In his Declaration dated March 25, 1660, King Charles II appointed an equal number of divines, Episcopal and Presbyterian, to review the Book of Common Prayer. Their task, according to the Declaration, was to review the Prayer Book for the purpose of suggesting necessary alterations; as a concession to the Presbyterian party, the King also allowed for the option of drawing up some additional forms. When the Presbyterian ministers met to discuss their alterations to the Prayer Book, Richard Baxter was charged with the task of composing the additional forms. What Baxter created, however, was an entirely new liturgy. The Reformed Liturgy was a liturgy of compromise, one that he hoped would be agreeable to both the Royalist Episcopalians as well as the godly. Indeed, Baxter's irenic intentions can be evidenced in the full title under which the Reformed Liturgy was published in 1661: A Petition for Peace: with the Reformation of the Liturgy. Baxter desired a liturgy for the Church of England in which moderates of various theological and ecclesiological persuasions could worship in peace.

Baxter gleaned much of the material in his Reformed Liturgy from both the Westminster Directory and the Book of Common Prayer. My analysis of the liturgy will also reveal that it was Baxter's pastoral experiences in Kidderminster during the Interregnum that provided him with the primary inspiration for his liturgical craft. In order truly to appreciate Baxter's liturgical genius, therefore, one must examine his theology; the lex credendi Baxter developed during the Interregnum became the lex orandi in the Reformed Liturgy. Of particular importance to Baxter's overall theology was his ecclesiology, especially his belief in a reduced episcopacy, and his conviction that a credible profession of saving faith was the prerequisite to church membership. The liturgical implications of Baxter's ecclesiology are striking: on the one hand, it produced a rather unique Lord's Supper liturgy, rich in sacramental and eschatological imagery; on the other hand, it also was a detriment, spawning confirmation and disciplinary rites that were simply out of touch with the reality of what was to become the prevailing Restoration polity, diocesan episcopacy.