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7 reviews for:
How to Use the Book of Common Prayer: A Guide to the Anglican Liturgy
Samuel L. Bray, Drew Nathaniel Keane
4.07 AVERAGE
7 reviews for:
How to Use the Book of Common Prayer: A Guide to the Anglican Liturgy
Samuel L. Bray, Drew Nathaniel Keane
4.07 AVERAGE
Summary: Introduction to what the Book of Common Prayer is, the different parts and uses of the book as well as some of the more technical structure and history of prayer books more generally.
This is designed to go along with Intervarsity Press' 1662 International Version. That version of the Book of Common Prayer tried to maintain the language, but make changes when the older language no longer means the same as it originally did. And it changed some of the language of the prayers to make them appropriate for use in other locations than the UK.
The authors of How to Use the Book of Common Prayer also were the main editors of that version of the Book of Common Prayer. Personally, I am not particularly attached to the 1662 version of the Book of Common Prayer and my protestant bias is that while I appreciate beautiful prayers and historic liturgies, I prioritize understanding over history. I don't want to compromise on liturgical beauty, but I also don't have a particular cultural attachment to that edition. I have used the US 1928 version, the 1979 version and the ANCA 2019 version. I don't love the 2019 ANCA's use of the ESV for the Bible readings, but otherwise generally like the feel of both the 2019 and 1979. I listen to a podcast of Morning and Evening prayer from the UK and that one uses the Common Worship liturgical resources that were published between 2000 and 2008 in the UK.
While I picked this up so that I can follow along and understand what is going on better, I don't really want to start using a paper book of common prayer for personal worship. I prefer podcasts or video so that I feel like I am doing it in cooperation with others instead of individually. I did spend several years using a Kindle version of the 1928 BCP that had all the scripture and prayers in line so that there was no flipping. (But the editor who produced those stopped releasing them.) I got used to not needing to do any flipping and while I like not using an app on a phone or iPad, the kindle version didn't have ads or notifications and was practically the same as using a paper version without the flipping.
Despite this How to Use the Book of Common Prayer being oriented toward the 1662 International Version, the basic structure should be the same for all of the versions.
Chapter one is a short introduction to the concept of liturgy followed by a short history of the book of common prayer. (I have previously read Alan Jacob's biography of the Book of Common Prayer which is cited several times in this chapter.)
The center of most people's use of the BCP is morning and evening prayer. The third chapter walks through the components of those and how the system works. The fourth chapter is designed to be read after you have gotten used to morning and evening prayer as a concept and takes you a bit deeper into the background and use. It starts with a discussion of the Athanasian Creed, then the Litany, and then the various occasional prayers and thanksgiving prayers. For me as a person who has been using the BCP in some form or other for about a decade and has some history with it, but am not confirmed as an Anglican/Episcopal, this is the chapter that I think I found the most value in.
Chapter five is about baptism and confirmation and chapter six is about the eucharist. Chapter seven is about how the BCP approaches Scripture, which starts to introduce the church year. Chapter eight is more explicitly about how the church year works with the BCP. Chapter nine is about how Anglicans understand saints and how saint days work with the BCP and historically why the reformation reduced the number of saint days, but kept the concept. And then chapter 10 is about further resources and suggestions of where to go.
I keep thinking that these suggestions for how to use the BCP either needs to be short articles or pamphlets or a class, not a longer book. This book, while I think it does a good job with what it does, hasn't really changed my mind. In part, I think learning the BCP is best done in person and in community, not by book. There are very helpful parts of this book and I am glad I read it. But I also think that there is a very narrow group of people who want this much detail and who also are not already familiar enough that a book of history or a book about theology of the BCP wouldn't be a better choice.
This post was originally published on my blog at https://bookwi.se/how-to-use-the-book...
This is designed to go along with Intervarsity Press' 1662 International Version. That version of the Book of Common Prayer tried to maintain the language, but make changes when the older language no longer means the same as it originally did. And it changed some of the language of the prayers to make them appropriate for use in other locations than the UK.
The authors of How to Use the Book of Common Prayer also were the main editors of that version of the Book of Common Prayer. Personally, I am not particularly attached to the 1662 version of the Book of Common Prayer and my protestant bias is that while I appreciate beautiful prayers and historic liturgies, I prioritize understanding over history. I don't want to compromise on liturgical beauty, but I also don't have a particular cultural attachment to that edition. I have used the US 1928 version, the 1979 version and the ANCA 2019 version. I don't love the 2019 ANCA's use of the ESV for the Bible readings, but otherwise generally like the feel of both the 2019 and 1979. I listen to a podcast of Morning and Evening prayer from the UK and that one uses the Common Worship liturgical resources that were published between 2000 and 2008 in the UK.
While I picked this up so that I can follow along and understand what is going on better, I don't really want to start using a paper book of common prayer for personal worship. I prefer podcasts or video so that I feel like I am doing it in cooperation with others instead of individually. I did spend several years using a Kindle version of the 1928 BCP that had all the scripture and prayers in line so that there was no flipping. (But the editor who produced those stopped releasing them.) I got used to not needing to do any flipping and while I like not using an app on a phone or iPad, the kindle version didn't have ads or notifications and was practically the same as using a paper version without the flipping.
Despite this How to Use the Book of Common Prayer being oriented toward the 1662 International Version, the basic structure should be the same for all of the versions.
Chapter one is a short introduction to the concept of liturgy followed by a short history of the book of common prayer. (I have previously read Alan Jacob's biography of the Book of Common Prayer which is cited several times in this chapter.)
The center of most people's use of the BCP is morning and evening prayer. The third chapter walks through the components of those and how the system works. The fourth chapter is designed to be read after you have gotten used to morning and evening prayer as a concept and takes you a bit deeper into the background and use. It starts with a discussion of the Athanasian Creed, then the Litany, and then the various occasional prayers and thanksgiving prayers. For me as a person who has been using the BCP in some form or other for about a decade and has some history with it, but am not confirmed as an Anglican/Episcopal, this is the chapter that I think I found the most value in.
Chapter five is about baptism and confirmation and chapter six is about the eucharist. Chapter seven is about how the BCP approaches Scripture, which starts to introduce the church year. Chapter eight is more explicitly about how the church year works with the BCP. Chapter nine is about how Anglicans understand saints and how saint days work with the BCP and historically why the reformation reduced the number of saint days, but kept the concept. And then chapter 10 is about further resources and suggestions of where to go.
I keep thinking that these suggestions for how to use the BCP either needs to be short articles or pamphlets or a class, not a longer book. This book, while I think it does a good job with what it does, hasn't really changed my mind. In part, I think learning the BCP is best done in person and in community, not by book. There are very helpful parts of this book and I am glad I read it. But I also think that there is a very narrow group of people who want this much detail and who also are not already familiar enough that a book of history or a book about theology of the BCP wouldn't be a better choice.
This post was originally published on my blog at https://bookwi.se/how-to-use-the-book...
Engaging with the Book of Common Prayer, and the Anglican tradition more widely, has reframed and deepened my worship of God, reading of Scripture, prayer life, and living the Christian life overall; and for that I will forever be thankful.
This book is specifically formatted to walk you through the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and even as I’ve found I’ve come to prefer the 2019 Book of Common Prayer personally as I think it offers the most robust liturgy I’ve seen in a Book of Common Prayer, this was a good and informative guide. I found the history of, and the background behind, the book of Common Prayer interesting; and the authors list additional resources at the end for anyone who wants to go deeper on a number of sub-topics.
This book is specifically formatted to walk you through the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and even as I’ve found I’ve come to prefer the 2019 Book of Common Prayer personally as I think it offers the most robust liturgy I’ve seen in a Book of Common Prayer, this was a good and informative guide. I found the history of, and the background behind, the book of Common Prayer interesting; and the authors list additional resources at the end for anyone who wants to go deeper on a number of sub-topics.
This is a very well written introduction to the Book of Common Prayer, as well as Anglicanism broadly. Of course, as a big tent, each church is going to have its own ways of using and applying the Book of Common Prayer (also partially determined by which version they're using); however, this book is so comprehensive. The authors weave historical context throughout the book to explain why certain things were included and excluded or changed over the years. If you've ever been curious about Anglicanism, definitely add this book to your reading list.
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I have received a copy of this book via NetGalley. This is my voluntary review.
This is a very well-written, beautifully put-together little book. I have already recommended it to my mother-in-law. It is simple, easy to use, and has good explanations for the reasons for every part of the BCP. I liked the historical inclusions as well. So important!
As a Lutheran, I also appreciated that the clarity of the explanations highlighted the similarities and differences between our two denominations. Well done!
This is a very well-written, beautifully put-together little book. I have already recommended it to my mother-in-law. It is simple, easy to use, and has good explanations for the reasons for every part of the BCP. I liked the historical inclusions as well. So important!
As a Lutheran, I also appreciated that the clarity of the explanations highlighted the similarities and differences between our two denominations. Well done!
Coming from a non-liturgical background, I have always found beauty in the liturgies whenever I have been exposed to them. Lately, I have even been looking into incorporating some of the practices into my own spiritual life, and to that end, I had recently purchased my own book of common prayer, but when it arrived had no idea what to do with it. Then I discovered this book and was really excited to read it to hopefully understand the BCP more and be able to use it myself. The writing was easy to digest and went into enough detail that I should be able to use the insights I gathered to guide me in the use of the BCP in the future, Some of what this book describes still seems a little confusing, but I think that is because I don't yet have the foundation of use of the book which will come with time as this book says. I also really enjoyed the history included, as it really makes the practices encouraged by this book make more sense in the larger Christian faith.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own,
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. Opinions expressed are my own,
informative
fast-paced