Clerical Subscription - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition clerical-subscription

Definition :

Clerical subscription. The (English) Clerical Subscription Act, 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c.122), s. 4, as amended by the Statute Law Revision Act, 1893, enacts that every person about to be ordained priest or deacon shall, before ordination, in the presence of the archbishop or bishop by whom he is about to be ordained, make the following 'Declaration of Assent':

I assent to the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, and to the Book of Common Prayer and of the ordering of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. I believe the doctrine of the Church of England, as therein set forth, to be agreeable to the word of God; and in public prayer and administration of the Sacraments I will use the form in the said book prescribed, and none other, except so far as shall be ordered by lawful authority.

See Articles OF RELIGION; and for an attempt to define 'lawful authority,' see Lely on the Church of England Position, at p. 138.

Oaths of allegiance and of canonical obedience to the bishop have also to be taken.