What comes to mind when you hear the word discipleship? If you’ve been a Christian for any significant length of time, you are probably thinking about a small group or class at your church. This would likely include some form of Bible study or curriculum. Most likely the group or class will revolve around some sort of semester rhythm. Spiritual progress likely has some sort of statistic attached to it. Churches track their numbers and often equate spiritual health with being connected to a small group or class, etc. This notion, in and of itself, is a noble one. There is nothing wrong with tracking growth, whether personal or corporate. I’ve come to see, however, that spiritual growth and progress is not as trackable as we often think. There is no magic bullet for spiritual formation or seven easy steps to a better you. Yet we are called to follow Jesus and be more like him. So how do we do this? How do become more like Jesus? I think the key lies in the ancient notion of spiritual formation. This is what we will discuss in the final installment of the Why Anglicanism? series.
At its core Anglicanism is deeply formational. This is distinct from, but also similar to discipleship. As we discussed above, discipleship is critical to the Christian life. Yet there is much more to discipleship than simply growing in our knowledge of the Bible or theological concepts, as important as those things are. As followers of Jesus we are called to learn from him in all aspects of life. This is not a rapid or linear process. Spiritual formation occurs over a lifetime of following Jesus through the ups and downs of life. Yet we are not alone on this journey. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews reminds us, “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” (Hebrews 12:1, ESV) We do this by “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2, ESV). Spiritual formation is much like the journey that Christian took in Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress or that Bilbo Baggins and Frodo Baggins took in Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It is long and arduous, but ultimately worth it. The Anglican tradition provides three main ways to seek spiritual formation.
Spiritual Disciplines
The word discipline has many negative connotations in modern society. We often think of punishment when we hear the word discipline. For instance, if a school teacher or principal is known as a disciplinarian that is seen as a bad thing, because they are perceived as being strict. The same is true when we think of God. When we think of spiritual discipline we think of all the “shall nots” of the Bible. This is one of the reasons many people give for not being religious. They assume that religion is all about God punishing us when we are bad. While that is certainly part of the Christian life (see Heb 12:5-11), discipline also has a positive aspect (see 1 Corinthians 9:25-27). An athlete disciplines their body through diet, exercise, mental focus, schedule, etc in order to enjoy the pleasure of competing and winning. How much more should we discipline our bodies in order to enjoy the pleasures for which God has made us? Simply put, practicing spiritual disciplines is us saying no to sin, and yes to Jesus.
Throughout church history several spiritual disciples have been practiced. Some people throughout history have practiced them more intensely than others. Separate communities such as monasteries and convents sprang up over time as a way for people to practice spiritual disciplines in community. While the practices developed by monks and nuns over the centuries can be helpful, and their example emulated, it is not practical for all followers of Jesus to live in such manner. So what are a few of the spiritual disciplines that can be practiced today in modern society? That’s a great question, and we will get to it. But first, it must be noted that although not all people are called to follow Jesus as a monk or nun, however we are all called to live different than the culture around us. In order to follow Jesus faithfully, we must be willing to be different and that takes sacrifice. What are you willing to give up in order to follow Jesus faithfully today?
There are many disciplines that a person can cultivate. Yet it can be overwhelming to implement these into one’s life. So for the sake of simplicity, we will briefly discuss a few spiritual disciplines under the following headings: Simplicity, Order, Truth, Beauty, Invitation, and Presence. I must give credit here to my pastor Fr. Will Shafferman. These headings are the core values of our church Restoration Anglican Church. However, I find them helpful in thinking about spiritual disciplines and formation. In fact they have revolutionized my own spirituality. Disciplines such as silence, solitude, prayer, worship, fasting, and Bible reading are among the many disciplines to which followers of Jesus are called to practice. Time will not allow us to go in depth here. For this reason, we will discuss each of these in more detail in coming articles.
Book of Common Prayer (Liturgy)
If you are not familiar with the Anglican tradition, I’d be surprised if you are familiar with the Book of Common Prayer. The BCP is the center of Anglican life and worship. Developed by Thomas Cranmer in the mid-sixteenth century, the resource houses the treasure trove that is Anglican liturgy. All worship services are based (or take directly from) the Prayer Book. The BCP has gone through many revisions and iterations. Most notably the 1662 version that still serves as the standard for Anglican liturgy world-wide. However, there have been other versions of the BCP that have come out of the Episcopal tradition here in American, such as the 1928 and 1979 editions.
When the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) was formed in 2009, it began work on and edition of the Book of Common Prayer that could be used in its churches. The ACNA edition was released in 2019. This is the edition of the BCP that my own church uses, as well as what my family uses for family prayer and personal devotion. The BCP is primarily a set of worship services that churches use throughout the year. The main service is the Eucharist (Communion) service. However, there are many other services such as for baptism, confirmation, weddings, funerals, etc. There are also services for corporate morning and evening prayer (non-Eucharistic). While the BCP is primarily a guide to corporate worship, it also has a few family and private devotional prayer guides. These are often called the Daily Office, and provide a guide for morning, afternoon, evening, and compline (bedtime) prayer.
I can personal vouch for the fact that the Book of Common Prayer has radically changed my life and my family’s approach to prayer. Each morning I pray through the morning Daily Office on my own, and each evening my family prays through the Family Evening Prayer devotional. The formational nature of these practices are evident. I wake up each morning and look forward to the Daily Office, where in the past I struggled to keep a regular prayer and Bible reading time. My family also struggled to implement a family prayer time on a regular basis. However, once we started using the BCP, we make evening prayer the focus of our evenings together. Even my four year old daughter has memorized both the Lord’s Prayer and the Gloria Patri because we pray them on a nightly basis. All of this is by God’s grace, of course, through the gift that is the Book of Common Prayer.
Seasonal Rhythms (Church Calendar)
We all base our lives around seasonal rhythms. Whether it be weather related (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter), sports related, or holiday based (Easter and Christmas), we all operate around seasons. When the earliest Christians began to form a liturgical rhythm, they based corporate worship around what is known as the Christian calendar year. The Church calendar is the annual seasonal rhythm of the majority of Christians around the world. In fact is has only been in the last few hundred years that a significant number of churches and denominations moved away from the liturgical calendar (all of them are Protestant). The Christian calendar year begins at Advent, which begins four Sundays before Christmas Day in late November or early December. It continues through Christmastide to Epiphany (January 6), and crescendos on Easter Sunday, which is preceded by a period of fasting known as Lent. The months following Easter are called Ordinary Time, and the whole year begins again in late November with Advent.
The Church calendar year roughly follows the pattern of Jesus’ life beginning with his brith and ends with his death and resurrection. It is highly formational because it brings the church and individual believers through periods of fasting and feasting, suffering and salvation. We learn to anticipate both Jesus’ nativity during Advent, and his passion during Lent. Throughout the year the church commemorates various figures from Church history on Feast Days. Examples of this are days that commemorate biblical figures such as Mary, the Apostles, and biblical events. As well as figures throughout history church as Clement of Rome, Augustine, Bernard of Clairveaux, and even Mother Theresa. Anglicans also have days to commemorate figures from history that are specifically connected to the Anglican tradition such as William Tyndale, Thomas Cranmer, and C. S. Lewis. However, these are not celebrated by Catholic or Orthodox believers.
As you may have noticed, RFTG has begun implementing devotional content based around the commemoration days for figures throughout Church history. Our goal is to spotlight varying examples of grace-filled lives through the year.
Conclusion
Spiritual formation takes a lifetime, and is achieved by God’s grace through small daily practices. The Anglican tradition provides access to three primary modes of spiritual formation: spiritual disciplines, liturgy (Book of Common Prayer), and the seasonal rhythms of the Christian calendar. Each of these practices take our eyes off of ourselves and focus them on Jesus, the author and perfecto of our faith. My prayer from this series on Why Anglicanism, is that you (as the reader) may also discover the riches of grace that are available in the ancient traditions of the Christian faith. Modern American evangelicalism has, by and large, cut itself off from the deep well of ancient Christianity. May you find, as did I (by God’s grace), a deep rootedness of your faith that comes only by being connected to the history/tradition, doctrine, and formational practices of ancient Christianity as expressed in the Anglican tradition.
Recommended Reading
- The Book of Common Prayer (1662)
- The Book of Common Prayer: ACNA Edition (2019)
- Spiritual Formation by Henri Nouwen
- Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
- Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
- Sounding the Seasons by Malcolm Guite
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