Book Of Common Prayer

Early Prayer Books

In 1548, Thomas Cranmer has finished work on an English Communion. This was the first service to show the roots of Protestantism which were beginning to sprout in the English Church. For the first time, by an order of Parliament, Communion was to be given in both forms, bread and wine, thus necessitating a new service, or at least giving a reason for the growing Protestant faction in the church to develop such a new service. It existed as an addition to the pre-existing Latin Mass, but much of the language in this service survives till today.

• Saint's holidays to the liturgical calendar;
• Dropping prayers against the Pope from the litany; and
• Suggesting the use of more traditional vestments by ministers.

This revision's use was outlawed in 1645 by the Long Parliament as part of the increasingly Puritan ideals then developing in the nation, and, given the religious leanings of Lord Protector Cromwell, it was not subsequently replaced until shortly after the return of the monarchy to England.

The language of the 1662 revision was much unchanged from that of Cranmer, with the exception of updates to only the most archaic language from his works. This book was the one which also existed as the official Book of Common Prayer during the greatest amounts of growth of the British empire, and, as a result, has been a great influence on the prayer books of Anglican churches worldwide today, not to mention the development of the English language.

After the 1662 prayer book, development did not cease in England. A subsequent, far more Protestant revision was developed later in the 17th Century, but was mostly scrapped as the various developing denominations pressed for tolerance within England as opposed to inclusion in the liturgy of the Anglican Church. However, the works from this book greatly influenced the Prayer Books in the British colonies.

The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America has had produced numerous prayer books since their inception in 1789. Work on the first book began in 1786, which was subsequently finished and published in 1789. The preface thereto mentions that "this Church is far from intending to depart from the Church of England in any essential point of doctrine, discipline, or worship...further than local circumstances require." Further revisions to the prayer book in the United States have occurred subsequently in 1892, 1928, and 1979.

The Anglican Church of Canada developed their first Book of Common Prayer separate from the English version in 1918. A revision thereto was published in 1962. Some supplements have been developed over the past several years to the prayer book, and the Book of Alternative Services, published in 1985 is commonly used in many churches.

The Scottish Episcopal Church has had a number of revisions to the Book of Common Prayer, some of which developed simultaneously with the English book until the mid-17th century when the Scottish book began to diverge from the English version. A completely new revision was finished in 1929, and several revisions to the communion service seem to have been prepared since then (however, could someone in Scotland expound upon that?)

In 1927, the proposed prayer book was finished. It was decided, during development, that the use of the services therein would be decided on by each given congregation, so as to avoid as much conflict as possible with traditionalists. With these open guidelines the book was granted approval by the Church of England Convocations and Church Assembly. However, due to the fact that the Church of England is a state church, it was required for the proposed revision to go before Parliament, who rejected it in December of that year. The next year was spent revising the book to make it more suitable for Parliament, but, yet again, in 1928 it was rejected.

John Wesley, an Anglican minister whose teachings are ascribed as the foundations of the Methodist (and Free Methodist) movement, said, "I believe there is no Liturgy in the world, either ancient or modern language, which breathes more of a solid, scriptural, rational piety than the Common Prayer of the Church of England." Presently, most Methodist services have a very similar service and theology to that of the Anglican church.

In the 1960s, when Roman Catholicism moved towards a vernacular mass, a good deal of the translations of the English prayers followed that form of Cranmer's translation. Ironically enough, a number of theologians have suggested that the later English Alternative Service Book and 1979 American Book of Common Prayer borrowed from the Roman Catholic vernacular Lectionary.

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