The first prayer book reformed worship in England following the insight of the 16th century reformers. But they did this in a way that preserved what was good and wholesome in the worship of the old Roman Catholic Church.  And for the first time, it was written in English.

Originally published by the Church of England in 1549 under the direction of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, it is the collection of liturgies authorized for use in the Anglican/Episcopal Church. In the Anglican tradition, we employ liturgical prayer instead of making up our own, as a sign of the truth that worship is common to the people and belongs not to an individual, but to the entire faith community.

The Book of Common Prayer c. 1779

The Book of Common Prayer is not really a book. It is a family of books descending from the first English Prayer Book of 1549.  In that first Prayer Book, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer simplified the complex liturgical patterns of the medieval church, translated ancient prayer texts into English, and composed new material incorporating theological currents of the Reformation. That first book established a pattern for subsequent revisions of the Prayer Book in the Church of England and for the Prayer Books which necessarily would be developed over time for churches of the Anglican Communion in other countries.

During the last century in particular, liturgical scholarship has led to the recovery of fundamental insights about the nature of worship from the earliest days of the church.  Those combined with changes in the world impacting the church’s mission, have resulted in substantial alterations to many aspects of Cranmer’s original Prayer Book pattern.  Today The Book of Common Prayer exists in many different languages and cultural idioms.

In the United States there have been five versions of the Prayer Book.  The current Book of Common Prayer, 1979, was expanded to include authorized supplemental materials which are increasingly available in electronic format.  The Prayer Book tradition is alive and well. It is growing into an increasingly diverse communion of worshiping communities with a common ancestry.  The family resemblance is undeniable.  More.

The Current Book of Common Prayer

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