INTRODUCTION

In August of 2025 my wife and I began attending St. John’s Anglican Church. Though for many years our theological convictions have been Reformed Baptist—and though for many years we worshiped in the low church manner of Baptists and Pentecostals—we kept feeling spiritual longings for something more. We were hard-pressed to identify the “something more,” but of this much we were sure: It included a fresh encounter with the triune God of the Bible.

In good measure we have found it at St. John’s, where, in the Lord’s Day services, there is indeed much to communicate the presence, truth, and glory of God.

We think, for example, of the “informal formality” of the liturgy, which breathes a welcome atmosphere of reverence; of the high Trinitarianism that pervades the service; of the ancient prayers and creeds, all of which create a sense of “mystic sweet communion” with the universal Church: past and present, on the earth below and in heaven above.

We think of the extensive Scripture readings drawn from all parts of the Bible; of the exaltation of the gospel reading for the day, which so wisely exalts the Christ that the gospels celebrate; of the brief but Bible-based homilies, securely anchored to one of the scripture readings of the day; and of the great abundance of music and song, carefully selected and prepared to reflect the truth and beauty of the One we worship.

In particular, we think of the delightful time spent lingering at the Lord’s Table, contemplating his redemptive work, worshiping him in song, and feasting upon his Presence as we participate in his Supper; and crowning it all, the benediction, the recessional, and the dismissal, which seal the service and send us out into the world rejoicing.

Yes, in the Anglican way of worship there is much to love. But as in all things human, there are also—at least for a convinced Reformed Baptist—some things that stumble: things that do not seem fully biblical; things that awaken one’s inner Puritan; things that call for inquiry, dialog, and possibly even correction.

Some of these things we have simply decided to overlook. Others we have discussed with leadership and agreed to disagree agreeably. (As soon-to-be octogenarians, we long ago abandoned our search for the perfect church.) But other things seem important enough to merit close examination—and even fraternal debate—the better to rediscover and implement important biblical truth, build up the Body of Christ, and more fully glorify our God.

In this conviction, I recently asked our pastor to supply me with a digital version of the liturgy we follow most every Lord’s Day. My thought was to study it carefully and then do what I could to align it with my best understanding of biblical teaching on worship, in hopes of making a very good liturgy an even better one.

Below I share the fruit of my labors. It includes, in italics, theological remarks designed to justify the changes I have made to the original. It also includes the liturgy itself, amended and emended to reflect the Reformed theology that I believe is the pulsing heart our classic Protestant faith.

I therefore offer this work, not only to my Anglican brothers, but also to other Christian leaders who currently practice, or who are thinking about practicing, liturgical worship. Remembering the motto of our Protestant forefathers—semper reformans—I do so as one who gratefully receives and celebrates the liturgical achievements of previous generations, but also as one who hopes to serve his own generation by retrieving, placarding, and implementing key evangelical truths, in order to make good things better still.

My hope and prayer is that we will continue to walk this good road together until that happy day when our Lord himself, at his return, brings us all to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God; to a perfect Man; to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . and therefore to the glories of the perfect worship awaiting us up above and up ahead (Eph. 4:11-16; Revelation 4:9-10; 5:8-14; 7:9-12; 15:1-4; 19:1-8)!

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