In 2010, the General Synod mandated Faith, Worship and Ministry to work on the revision of the Church’s contemporary language liturgical texts. The Liturgy Task Force carries out this mandate and releases new texts for trial use and feedback as they become available. These draft materials are encouraged for use where the diocesan bishop allows it.
The Ordinal (2025)
This work is approved for study, trial use, evaluation and feedback (where permitted by the Ordinary), per the Council of the General Synod (March 2025). A Task Group has been established collect and deliberate on feedback received, and will work up a final draft of the text with the expectation of delivering a new version for consideration by the General Synod in 2028.
The Ordinal (2025) represents a revision of the ordination rites in The Book of Alternative Services (1985), undertaken in response to significant theological and ecclesiological developments over the past four decades. It reflects renewed emphasis on baptismal ecclesiology, the ministry of the whole people of God, and the Church’s participation in God’s mission, as well as insights from ecumenical dialogue and Anglican liturgical scholarship. The text has been developed to support faithful, contextually grounded worship and to better express contemporary understandings of ordained ministry within the life of the Church.
The text is provided in two formats: a full version—including rationale and appendix—and an abridged three-part table version designed to support study and comparison.