From the summit of our Saviour's soteriological success the Litany progresses to the outreach of divine grace via church and civil government. Through these instrumentalities the Lord exercises his sovereignty in the affairs of mankind. The church is the instrument of renewal and the state and its institutions is the instrument of societal reform and restraint that make life livable and human relations tolerable.

The desire of believers is that Christ shall reign over and among them; that his wisdom and power will prevail through them. The universal church in its welfare and work is the concern of all Christians overlapping all faithful traditions and every type of polity. It is inevitable that there will be variety of expression and organization in the worldwide, international, people of God but unity in truth and love will confer coherence upon its life of worship and witness. Beneath denominational differences, evidence of limitations in human experience, communication, and understanding, there is the surge of the life of the Spirit in those born from above (the whole company of the predestined) fulfilling his secret purpose and completing his kingdom.

Christian prayers for the state will be variable depending upon systems of government and national circumstances and conditions. We eagerly adhere to the biblical exhortations and injunctions to pray for legislative authorities benign or evil that they will be guided by God toward the maintenance of justice and the welfare of the people they are intended to serve. Unlike certain sects that choose to live in separation from the world responsible believers are keen to pray for the peace and prosperity of the place of our exile here on earth. Political ideals and allegiances are a matter of the free conscience of believers and should not be so disproportionate as to direct or disrupt harmonious fellowship within the family of God. Our higher citizenship recognizes the limitations, imperfections, and impossibilities of earthly politics and our dutiful participation is prayerful, cautious, and guided by an overriding allegiance to the word of God, its ethic of righteousness, and the legitimate wellbeing of our neighbors objectively considered.

Because of its origins in the English Reformation BCP1662 concentrates its petitions upon the monarchy and the style of government that has evolved in Britain. Versions of the Litany in other Anglican provinces have revised the intercessions for national leadership and lawmakers in appropriate fashion and accordingly in a more complex world the vocabulary is more general. 1662 is moderately archaic in some respects, considering the development of democracy, but it lays before us the solemn task to pray and strive for the good order of state and local community.

Having recognized the state as an ordinance of God for the promotion of good, the protection of citizens, and the prevention of evil, the Litany reverts to the subject of the church and the quality of its ministry. The acknowledgement of the three orders of ministry is not original to the Cranmerian Reformation but an inclusion of Bishop John Cosin the staunch 17th century advocate of Episcopalianism in a way far more definite than the views of an earlier generation of leaders of the Church of England.

Cranmer was content to pray for "Bishops, Pastors, and ministers of the Church" - a caring approach, whilst Cosin was more keen to uphold the governmental role of bishops, and the formal status of priests, and deacons as proper to the nature and faithfulness of the ecclesia. The primacy of bishops and associated pomp is one of the tragedies of the Anglican Communion and a distancing of shepherds from the flock (the common folk). Good bishops, humble before God, are able to bridge the gap and mingle smoothly and graciously with their fellow presbyters and the cherished people of the diocese, for the role itself is not a promotion to authoritarian and oft-times ruthless power, but to a deeper enabling ministry of service to the people of God.

The episcopal symbols of shepherding (miter, crozier, raiment, etc.) have in some ways become intimidating to parishioners. Nothing is worse than an overbearing clericalism and careerism in the life of the church. Mercifully, there are exceptions in the system, and prayerfully and carefully appointed, the threefold order of ministry, conducted by struggling sinners, can be a rich blessing to the church providing necessary strands of support and adjudication to scattered congregations and integrating them into the wider communion of God's chosen.

The division between clergy and laity is artificial in many instances, for ministers of Christ are part of the "laos", not superior, but entrusted with a specific vocation to edify, encourage, and enable the body of Christ to serve God well. The fundamental task of the ministry is to nourish the flock from God's word and every pastoral role is an extension and application of the speech of God in his written revelation.

May it please you to enlighten the minds of all Bishops, Priests, Deacons, with true knowledge and understanding of your holy Word, so that in their preaching and living they may declare it and show its truth (An Anglican Prayer Book, Preservation Press. Prayer Book Society of the USA, 2008).

Preaching, teaching, exposition is the foundation of pastoral ministry. The ministry of the word is the priority of those ordained to holy orders. Primates of recent times such as Donald Coggan (Canterbury,) John Habgood and Stuart Blanch (York) stressed its ultimate importance in an age of conspicuous neglect and indifference but the prevailing silence of the pulpits of England was not noticeably broken, although there are churches, predominantly urban, that have always been loyal to the principal means of grace (word in alliance with sacrament rightly administered).

The urgent plea of our time ought to be for the enlightenment of Christian pastors everywhere, that they will be endued with an understanding of and love for the truth of God. A passion for the preaching of Holy Scripture is the great need of our time, accompanied by thorough preparation and unfailing persistence. Only the Holy Spirit can restore attention to this vital task among the clergy and an appreciation of its importance throughout the church's membership.

The loss of the word among us is the cause of our weakness. We all need to get serious about sermons, abolish our baby talk, and banish entertainment and distracting discourses on inconsequential matters from the pulpit. We are to preach as if each current homily is our last word to a perishing people on the verge of eternity; preach, as Richard Baxter would exhort us, to dying men.

Conviction, compassion, gravitas, liveliness are only some of the essential elements in preaching, but genuine love for and leaning upon Christ override recommended techniques. The Spirit's education and possession of the personality (each man's unique) is the main requirement, and in ordinary things zeal for any interest, hobby, or cause imparts extraordinary fluency and eloquence of speech. The prayerful and humble lover of God's word will always have something worthwhile to say when cast in humble dependence upon Holy Writ and its author.

To be continued...

The Rev. Roger Salter is an ordained Church of England minister where he had parishes in the dioceses of Bristol and Portsmouth before coming to Birmingham, Alabama to serve as Rector of St. Matthew's Anglican Church