly learn in these Articles of our Belief the following:
First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who hath made me, and all the world.
Secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all mankind.
Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the people of God.
And this Holy Trinity, One God, I praise and magnify, saying,:
GLORY be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning,
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen.
7. My Sponsors promised and vowed that I should keep God’s holy will and commandments. There are Ten Commandments, given in old time by God to the people of Israel. I shall ask God’s help to know and to keep them.
I. Thou shalt have none other gods but Me.
II. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them;
for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and show mercy unto thousands in them that love me and keep my commandments.
III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain;
for the LORD will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his Name in vain.
IV. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbathday.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all that thou hast to do; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God. In it thou shalt do no manner of work; thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it.
V. Honour thy father and thy mother;
that thy days may be long in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
VI. Thou shalt do no murder.
VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
VIII. Thou shalt not steal.
IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his.
8. Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us that the Ten Commandments are summed up in these two Commandments: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength; this is the first and great Commandment. And the second is: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
9. I chiefly learn two things from these Commandments; my duty towards God, and my duty towards my neighbour.
10. My duty towards God is To believe in him, to fear him, And to love him with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul, and with all my strength:
I., II. To worship him, to give him thanks:
To put my whole trust in him, to call upon him:
III. To honour his holy Name and his Word:
IV. And to serve him truly all the days of my life.
IV. And to serve him truly all the days of my life.
11. My duty towards my neighbour is to love him as myself, and to do to all men as I would they should do unto me:
V. To love, honour, and help my father and mother: To honour and obey the civil authority: To submit myself to all my governors, teachers, spiritual pastors and masters: And to order myself in that lowliness and reverence which becometh a servant of God:
VI. To hurt nobody by word or deed: To bear no malice nor hatred in my heart:
VII. To keep my body in temperance, soberness, and chastity:
VIII. To keep my hands from picking and stealing: To be true and just in all my dealings:
IX. To keep my tongue from evil speaking, lying, and slandering:
X. Not to covet nor desire other men’s goods; But to learn and labour truly to earn mine own living, And to do my duty in that state of life unto which it shall please God to call me.
12. Know this; that I am not able to do these things of myself, nor to walk in the Commandments of God, and to serve him, without his special grace; which I must learn at all times to call for by diligent prayer. The prayer that our Lord taught us to pray is the Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
13. I was made a member of the Church when I was baptized.
14. The Church is the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head, and all baptized people are the members.
15. The Church is described in the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds as One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic (the third creed is the Quicunque vult, commonly called The Athanasian Creed, the logical proof of the most Holy Trinity). We mean that the Church is:
One; because it is one Body under one Head;
Holy; because the Holy Spirit dwells in it, and sanctifies
its members;
Catholic; because it is universal, holding earnestly the
Catholic; because it is universal, holding earnestly the
faith for all time, in all countries, and for all people; and is sent to preach the Gospel to the whole world;
Apostolic; because it continues stedfastly in the Apostles’ teaching and fellowship.
16. My bounden duty as a member of the Church is to follow Christ,
to worship God, always and everywhere;
and to work and pray and give for the spread of his kingdom.
17. The Church provides the special means of the Laying on of Hands, or Confirmation, wherein, after renewing the promises and vows of my Baptism, and declaring my loyalty and devotion to Christ as my Master, I receive the strengthening gifts of the Holy Spirit.
18. After I have been confirmed, Our Lord provides the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion, for the continual strengthening and refreshing of my soul.
19. Christ hath ordained two Gospel Sacraments only, as generally necessary to salvation; that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord.
20. I mean by this word Sacrament an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us; ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive this grace, and a pledge to assure us thereof.
21. There are two parts in a Sacrament; the outward and visible sign, and the inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.
22. The outward and visible sign in Baptism is Water; wherein the person is baptized,
“In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”
23. The inward and spiritual grace in Baptism is a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness; whereby we are made the children of grace.
24. What is required of persons to be baptized is Repentance, whereby they forsake sin; and Faith, whereby they stedfastly believe the promises of God to them in that Sacrament.
25. Infants are Baptized because, by the faith of their Sponsors, the infants are received into Christ’s Church, become the recipients of his grace, and are trained in the household of faith.
26. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was ordained for the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the benefits which we receive thereby.
27. The outward part or sign of the Lord’s Supper is, wheat Bread and grape Wine, which the Lord hath commanded to be received.
28. The inward part of the Lord’s Supper, or thing signified, is the Body and Blood of Christ, which are spiritually taken and received by the faithful in the Lord’s Supper.
29. The benefits whereof we are partakers in the Lord’s Supper are the strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the Body and Blood of Christ, as our bodies are strengthened and refreshed by the Bread and Wine.
30. It is required of those who come to the Lord’s Supper to examine themselves, whether they repent them truly of their former sins, with stedfast purpose to lead a new life; to have a lively faith in God’s mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his death; and to be in charity with all men.
31. The orders of the Ministers in the Church and after the Apostles are Bishops, Priests, and Deacons; which orders have been in the Church from the earliest times.
32. The office of a Bishop is to be a chief pastor in the Church; to confer Holy Orders; and to administer Confirmation.
33.The office of a Priest is to minister to the people committed to his care; to preach the Word of God; to baptize; to celebrate the Holy Communion; and to pronounce Absolution and Blessing in God’s Name.
34. The office of a Deacon is to assist the Priest in Divine Service, and in his other ministrations, under the direction of the Bishop.
These are the Statements of Faith from the Catechism of the Church.
The Baptismal Covenant
The Book of Common Prayer, ECUSA, A.D. 1979
A. I, , reaffirm my renunciation of evil.
B. I renew my commitment to Jesus Christ, and with God’s grace I will follow him as my Lord and Savior.
C. The Apostle’s Creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven,
On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
D. I will continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers, with God’s help.
E. I will persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever I fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord, with God’s help.
F. I will proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ, with God’s help.
G. I will seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving my neighbor as myself, with God’s help.
H. I will strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being, with God’s help.
I. I will attempt to understand and preserve God’s creation, with God’s help.
(The Rev. Robert K. Herrell has tried to maintain the original intent of both documents, though some liberal editing was carried out.)
In Christ's love, Fr. Robert Pax
