Church Orders

Ancient church documents containing a variety of materials for the instruction and ordering of the church, including liturgical descriptions, models, and directions. Significant Church Orders included the Didache (second century), the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus (215), the Didascalia Apostolorum (third century), and the Apostolic Constitutions (late fourth century). These Church Orders were formative for the liturgical tradition of the church, including liturgies of the BCP. Church Orders also appeared in Germany during the time of the Reformation, including the Church Order of Johann Brenz and Andreas Osiander for Brandenburg-Nürnberg (1533); the Church Order of Electoral Brandenburg (1540); and the Consultation of Archbishop Hermann von Wied of Cologne (1543), which was translated into English in 1547. These German Church Orders also had a significant influence on the BCP. Hermann's Consultation may have been the most influential of the German Church Orders for the Anglican liturgical tradition. See Apostolic Constitutions; see Didache, The; see Hermann von Wied of Cologne; see Hippolytus.