One
of the great innovations of the faith and worship life of the Christian church
worldwide, was the creation by the Anglican Church of a Book of Common Prayer
for everyone. The prayer book envisions a community in prayer, worship, and
reading of Scriptures to inform and inspire discipleship, faith, and mission of
Christians in the world.
A
community coming together to pray at home daily and to worship at church weekly
provides, to this day, the rhythm of life and service for Christians both as
individuals and corporately as parish communities.
The
breadth, decency, and order of the various services of the Book of Common
Prayer provide a central, basic structure for growth in Christ, which offers us
a platform for personal and community creativity and experimentation.
The
1662 prayer book is the official prayer book of the English church. It was preceded by Thomas Cranmer’s first
attempt with the Book of Common Prayer of 1549, which was a major attempt at
reform. This book was followed by a
somewhat more reformed effort by Cranmer in 1552, which was used only for a few
months before Henry VIII’s daughter Mary restored Roman Catholic worship to the
realm. In 1559, Elizabeth I reintroduced
the prayer book of 1552 with some modifications that were intended to broaden
its appeal to the public.
Then,
after the English Civil War, the 1662 book was published and has remained the
official prayer book of the Church of England to this day. Although this seems unlikely to change
anytime soon, the Church of England has authorized a number of unofficial
contemporary liturgies for parish use in these past few years, which have
become popular across the wide spectrum of churchmanship in the British Isles.
Click here for congregation worship bulletin that is print ready.
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