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Common Prayer Pocket Edition: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals
Common Prayer Pocket Edition helps individuals and today's diverse church pray together across traditions and denominations. With an ear to the particulars of various liturgical prayer traditions, and using an advisory team of liturgy experts, the authors have created a tapestry of prayer that celebrates the best of each tradition. This convenient and portable book also includes tools for prayer scattered throughout to aid those unfamiliar with liturgy and deepen the prayer life of those already familiar with liturgical prayer. Common Prayer Pocket Edition adds new prayers for compline (late evening) and for individual use, such as prayers for travel, protection, and various blessings. It includes a table of days and readings for the morning prayers as well as an annotated list of saints and days to remember. Churches and individuals who desire a deeper prayer life--and those familiar with Shane Claiborne and New Monasticism--will enjoy the tools offered in this book as a fresh take on liturgy.
160 pages, Paperback
Published February 11, 2012
About the author
Shane Claiborne
57 books594 followersShane Claiborne is a prominent speaker, activist, and best-selling author. Shane worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, and founded The Simple Way in Philadelphia. He heads up Red Letter Christians, a movement of folks who are committed to living "as if Jesus meant the things he said." Shane is a champion for grace which has led him to jail advocating for the homeless, and to places like Iraq and Afghanistan to stand against war. And now grace fuels his passion to end the death penalty.
Shane’s books include Jesus for President, Red Letter Revolution, Common Prayer, Follow Me to Freedom, Jesus, Bombs and Ice Cream, Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers, his classic The Irresistible Revolution and his newest book, Executing Grace. He has been featured in a number of films including "Another World Is Possible" and "Ordinary Radicals." His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Shane speaks over one hundred times a year, nationally and internationally. His work has appeared in Esquire, SPIN, Christianity Today, and The Wall Street Journal, and he has been on everything from Fox News and Al Jazeera to CNN and NPR. He’s given academic lectures at Harvard, Princeton, Liberty, Duke, and Notre Dame.
Shane speaks regularly at denominational gatherings, festivals, and conferences around the globe.
Shane’s books include Jesus for President, Red Letter Revolution, Common Prayer, Follow Me to Freedom, Jesus, Bombs and Ice Cream, Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers, his classic The Irresistible Revolution and his newest book, Executing Grace. He has been featured in a number of films including "Another World Is Possible" and "Ordinary Radicals." His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Shane speaks over one hundred times a year, nationally and internationally. His work has appeared in Esquire, SPIN, Christianity Today, and The Wall Street Journal, and he has been on everything from Fox News and Al Jazeera to CNN and NPR. He’s given academic lectures at Harvard, Princeton, Liberty, Duke, and Notre Dame.
Shane speaks regularly at denominational gatherings, festivals, and conferences around the globe.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 13, 2012
What is better written: some of the best prayers of Christian history included here, or the gospel clarity of the Ordinary Radicals’ introduction and interstices? What a stunningly good and rich book, a true inspiration to live peacefully in “holy mischief” (24)!
If we accept that worship is a time to be with God publicly-—as though we were at a pub with Jesus—-then the work of worship, liturgy, is the organized movement of the Spirit. Claiborne et al tells us so succinctly how praying with liturgy like this does two things. First, it engages us with the eternal Christian community. We are called as Christians to set aside our individual focus and selfish intentions and to live “our lives around a different set of values than those we are taught by the empires and markets around us.” (15) Second, liturgy engages us into the “beautiful redemptive love story” (9) of our faith. “It is about orienting our lives around what God has been doing throughout history.” (15)
One of the ways liturgy “disrupts our reality and refocuses it on God,” (15) is in its capacity to rearrange our temporal mindset, so that God is at the center. “If we are going to take our citizenship in heaven seriously, we must mark our calendars differently.” (16) So, we might take the Ordinary Radicals’ great advice for giving certain months to peaceful endeavors. Or, we might follow their unique calendar of holy days. Another way liturgy interrupts our life is in the content of the prayers themselves. Daily or topical, ancient or rewritten, the collection here is golden. To use them in worship, or in community, or as part of one’s personal spiritual life, can only bring one closer to God.
If we accept that worship is a time to be with God publicly-—as though we were at a pub with Jesus—-then the work of worship, liturgy, is the organized movement of the Spirit. Claiborne et al tells us so succinctly how praying with liturgy like this does two things. First, it engages us with the eternal Christian community. We are called as Christians to set aside our individual focus and selfish intentions and to live “our lives around a different set of values than those we are taught by the empires and markets around us.” (15) Second, liturgy engages us into the “beautiful redemptive love story” (9) of our faith. “It is about orienting our lives around what God has been doing throughout history.” (15)
One of the ways liturgy “disrupts our reality and refocuses it on God,” (15) is in its capacity to rearrange our temporal mindset, so that God is at the center. “If we are going to take our citizenship in heaven seriously, we must mark our calendars differently.” (16) So, we might take the Ordinary Radicals’ great advice for giving certain months to peaceful endeavors. Or, we might follow their unique calendar of holy days. Another way liturgy interrupts our life is in the content of the prayers themselves. Daily or topical, ancient or rewritten, the collection here is golden. To use them in worship, or in community, or as part of one’s personal spiritual life, can only bring one closer to God.
April 13, 2013
I did not know what was in this book when I bought it. All I knew was that I really wanted to grow in my prayer life and I like Shane Claiborne.
So for those of you who are like me and want to know what's in the book, let me tell you...
This small books is divided into 5 sections:
-Daily Prayer, with a morning prayer, midday prayer, evening prayer and compline prayer.
-Monthly Action, which explains the tenets of New Monasticism and gives ideas for how to live out these values.
-Occasional Prayers, which gives several other prayers to be read at various events or special occasions.
-Table of Scripture Readings, which gives a list of Bible passages to be read with the morning prayer each day.
-and an Annotated List of Special Days, which commemorate people and events that worked towards or very sadly against peace and justice. Some of them, such as Rosa Parks, are very widely known. Others, such as the massacre of Native Americans during the Gold Rush, were new to me.
It may only be 150 very small pages, but this book is something to be read throughout the year.
As a Protestant who grew up with very little structure or formality, I love the structure and formality that it lends to prayer. I love the poetry in it's worship. I love the history behind it's traditions. And I love it's universal bond that breaks the barriers of Protestantism and Catholicism. In the spirit of loving God and talking to Him every day without looking to the right or left for who I'm with, I love this book.
So for those of you who are like me and want to know what's in the book, let me tell you...
This small books is divided into 5 sections:
-Daily Prayer, with a morning prayer, midday prayer, evening prayer and compline prayer.
-Monthly Action, which explains the tenets of New Monasticism and gives ideas for how to live out these values.
-Occasional Prayers, which gives several other prayers to be read at various events or special occasions.
-Table of Scripture Readings, which gives a list of Bible passages to be read with the morning prayer each day.
-and an Annotated List of Special Days, which commemorate people and events that worked towards or very sadly against peace and justice. Some of them, such as Rosa Parks, are very widely known. Others, such as the massacre of Native Americans during the Gold Rush, were new to me.
It may only be 150 very small pages, but this book is something to be read throughout the year.
As a Protestant who grew up with very little structure or formality, I love the structure and formality that it lends to prayer. I love the poetry in it's worship. I love the history behind it's traditions. And I love it's universal bond that breaks the barriers of Protestantism and Catholicism. In the spirit of loving God and talking to Him every day without looking to the right or left for who I'm with, I love this book.
August 13, 2012
The only thing better than this book would be the full text hardcover edition!
April 29, 2022
SUMMARY: For those looking to dip their toe into a liturgical calendar and historical prayers, Common Prayer Pocket Edition: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a perfect introduction. The 11-page introduction succinctly explains why a book of common prayer is useful while quickly orienting the reader how to use the book.
"Our prayer lives connect us to the rest of the body of Christ around the world; at any hour of any day," the authors write. "Many of the prayers in this book are being prayed in some corner of the earth."
The book is split into five parts with daily prayers for morning, midday, evening, and bedtime consisting of part one. Part two contains monthly actions where a short story with a theme is told along with suggested readings and actions to take during the month.
Part three's 24 prayers are topical with subjects ranging from Sabbath ("To Welcome Sabbath" is one of our favorites) to traveling. Parts four and five make up the largest chunk of the book with a table for daily Scripture reading in addition to short paragraphs dealing with special events or dates.
The book is easy to use, simple to understand, and small enough to carry anywhere. Highly recommended.
KEY QUOTE: "Liturgy offers us an invitation not just to observe but to participate--active prayer, active worship."
MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church.
"Our prayer lives connect us to the rest of the body of Christ around the world; at any hour of any day," the authors write. "Many of the prayers in this book are being prayed in some corner of the earth."
The book is split into five parts with daily prayers for morning, midday, evening, and bedtime consisting of part one. Part two contains monthly actions where a short story with a theme is told along with suggested readings and actions to take during the month.
Part three's 24 prayers are topical with subjects ranging from Sabbath ("To Welcome Sabbath" is one of our favorites) to traveling. Parts four and five make up the largest chunk of the book with a table for daily Scripture reading in addition to short paragraphs dealing with special events or dates.
The book is easy to use, simple to understand, and small enough to carry anywhere. Highly recommended.
KEY QUOTE: "Liturgy offers us an invitation not just to observe but to participate--active prayer, active worship."
MORE: Visit SundaytoSaturday.com where we curate topics for a disillusioned church.
August 20, 2013
This version of Common Prayer receives a high rating for the Compline section alone. Very well done! The Pocket Edition is a good companion for the larger (or online) version of Common Prayer.
May 5, 2019
Simply superb!
April 23, 2022
Love this little book! It has special prayers, songs and blessings. Really full of history too. Enjoyable!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews