The Anglican Catholic Church holds and teaches that from. the Apostles' times thee have been these sacred Orders of Ministers in Christ's Church: Bishops, Priests, and Deacons; and no man shall be accounted or taken to be a lawful Bishop, Priest, or Deacon in the Anglican Catholic Church, or suffered to execute any of the said Offices or Functions, except he be called, tried, examined, and admitted thereunto according to the Ordinal, or has had formerly Episcopal Consecration or Ordination in some Church whose Orders are recognized and accepted as undoubtedly valid by this Church.
No person who has been admitted to the Order of Bishop, Priest, or Deacon can ever be divested of the character of his Order, but a Minister may either by legal process voluntarily relinquish the exercise of his Orders and use himself as a layman, or may by canonical and due judicial process be deprived of the exercise of his Orders or be deposed or degraded finally therefrom.
Accordance to the ancient law and usage of the Church, the inferior Clergy who have received authority to minister in any Diocese or other such jurisdiction owe Canonical Obedience in all things lawful and honest to the Bishop of the same, and the Bishops of their several Dioceses or other such jurisdictions owe due reverence and obedience to the Metropolitan of that Province.
(a) No man shall be ordained and consecrated to the Office of Bishop in this Church by fewer than three Bishops present together and joining in the act of consecration, each of whom truly shall be a lawful and proper consecrator, unless for grave cause the Metropolitan or the College of Bishops of that Province concerned shall otherwise so direct.
(b) The Metropolitan of that Province aforesaid or a Bishop appointed to act on his behalf and stead is by right the lawful and proper Chief Consecrator at such ordination and consecration. Such Bishop shall also be the Chief Celebrant at the Service of Holy Communion in which such ordination and consecration shall take place.
The ordination and consecration of a Bishop in this Church shall take place upon some Sunday or Holy Day, unless the Metropolitan concerned, for urgent and weighty cause, shall appoint some other day.
No man shall be ordained and consecrated Bishop in this Church until he shall have attained the age of forty years. Also, he shall not be so ordained and consecrated unless he shall be free of, and shall not have come under, the following impediments:
(a) that he is deficient in learning, or
(b) that he has either directly or indirectly secured or attempted to secure the Office of Bishop by improper means, or
(c) that he is guilty of any other crime or immorality, or
(d) that he teaches or holds, or has within five (5) years previous to the date of his nomination to such Office taught or held, anything contrary to the Doctrine, Discipline, or Worship of this Church, or
(e) any of them, as the case may be.
Furthermore, no man shall be so ordained and consecrated unless he shall meet the Apostolic and the Scriptural standards set forth for such Office of Bishop and unless he shall have met and complied with all the criteria and standards set forth in the Constitutions and Canons of this Church for such Office.
The Metropolitan of a Province of this Church may not take order for the ordination and consecration of a Bishop-elect of that Province concerned until such candidate shall have received:
(a) the written consent of three-fourths of the Bishops Ordinary of that Province concerned with the Written consents of their respective Councils of Advice in cases of candidates not certified for the Episcopate by that Provincial Synod;
and
(b) the necessary written canonical confirmation and ratification of his election by the Metropolitan of that Province concerned; and that the Metropolitan has received the necessary certification of his election and required written consents thereto as aforesaid, which such Metropolitan shall cause to be read out publicly at the appointed time in the service of said consecration and elevation of the Bishop Elect concerned to the Episcopate.
The Bishop Elect must exhibit his Certificates or Letters of Orders, as the case may be, of both his Orders of Deacon and of Priest to such Metropolitan, which shall be presented at his ordination and consecration to the Office of Bishop and there also be read out publicly.
If the Bishop-elect is not in Holy Orders or is not in the Order of Priest, he shall be admitted and duly ordained to those Holy Orders applicable in such instance by the Metropolitan of that Province concerned, or a Bishop appointed to act on his behalf, and in his place and stead, in accordance with these Canons.
Every Bishop-elect in this Church shall, prior to his consecration, be required to write out in his own hand, and in his own words, a Profession of Faith in accordance with the Faith of this Church, and which must be approved in writing by- his intended consecrators, and is to be read out in public at the time of his consecration in order that the faithful both may have a testimony and bear witness to his solemn undertaking. This Profession of Faith shall then be kept on file in the archives of that Province.
Ordination to the Office of Priest or Deacon shall take place upon the Sundays immediately following the Ember Weeks, or upon Michaelmas Day or St. Thomas' Day, unless the Bishop of the Diocese or other such jurisdiction, on urgent occasion or for good and sufficient cause, shall appoint some other accustomed day, being a Sunday, a Holy Day, the Saturdays in the Ember Weeks, or the Saturday before Passion Sunday.
No Holy Order is to be conferred between the hours of sunset and sunrise without exception.
No appointment for the time of the ordination of any Candidate to either the Priesthood or Diaconate or the issuing of the Banns of Ordination shall be made until the Bishop of that Diocese or other such jurisdiction concerned has had due notice that all the other canonical requirements have been complied with.
No man shall be ordained both Deacon and Priest on one and the same day without obtaining a special Faculty from the Primate, which Faculty shall only be granted for good and sufficient cause. Until there be a Primate, the Metropolitan shall be applied to and have the power of issuing such special Faculty only for good and sufficient cause.
Ordinations to the Sacred Order of Priest or Deacon shall be holden publicly "in the face of the Church", at times appointed in these Canons, and in the Cathedral Church in the presence of the Cathedral Chapter and people invited for that purpose; but if they be holden, at the discretion of that Bishop Ordinary, in some other place within that Diocese or other such jurisdiction, in the presence of the Clergy and people of that place, the principal Church or Chapel thereof being always, as far as possible, made use of.
The Bishop is not forbidden, where there is a just and good cause, to hold particular ordinations in churches other than those mentioned above or even in the church or chapel either of his own residence or of any Seminary or Religious House within his jurisdiction.
If an ordination to either the Diaconate or the Priesthood, or both, must be repeated or a rite supplied, such can be done outside of the prescribed times and privately whether the ceremony is to be performed absolutely or conditionally.
In the conferring of any Holy Order, the Bishop shall diligently take heed and observe the rites thereof, lest he himself fail in the utterance of any of the prescribed forms that effect and confer that particular Order over those who are to receive that Order, or the physical imposition of both hands upon the head of every such Ordinand or the delivery of that instrument prescribed to each.
The Senior Priest of each Diocese or other such jurisdiction by Office and rank, or his deputy, or such other persons as by ancient custom have the right to do so, shall present to the Bishop Ordinary thereof every person who is to be ordained.
The Senior Priest of the Diocese or other such jurisdiction by Office and rank, with the next senior Priest by Office and rank, with two other Priests, or there being no such Officers, then two priests of seniority of that Diocese or other such jurisdiction, with two other Priests, and all other Priests taking part in an ordination shall together with the Bishop lay their hands upon the head of every person who receives the Order of Priesthood. On no occasion shall the number of Priests who assist the Bishop in examining and laying on of hands in the Service be fewer than three.
In strict compliance with the Rubric in the Ordinal, every person that receives the Order of Priesthood in such Service of Ordination shall con-celebrate the Service of Holy Communion at that time with the Bishop who has conferred the Order of Priesthood upon him at that Service.
The Service of Holy Communion at which the Sacred Order of Deacon or Priest is to be conferred shall always be celebrated by the Bishop who confers that Order in such Service.
All those who are admitted and ordained to any Holy Order shall remain at the Service in which said Order has been conferred and receive the Holy Communion with the Bishop; and, the Communion Service being ended, they have received the Bishop's blessing.
No person shall be made Deacon except he be twenty-three years of age, unless he have a Faculty from the Metropolitan of that Province.
No man shall be ordained Priest, except he be full twenty-four years of age, unless being over the age of twenty-three he have a Faculty from the Metropolitan of that Province.
A Deacon shall not be ordained to the Priesthood for at least one sat, unless the Bishop shall find good cause or the contrary, so that trial may be made of his behaviour in the Office of Deacon before he be admitted to the Order of Priesthood, and no person shall be ordained both Deacon and Priest upon one and the same day, except as provided for in this Canon.
Every Bishop shall take care that he admit no person into Holy Orders but such as he knows either by himself, or by sufficient testimony, to have been rightly baptized and confirmed, to be sufficiently instructed in Holy Scripture and in the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship of the Anglican Catholic Church, and to be of virtuous conversation and good repute and such as to be a wholesome example and pattern to the flock of Christ.
No person shall be admitted into Holy Orders who is suffering, or who has suffered, from any physical or mental infirmity which in the opinion of the Bishop will prevent him from ministering God's Word and Sacraments or from performing the other duties of the Minister's Office.
No man shall be admitted into Holy Orders who has contracted what purports to be a second or subsequent marriage (whether or not the same is valid according to secular law) while he has a presently living wife of a marriage considered valid by the Church, nor shall he be admitted into Holy Orders if he has contracted what purports to be marriage with a woman (whether or not the same is valid according to secular law) who has a presently living husband of a marriage considered valid by the Church.
No person shall be refused ordination and consecration as Bishop or ordination as Priest or Deacon on the ground that he was born out of lawful wedlock.
No person shall be ordained either Deacon or Priest it this Church unless he shall first exhibit to the Bishop of the Diocese or other such jurisdiction of whom he desires the imposition of hands a satisfactory Certificate or Letter of Title from some Church, parish, or congregation, that he is engaged with them, and that they will receive him as their Clergyman, or that he is provided of some ecclesiastical Office or Charge within such Diocese or other such jurisdiction, which the Bishop shall judge sufficient, wherein he may attend the Cure of Souls and exercise his ministry.
In accordance with the Sixth Canon of the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451, neither Priest nor Deacon shall be ordained without a pastoral Charge, but whoever is ordained must be particularly appointed to some Charge in a city or the country, or to a Chaplaincy or monastery, but as regards those who are ordained without any such Charge, the Holy Synod of Chalcedon has determined that such a person so ordained shall be permanently suspended from the exercise of the ministry thus illicitly procured.
A Bishop may also admit into Holy Orders.
(a) any man holding office or be engaged as a professor, tutor, or instructor of youth, in any University, College, Academy, or, other seminary of learning;
(b) any Master in a School;
(c) any man who is to be a Chaplain in any University or in any college, or in an Academy, or in any School or other Seminary of Learning or other institution;
(d) any man who is living under vows in the House of any Religious Order or Community and;
provided that the aforesaid University, College, Academy, School, Seminary of Learning, institution or House of a Religious Order or Community be situated within his Diocese or other such jurisdiction.
Any man may, at the express permission of the Bishop of a Diocese, Missionary Diocese, Missionary District, or other such jurisdiction, be ordained Deacon or Priest to the Canonical Title of the Service of the Diocese or of the Missionary Diocese or of the Missionary District or of other such jurisdiction by formal commitment of service for a specified period for not less than one nor more than necessarily three years.
At the time of the ordination of every Deacon and Priest, each Candidate is to present himself before the Bishop by whom he desires the imposition of hands and with his Certificate or Letter of Title. Each such Canonical title shall be announced publicly together with the full name of each Candidate immediately before his presentation to the Ordaining Bishop in that Service of Ordination at the appointed time.
A regular Religious shall retain the Title of his Profession of Solemn Vows and shall be promoted and advanced to the Order of Deacon or Priest on the title of his religious profession, or, as it is called, on the Title of Poverty. A perpetually professed Religious in simple vows shall be promoted and advanced to the Order of Deacon or Priest on the Title of the Common Table or of the Congregation, or some other similar title, according as the constitution or other rules of that institute may determine. Other Religious, in what concerns their Canonical title, come under the Canon Laws for Secular Clergy.
No man shall be admitted into Holy Orders by any Bishop other than the Bishop of the Diocese or other such jurisdiction in which he is to exercise his ministry, except he shall bring with him Letters Dimissory from the Bishop of such Diocese or jurisdiction.
Every man who is to be made a Deacon shall exhibit to the Bishop of the Diocese or other such jurisdiction:
(a) a Certificate or other sufficient evidence of the date and place of his birth;
(b) a Certificate or other evidence of his Baptism and Confirmation;
(c) a Certificate signed by the officiating Minister and a Churchwarden of the Parish in which he usually resides or in which his name is entered on the Church Electoral Roll, certifying that the Form commonly called Si Quis was read in the time of Divine Service on some Sunday at least a week before the day of Ordination and that no impediment was alleged;
(d) Letters Testimonial of his good life and conversation from three Priests, one of whom at least must be beneficed, i.e. have a cure, who have had personal knowledge of his life and doctrine by the space of three years next before or of such time as shall satisfy the Bishop; whose signatures shall be countersigned by the Bishop of the Diocese or other such jurisdiction wherein the said Priests are respectively either beneficed or licensed, if he be other than the Bishop whom the said Letters are addressed. (This sub-section shall not become fully operative until 1985);
(e) if he shall have resided in any college or Hall in any University, or in any Theological College, similar Letters Testimonial from each such College or Hall; and
(f) Of other canonical consent.
(Reserved)
Every Deacon who is to be Ordained Priest shall exhibit to the Bishop of the Diocese:
(a) his Letters of Orders;
(b) a Certificate signed by the officiating Minister and a Churchwarden of the Parish or Ecclesiastical District or other such place as is provided in these Canons wherein he serves as a stipendiary Curate or, if he be not such, wherein he usually resides that the Form Si Quis was read according to the provisions of Section 7.01 above of this Canon and that no impediment was alleged;
(c) Letters Testimonial of his good life and conversation from three Priests, of whom one at least must be beneficed, who have had personal knowledge of his life, work, and doctrine during his Diaconate; whose signatures shall be countersigned according to the provisions of Section 7.01 above of this Canon; and
(d) Of other canonical consent.
(Reserved)
When any man is to be ordained Deacon or Priest who is a Fellow in any College or Hall in any University, or a Master in any School having a Chapel belonging thereto, the Form Si Quis may, with the consent in writing of the Bishop who is to ordain him be read in such Chapel and the Certificate signed by the officiating Minister and the Head of the College or Hall, or the Headmaster of the School as the case may be.
The names of the Candidates for Holy Order on the Bishop's List shall be transmitted by the Bishop to each officiating Clergyman, to be published by him during service at each place where he officiates, at least one month before the day of Ordination.
The Wardens of each place are to certify to the Bishop that the Form Si Quis had been so published. If any impediment or challenge had been raised, they are to inform the Bishop forthwith with particulars.
No Bishop shall admit any persons into Holy Orders except such person, on careful and diligent examination, wherein the Bishop having jurisdiction in that place shall have called to his assistance the Archdeacons or other such Officials of that place with his examining Chaplains or other such Commission on the Ministry appointed for this purpose, be found to possess a sufficient knowledge of:
9.01 Holy Scripture: The Old and New Testaments with the Apocrypha in English, their contents, teachings, theology, and historical background; a reading knowledge of the New Testament in Greek, together with special knowledge of one Synoptic Gospel and the Gospel according to Saint John, and of three Epistles, one of which shall be Romans or First Corinthians or Hebrews;
9.02 Church History: The History of the Early Church, the Fathers, the Councils, Doctrine, and the later Eastern and Western Churches including the History of the Church of England and Anglicanism in general, and of this Church in particular;
9.03 Dogmatic, Systematic, and Patristic Theology: The Church's Doctrine, Discipline, Worship, Tradition, and other teachings thereof, especially as set forth in the Creeds, the Fathers, the Doctors of the Church, and the Book of Common Prayer;
9.04 Christian Apologetics;
9.05 Moral Theology and Christian Ethics;
9.06 Ascetical and Mystical Theology: The History, Development, Theology, and Practice of Christian Spirituality, Formation, and Discipline, and its relation to Moral Theology and the Sacraments of the Church.
9.07 Liturgical Theology: The Principles, History, and Development of Christian Worship; the History, Contents, Spirituality, and Liturgical Theology of the Book of Common Prayer;
9.08 Canon Law and Ecclesiastical Polity: The History, Doctrines, Contents, and Development of the Common Law of the Church Catholic, the General Canon Law, Custom, and the Constitution and Canons of this Church and of the Province and Diocese wherein he is canonically resident;
9.09 Pastoral Theology and its Practice: The Office and Work of a Deacon and of a Priest; the use of the Book of Common Prayer, the Administration of the Sacraments, and the Conduct of Public Worship; Homiletics: Principles of Sermon Composition and Delivery. In connection with the examination in this subject the Candidate shall present three sermons, composed by himself, or texts of Holy Scripture appointed by the Bishop; Pastoral Care; Parish Organization and Administration; Principles and Methods of Christian Education; and the use of the voice in reading, speaking, and liturgical chanting;
9.10 Church Music: The study, History, and application of Liturgical Music, especially to the traditional forms and their use.
9.11 He must also offer one of the following elective subjects:
(a) Hebrew,
(b) The History and Development of Christian Philosophy,
(c) The Philosophy of Religion,
(d) Church Music,
(e) Advanced Exegesis of the Greek New Testament, or
(f) A particular subject of study of one of the Church Fathers or Doctors of the Church and his teachings, a period of Church History, or of one of the Ecumenical Councils.
9.12 When the principal cultural language of a Diocese or other such jurisdiction of this Church is other than English, or where there is a significant segment of the population of such jurisdiction aforesaid wherein the cultural language is other than English, the course of study set forth above in this Canon or the examination therein, or both, as aforesaid may be conducted in that cultural language concerned as the Bishop Ordinary of that jurisdiction concerned shall direct.
(a) The Bishop may admit worthy Postulants.
The Bishop of any Diocese, Missionary Diocese, Missionary District, or other such jurisdiction may admit men as Postulants for Holy Orders if he finds them worthy.
(b) Local Synods may Regulate Conditions for Postulancy.
Diocesan Synods, or the Synods of other such jurisdictions as aforesaid, may enact Canons regulating conditions for Postulancy not inconsistent with these Canons or the Constitution of this Church or the Province concerned, otherwise the matter lies within the Bishop's discretion.
(c) Postulants' Lay Rights and Duties not Affected.
Admission as a Postulant shall in no wise alter, abridge, circumscribe, or otherwise affect the Postulant's rights, duties, or responsibilities as a qualified member of the lay order.
(a) The Bishop shall admit worthy Candidates.
The Bishop of any Diocese, Missionary Diocese , Missionary District, or other such jurisdiction as aforesaid, shall admit Postulants, who are found to be worthy, to be Candidates for Holy Orders, after consultation with either his Archdeacon, Examining Chaplains, Commission on Ministry, Standing Committee, or any other body appointed for such purpose, as the case may be, and as may be required by Diocesan Canon or other regulation.
(b) Bishops to keep Register of Candidates.
Such Bishop shall keep a Register of Candidates wherein he shall enroll, or cause to be enrolled, the names of any and all men so accepted and admitted as Candidates.
(c) Issuance of Letters Dismissory upon another Bishop's Request.
Upon written request of the Bishop of the jurisdiction to which a Candidate intends to remove, the Bishop originally enrolling such Candidate may give Letters Dismissory to any Candidate intending to remove, to present to the Bishop of the Candidate's new jurisdiction; provided always, that no Candidate may remove without such Letters, that they be withheld only upon proper cause, and that the right of a Candidate refused such Letters to appeal to the appropriate higher Authority be preserved.
(d) Candidates removed from one Register without Letters Dimissory not to be admitted elsewhere for three years.
No man removed by his Bishop from the Register of Candidates in any Diocese or other such jurisdiction as aforesaid, except by Letters Dimissory as herein before provided, shall be entered upon the Registrar of another Diocese or other such jurisdiction as aforesaid for the space of three years from his removal from the Register of the first Diocese or other such jurisdiction.
(e) Local Synods may Regulate Conditions for Candidacy.
Diocesan Synods, or the Synods of other such jurisdictions as aforesaid may enact Canons regulating conditions for Candidacy not inconsistent with these Canons or the Constitution of this Church or the Province concerned, including regulations providing for forms of Certificate from the Archdeacon, Examining Chaplains, Commission on Ministry, Standing Committee or any other body appointed for such purpose, as the case may be, to the Bishop as to the sound learning and morals of persons to be admitted as Candidates for Holy Orders; otherwise the matter of Candidacy lies within the Bishop's discretion. Such regulations may require a Certificate of the conduct, faith, and morals of persons to be admitted as Candidates to be signed by the Rector or other appropriate local authorities of this Church, where such there be.
(f) Candidates' Lay Rights and Duties not Affected.
Admission as a Candidate shall in no wise alter, abridge, circumscribe, or otherwise affect the Candidate's rights, duties, or responsibilities as a qualified member of the lay order.
The minimum time any man shall serve as a Candidate before being ordained to the Diaconate shall be six months, except for serious cause the Bishop otherwise may determine after consultation with his Archdeacon, Examining Chaplains, Commission on Ministry, Standing Committee or any other body appointed for such purpose, as the case may be, as may be required by Diocesan Canon or other regulation.
Notwithstanding anything elsewhere provided in any Canon or other regulation of force and effect within this Church, for serious cause and after consultation with his Archdeacon or other authority as aforesaid, in Canon 9 of this Title, the Bishop of any Diocese, Missionary Diocese, Missionary District, or other such jurisdiction of this Church, may at his discretion admit any Candidate received as a Clergyman, but whose orders are in doubt, to the Diaconate or Priesthood in this Church by sub-conditione ordination without unnecessary delay, provided always, that any man so to be conditionally ordained Priest as well as Deacon shall not receive both Orders in any one day, except upon receipt of the Faculty required by these Canons.
(a) Dispensation permitted where pastorally advisable.
Notwithstanding anything elsewhere provided in any Canon or other regulation of force and effect within this Church, for serious cause and after consultation with his Archdeacon or other authority as aforesaid in Canon 9 above of this Title, the lawful and proper Bishop of any Diocese, Missionary District or other such jurisdiction of this Church may at his discretion canonically dispense any man from such educational requirements as are otherwise set forth in these Canons or elsewhere if the said Bishop finds it pastorally advisable, provided always, that any man so dispensed may not be granted Letters Dimissory to another Diocese or other such jurisdiction without a written request of the lawful and proper Bishop thereof, and some suitable Charge or Cure of Souls provided for him.
(b) Restrictions upon men so dispensed.
A Deacon or Priest so dispensed may be restricted by terms of his License as to his right to preach sermons of his own composition, and a Priest so dispensed may be restricted by terms of his Faculty to hear confessions only in exceptional circumstances or upon such conditions as that Bishop Ordinary concerned, after consultation as aforesaid, may so determine.
Whensoever a See of this Church is canonically vacant, or its lawful and proper Bishop is unable to function for any reason, the Episcopal Visitor thereof, or, in instances of sede vacante, the other Guardians of the Spiritualities thereof, are empowered to admit Postulants and Candidates in the same manner as that Bishop Ordinary concerned and under the same provisions applicable in that Diocese or other such jurisdiction concerned until the lawful taking of the canonical possession of the Spiritualities of that See by the Bishop Elect thereof.
The Holy Synod or any Provincial Synod of this Church may establish Theological Colleges, Seminaries, or other Schools of Divinity for the sound education and training of men for both the Priesthood and the Diaconate, as well as the continuing education of the Clergy and others, and may approve statutes, rules, regulations, and governance for the same as the Synod or Synods aforesaid may deem good or necessary.
Any Diocese, Missionary Diocese, Missionary District, or other such jurisdiction of this Church may establish an institution or institutions to the same ends, and may provide such statutes, rules, regulations, and governance for the same as its Synod may deem good or necessary.
Any such theological College, Seminary, or School of Divinity may be suppressed by the Synod which established it subject to the provisions of Article XIX of the Constitution of this Church where applicable.
Any such Theological College, Seminary, or other School of Divinity may admit men with such University or College Degrees as may by its statutes, rules, regulations, or other governance be deemed good or necessary, or otherwise appropriate.
Any such College, Seminary, or other School of Divinity may be established in connection or co-operation with any other such School or institution in or of any other Diocese or Province, by mutual consent of the parties concerned.
Any such Theological College, Seminary, or other School of Divinity may seek accreditation from the appropriate authorities within the academic community, but only upon such conditions or terms as will enable Ir to offer courses required under or implied by Canon 9 of this Title and elsewhere in these Canons, or of the Province or other such jurisdiction, for the training of the Clergy.
Nothing in the foregoing six Sections or elsewhere
shall preclude a Candidate's reading for Orders under the supervision
and direction of such godly and well-learned Priest as may be
appointed by the Archdeacon, Commission on Ministry, Board of
Examining Chaplains or other such appropriate Committee or Commission,
pursuing such course of study as may be approved by them to fit
him for examination in the subjects required by Canon 9 aforesaid
and the devout and holy exercise of the Ministry and Vocation
to which he may be admitted.