Read The Promise of Regeneration: The Order of Baptism in the Cranmerian Prayer Book, Part I here.
At the core of the Cranmerian Order of Baptism in the Prayer Books of 1552, retained with minor changes in 1559 and 1662, is the making of covenant promises, wherein the promise of regeneration may be fulfilled. The service is structured in three parts, each of them structured by the Pauline triad of repentance, faith, and works (or guilt, grace, and gratitude). The first part of the service, a ministry of the Word, establishes God’s good will to receive and regenerate the children brought to baptism in the promise of Christ. It leads into the second, intermediate part of the service – the making of the covenant promises on behalf of infants by their sponsors.
The third part of the service, a ministry of the Sacrament, is centered on the sign of ‘going under water’ (either by immersion or affusion) in the name of the triune God. As with the ministry of the Word, the concluding ministry of the Sacrament is also triadic in structure:
- Four short prayers (guilt)
- Blessing of the water, Baptism, and consignation (grace)
- Address, Lord’s Prayer, Prayer for the baptized person (gratitude)
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