Liturgy for Living: Revised Edition

by Charles P. Price, Louis Weil

A classic and accessible guide in the field of Episcopal liturgy. Originally published in 1979, Liturgy for Living remains a time-tested classic exploration of history, theology, and spirituality that shapes Anglican liturgy and specifically The Book of Common Prayer. Writing for all Episcopalians―pastors, seminarians, and laity―Professor Charles Price and Louise Weil uncover the riches of various liturgy, including Holy Baptism, Confirmation, the Daily Office, the Holy Eucharist, and the various pastoral offices. This edition contains an extensive and updated bibliography, a glossary of liturgical terms, and a list of internet website addresses that contain documents, further bibliographic information, and links to other websites―all related to liturgical studies. “The worship of the Christian community, properly understood and done, leads worshipers to act out in their lives the love of God, which is at the heart of our worship. Worship also provides the power and the sustenance which makes this style of living possible. This Christian style of living, moreover, drives those who are committed to it back to the worship of God, to find forgiveness and strength...When this interdependent relationship is understood, the power of worship is illuminated and the power to live increased.”―From the Preface

Genres: Religion, Theology, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1979

Reviews

[Ephrem Arcement · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very helpful and informative collection of essays that effectively acquaint the reader to the pertinent issues of the liturgical life of Anglicans.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful, especially on the history, and balanced. Still, nothing compares to the spark of “For the Life of the World”

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

...liturgy is what we do with our lives. The liturgy that Christ is has an extensive form, directly related to the intensive. The extensive liturgy begins when the gathered community scatters into the world to live obediently to the Christ whose one liturgy was encountered at prayer.

To engage in either intensive or extensive liturgy drives one to seek out the other. From the extensive liturgy of a Christian's life in the world, one comes to the intensive liturgy for assurance, pardon, and renewal. From the intensive liturgy, one "goes forth into the world to love and serve the Lord."

Though their descriptions of worship and the 1979 Book of Common Prayer are somewhat dated, Charles Price and Louis Weil present a fascinating study of how the liturgy developed for the Episcopal Church is expressed both within our ceremonies as well as within our lives. Price & Weil cover a lot of history and theology in a short time, but they manage to be thorough without being overly-anal or overly critical.

Highly recommended for anyone who wishes to better understand the worship practices of the Episcopal Church.

In the resulting balance in the current Prayer Book between the fixed and the optional, between the changing and the invariable, between freedom and order, the American Episcopal church hopes that all its people in a number of different styles will be able to worship God with the freedom of the primitive Christians, with the splendor of the medieval church, with the sober dignity of the Reformation, and with a simplicity and grace all its own.

The Lord is in his holy temple. Come, let us adore him.

[Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, if lacking, exploration of the 1979 BCP. Rather cursory in its approach, it has the hallmarks of the liturgical movement of the 20th century but does provide some interesting insights on the uniquely Anglican approach to the Christian liturgy.

[Ben Crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

A skillful presentation of the approach to liturgy which gave us the 1979 prayer book.

The scholarship is, it must be said, rather dated now: the confidence in the shared patristic ordo or in the simple continuity between berekah prayers and early church Eucharistic prayers has been largely lost. As one might suspect, the Eucharistic orientation means that the Daily Office gets rather short shrift (it is described as a Service of the World analogous to the first part of the Eucharist). Confirmation is rather clearly disliked. And complicated liturgical history is rather shoehorned into the "participatory patristic" vs "clericalist medieval & reformation" understandings -- for example, the decision over the course of revising the prayer book to restrict baptism to ministers had more to do about accommodating Puritan beliefs about baptism than it did about a desire to wrest yet another rite away from laypeople, but here it's just another example of clericalism.

But these complaints notwithstanding, it does provide a powerful picture of the relationship of worship to life and a thoughtful (if dated and occasionally polemic) exposition of Christian worship broadly and the Anglican liturgical tradition as expressed by the 1979 US BCP specifically. This is "spirit of the liturgical movement" at its best.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful resource for Episcopalians (or those curious about the Church) to understand the theology and history of the sacraments of the Episcopal Church. It's written in easy to understand language, but gives the reader a deeper understanding and appreciation of the the various prayers and services contained within the Book of Common Prayer.

[Paul/Suzette Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

For one new in the liturgical tradition, this book provides a little more meat and potatoes than a typical general introduction. Traces the origins of the liturgy and ties it back to Judaism and the early Christian community.