The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey

by Charles Hefling (Editor), Cynthia Shattuck (Editor)

The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer is the first comprehensive guide to the history and usage of the original Book of Common Prayer and its variations. Expert contributors from around the world and from every major denomination offer an unparalleled view of The Book of Common Prayer and its influence.

The Oxford Guide to Common Prayer is more than simply a it describes how Anglican churches at all points of the compass have developed their own Prayer Books and adapted the time-honored Anglican liturgies to their diverse local cultures. The Guide examines how the same texts - Daily Prayers, the Eucharist, Marriage and Funerals, and many others - in dozens of editions now in use throughout the world, both resemble and differ from one another. A brief look at "electronic Prayer Books" also offers a unique and exciting modern perspective.

The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer offers a fascinating journey through the history and development of a classic of world literature from its origins in the 16th century to the modern day.

Oxford is pleased to offer The Book of Common Prayer in a variety of formats and prices to match readers' needs and budgets - perfect for study or gift-giving. Visit our website to order your copy today.

* A comprehensive survey of the rich history of the original Book of Common Prayer and all of its varied descendents.
* Explains, characterizes, and illustrates the dozens of Prayer Book versions in current use throughout the world.
* Lays out a path that will enable any reader, Anglican or not, to learn why the BCP is a classic of liturgy and literature.

Genres: Christian, Theology, Nonfiction, Reference, Christianity, Spirituality, Faith

640 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Andy Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A massively stunning collation of insight and review of Anglican belief and praxis. Broad and exhaustive, this is a phenomenal book.

Quotes include:

The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer: A Worldwide Survey, by Charles Hefling, Cynthia Shattuck (Editors)

Cranmer and Common Prayer -
In “a classic example of Cranmerian ambiguity: despite the high language, and even the signs of the cross made over the bread and wine, Cranmer in his own writings made it clear that to bless something was only to set it apart for a holy use. The bread and wine will now ‘be unto us’ the body and blood of Christ, that is, represent them.” (p32). “.. so the eucharistic prayer removed all sense of offering the consecrated bread and wine to God, and replaced it with making a memorial of Christ’s death and resurrection, together with the offering of praise and thanksgiving and the self-offering of the worshippers. .. The only sacrifice was that of Christ on the cross.” (p32)
“The prayer would later, in the 1662 Prayer Book, be entitled the Prayer of Consecration, but it had no such title in 1552. Properly speaking, it was a prayer of invocation for the communicants, rather than a prayer of blessing the bread and wine.” (p33)

The words of administration starkly eliminated any description of the bread and wine: ‘Take and eat this, in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving’; ‘Drink this in remembrance that Christ’s blood was shed for thee, and be thankful’.” (p33)

“In the Middle Ages baptism was celebrated soon after a child’s birth .. The church service of baptism was lengthy, complicated, and repetitious, being a conflation of a long series of rites administered in the late Roman Empire.. if there was any risk at all to the health of the child the midwife would baptize it immediately.” (p34)
“For Cranmer .. given his Reformed theology, he did not believe [baptism] to be absolutely necessary for salvation… and not simply a removal of original sin, as it was often taken to be.”
“.. references to the candidate’s having a personal faith (a relic of the ancient baptism of adults..) were replaced so as to emphasize the faith of the congregation. .. The medieval rite had also contained numerous prayers of exorcisms. .. A prayer, another ancient one, picked up the theme of God receiving the child, and this was continued through the gospel reading (Jesus blessing the children and saying that anyone who receives the kingdom of God must receive it like a child) .. (We may see polemic against early Anabaptist teaching here.)” (p34)

Confirmation - “Confirmation in the Prayer Book changed enormously. .. Cranmer adopted the view of fellow reformers .. that in the early church confirmation provided an opportunity for the baptized to profess their own faith. Historically this was wrong, but pastorally it was appropriate in an age now sensitive to the issue of a personal affirmation of faith. It was on this point, for example, that the Anabaptists had criticized the baptism of infants.” (p35-36). “The child would rehearse and accept the baptismal promises made by his or her godparents.” (p36)

From Elizabeth I to Charles II -
“In addition to revising the 1604 services, new services were also added. These included a rite for adult baptism, reflecting both the neglect of infant baptism in the Interregnum period and missionary work in the colonies of America.” (p53) [From 1649 to 1660, England was a republic during a period known as the Interregnum ('between reigns').]

From Uniformity to Family Resemblance -
Gregory Dix's book ‘The Shape of the Liturgy’ (1945) was significant. “This monumental work almost entirely cleared the landscape of Anglo-Catholic sacred cows. It disposed of the notion that a single, primitive eucharistic prayer somewhere existed as an ideal to which all should return.” "Emphasis should be placed .. upon the first action of Jesus ('he took bread’, and ‘took the cup’). (p233)

“Probably the most influential thesis advanced in Gregory Dix’s 1945 book ‘The Shape of the Liturgy’ was that the enormous variety of Christian eucharistic rites have their unity, and their significance, in the structural sequence he called the ‘four-action shape’: the taking, blessing, breaking, and distribution of bread, and corresponding actions with respect to wine.” (p234)

The Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia -
“The New Zealand scene has changed considerably since the production of the Prayer Book. A major shift was already beginning as the Prayer Book was being finalized. The Anglican Church in New Zealand in 1990 adopted a new Constitution that gave greater autonomy to Maori and to the diocese of Polynesia. … they have also since developed liturgical material of their own for use in their own settings ..” (p340)
“An important feature of the book as a whole is its flexibility. Options abound. While essential parts of services are clearly signaled, the instructions frequently state that the minister may use what is provided, or use some other words, not necessarily from the book itself.” (p341)
“In addition, the impact of the charismatic movement and the current desire in many places to seek new words and expressions have led to considerable flexibility in liturgical practice. .. local adaptations and innovations are relatively common. .. this freedom keeps alive the intention of the commission to provide a book for the living worship of the church.” (p341)

Japan: Nippon Sei Ko Kai -
“It has become difficult for younger generations to understand the old classical-style Japanese. .. Christian services, which are the source of Christian life, ought to be owned and shared by the whole community in terms of both language and sensibility. Services in the language of daily life are also important from the viewpoint of evangelization.” (p395)

Chinese -
“Chinese Anglicans have a multiplicity of Prayer Books ..” “The diversity of Chinese Anglicans across the globe [e.g. Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore, USA, Canada..] has once again brought about a flowering of Prayer Books.” (p397)

Eucharist -
“Whose Eucharist? - Prior to the sixth century the Eucharist was clearly a celebration by the entire baptized community. Every baptized member had an active role to play. The clergy did not do everything in the celebration; .. From early medieval times, however, the clergy gradually took over more and more of the roles that lay people had previously undertaken. By the eve of the Reformation the liturgy was totally dominated by the clergy.” (p469,470)
"Meanwhile, in the last few decades there has also been a growing debate about diaconal and lay presidency at the Eucharist. .. it has arisen out of a conviction that if lay people can minister the word (read and preach), it is appropriate to balance this ministry by authorizing them to preside at the sacrament.” (p470)

Inclusion - “.. Anglicans tend to see the Eucharist as a means of forging unity, whereas the official Roman Catholic teaching is that sharing in the Eucharist is a sign of unity already achieved.” (p471)

Bread and Wine - “Ever since 1552 the rubrics of Anglican Prayer Books have specified the use of bread ‘such as is usual to be eaten,’ .. With the spread of Anglicanism in Africa and parts of Asia, questions have arisen about this requirement. In some Muslim countries, the production or importation of fermented grape wine is strictly illegal. Elsewhere wheat bread is not available. .. A survey conducted in 2002 on behalf of the Anglican Consultative Council found that [some] provinces make official provision for alternatives to wheat bread and fermented grape wine. These vary from fermented fruit wine to unfermented grape juice to Coca-Cola. Wheat bread is sometimes replaced by rice bread.” (p473)
“These are also questions about those communicants who for health reasons cannot receive fermented grape wine or ordinary wheat bread, because they are recovering alcoholics or allergic to wheat products. … An understanding of true symbolism is important as well: some believe that eucharistic wine should be always red, like the blood it signifies. But if the real symbolism lies in the drinking of wine, its colour is irrelevant.” (p473)

Conclusion - “In most of the Anglican Communion new rites reflect a much broader understanding of what the Eucharist is about. There is no one fixed text, even within the same Prayer Book.”
“These changes have come about through the study of the liturgical texts from earliest Christian days, ecumenical sharing of resources, and cooperation across the Anglican Communion. Enrichment and renewal of the broad traditions of Anglican worship, and the celebration of the Eucharist is particular, is an ongoing process. .. It is a renewal by which, however it takes place, Anglicans around the world are being enriched and nurtured in their celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, made known in the breaking of the bread.” (p474,475)

Rites of Initiation -
“Anglican reformers in the sixteenth century continued the pattern of initiation inherited from the medieval western church [to be a member of a Christendom society you must be baptized as an infant, all others were pagans, heathen, barbarians, whom you would kill]. .. ‘there shall none be admitted to the holy communion until such time as he be confirmed.’” (p484)
“A few significant changes were introduced in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The emergence of traditions practicing believers’ baptism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries resulted in an occasional need for adult baptism, and colonialism also brought contact with unbaptized slaves and indigenous people on other continents. Consequently, a rite of baptism 'to such as are of Riper Years’ .. was added to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.” (p484)

Twentieth-Century Developments - Features of Contemporary Anglican Initiatory Rites, Candidates for Baptism -
"In recent decades some Anglicans have questioned whether it is appropriate to ask parents and godparents to speak in the name of or on behalf of an infant. The baptismal rite in A New Zealand Prayer Book never requires parents and godparents to speak in the name of their child. After the presentation, adult candidates reply, 'I hear God’s call and come for baptism’, while parents and godparents state, ‘We hear God’s call and ask for baptism’. The parents and godparents join adult candidates in stating that they renounce evil, but nowhere does the rite specify that they do so on behalf of infant candidates. To a question calling for the profession of faith, adult candidates, parents, and godparents all respond, ‘In faith I turn to Christ’, and parents and godparents continue, ‘as I care for this child’.” (p487,488)
“The New Zealand rite also lacks an explicit commitment to living a Christian life.” (p498)
Conclusion - “No longer is baptism principally a social rite marking physical birth, administered as soon as possible lest the child die unbaptized.” (p498)
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[Sharon Cronan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I started out scanning for the library I manage, and 2 hours later was still reading. (Now known as "screading".)
It's written in essay format, so doesn't have to be read in any particular order. I got sucked down the rabbit hole of the early history of the prayer book, which I knew much less of than I believed!
The book covers the gamut of Anglican/Episcopal prayer books, from the earliest use in 1552 into cyberspace, as well as the prayer book's use and translation world wide.
This book does consider past cultural imperialism in the name of 'saving' the non-European nations, and how this has impacted prayer book revisions in recent years.
There are prayers and bits of litanies from the prayer book under discussion, as well as illustrations, throughout the volume

[loafingcactus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have only read three chapters so far and it is absolutely fascinating... definately an education into where much of my religious indoctrination comes from- just out of the air at this point in history as I was not raised religious and had certainly never read The Book of Common Prayer or engaged in any of the debates subtly set down there-in. You surely have too, no matter what Christian community you may have been raised in.

Finished the book: it is a celebration of the history of prayer book worship... simply cheerful and pleasant. Lovely book.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much to dive into, I checked this out in the library and now it's going onto the "to buy" list. Rich history of the prayer book and the times and events and people that brought it into being and changed it. Also a good section on the prayer book around the world.

[Particle_Person · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book but it goes on forEVER. I've read about 3/4 of it and I'm still picking away at it.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this when it came out and found it fascinating. I've just found it again and intend to reread.