Fr. Matt Kennedy has been doing some great work transcribing these canon law principles for us. ed.
From Stand Firm:
Sunday, July 27, 2008 • 11:35 am
From the booklet, "Principles of Canon Law Common to the Churches of the Anglican Communion"
Principle 48: The Presentation of doctrine:
1. Doctrine is the teaching of the church on any matter of faith which a church receives, believes, and represents afresh from generation to generation by virtue of its belonging to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, Church.
2. The faithful have a responsibility to proclaim the Word of God revealed in Christ.
3. Bishops have a special responsibility to teach the faith, to state publicly the doctrine of the church, and expound their application to the people and issues of the age.
4. Priests and deacons have a responsibility to preach sermons and provide other forms of instruction in the faith for those entrusted to their charge.
5. Sermons may be preached, and instruction in the faith provided, by such lay persons who have received lawful authority to exercise a teaching ministry
6. In sermons or other forms of teaching a minister must endeavor with care and sincerity to expound the word of truth according to Holy Scripture, to the glory of God and to the edification of the people.
7. A sermon should be preached on Sundays and on the other major festivals.
8. Clergy must take care that those in their care, especially children and young persons, are instructed in the doctrine, sacraments, and discipline of Christ, as the Lord commanded and as found in Holy Scripture, and in the teaching and catechism of a church.
9. A church may have commissions, boards, councils or other such bodies to lead, advise on, and carry out the work of evangelism, mission, and teaching at the appropriate levels and in a manner prescribed by that church.
Principle 49: The sources of doctrine
1. The faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ is taught in the Holy Scriptures, summed up in the Creeds, and affirmed by the ancient Fathers and undisputed General Councils.
2. The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments contain all things necessary to salvation and are the rule and ultimate standard of faith.
3. The Apostles Creed represents the Baptismal Symbol; and the Nicene Creed is recognized as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith.
4. The Thirty Nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal 1662 are grounded in the Holy Scriptures, and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the Holy Scriptures
5. The Thirty Nine Articles of Religion, the Book of Common Prayer and the Ordinal 1662 represent historic sources of lawful doctrine for a church.
Principle 50: The development of doctrinal formularies
1. A church must maintain the Faith, Doctrine, Sacraments, and Discipline of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, and its own doctrinal formularies shall be compatible with the faith revealed in Holy Scripture, summed up in the Creeds, and received, practiced and held by he church universal in the light of tradition and reason.
2. A church may draw up its own formularies of faith set out in terms that it considers suitable to the present day and to the needs of its people and circumstances so that the faith may be presented loyally and intelligibly from generation to generation.
3. Such competence as there may be to develop, reformulate or alter doctrinal formulae vests only in national, regional, or provincial assemblies within a church according to its law.
4. The development of doctrinally formulae by a church assembly may be subject to such substantive limitations and special procedural requirements as may be prescribed by the law of a church to ensure the protection of the faith of the church universal.
5. No new doctrinal formulae may be approved by a central church assembly without the consent of the House of Bishops or equivalent collegial episcopal body.
6. A church may have a doctrinal commission or similar body advise on and propose doctrinal development to the extent and manner prescribed by law.
Principle 51: Preaching, teaching and outreach
1. Ministry involves the proclamation of the gospel and instruction of the people in the faith. Ministers should lead people to greater exploration and fuller understanding of the gospel and its challenge to contemporary life within the tradition of faith.
2. Ministers are to ensure that biblical texts are treated respectfully and coherently, building on tradition and scholarship, so that scriptural revelation may continue to illuminate, challenge and transform cultures, structures, thinking and doing.
3. Ministers should bring new insights and knowledge to the interpretation and application of scripture, so that the gospel can be proclaimed to this age as the good news that it has been to ages past.
4. Responsibility for mission in any place belongs primarily to a church in that place.
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