The 39 Articles of Religion are the official statement of belief of the Anglican Church. Anyone signing on to vestry or any other position in the Anglican Church here in New Zealand says that they will abide by the Constitution of the Church. This in turn refers to the 39 Articles as the Statement of Faith, also referring to the Book of Common Prayer, and the “Form and Manner of Making, Ordaining, and Consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons”. These latter documents are concerned with ordination and worship, while the 39 Articles are the statement of faith. And yet, many Anglicans do not know about them. That is probably because they have been somewhat neglected in the Church and today some people have issues both with their doctrinal statements and their vision of church discipline.

In the Church of England in the past a new vicar had to read the 39 Articles when they were invested into a new position and publicly subscribe to them. They promised that they would declare and preserve the faith as set out in the 39 Articles. Once a year, they would also read the 39 Articles in Church. That practice has fallen away.

The 39 Articles were written during the English Reformation and received their current form (with some slight later alterations) in 1563. They are based on the 42 Articles of Religion composed by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in 1552 and adopted with alterations in 1553. Thomas Cranmer was burnt at the stake in 1556 under the reign of Bloody Mary.

When Elizabeth I became Queen  in 1558, she returned to the Protestant Faith. The Book of Common Prayer, which Thomas Cranmer had substantially written, was re-introduced, and the original 42 Articles of Religion were submitted to a convocation, which reformulated some of the articles and reduced them to 39. In this form they were adopted. Later on, there was still some back and forth, but essentially that is the form in which the Articles were used from then onwards and became the Anglican statement of faith.

The 39 Articles were originally written in Latin, the language of the learned at the time. But they are probably best known in their English form. The original 42 Articles were influenced by the Lutheran Augsburg Confession and the later version of 39 Articles by the Lutheran Confession of Württemberg. However, Reformed theology also had a significant influence, as did the controversies in England at the time. Nevertheless, the 39 Articles are overall quite a comprehensive statement of faith.

We will begin a sermon series on the 39 Articles from Sunday 10 August 2025. If you want to hear and reflect on what Anglicans officially believe, this will be your opportunity.