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The Book of Common Prayer - Part I

© Michael P. Spencer

Perhaps best described as the only unifiying force in the Anglican Communion, the Book of Common Prayer is sometimes held in higher regard than the Bible by some Anglicans. Also known as the Prayer Book or the BCP, the Book of Common Prayer is comparable to the Roman Missal. It contains all of the central worship services of the church and other important prayers, documents, and sacramental rites used by Anglicans. This article will give a brief history of the BCP, and will take a look at the prayer rites designed for everyday use, the Daily Office.

The first BCP was compiled in 1549 by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. Cranmer desired a service book for use by all the parishes in England that would serve to unify the liturgy of the time, and would make a political statement regarding the independence of the Church of England from papal authority. Cranmer designed the first BCP using various sources as templates, not the least of which were monastic breviaries. Breviaries are used by monastic communities for their daily prayer services. Historically, there were eight prayer services throughout the day. Cranmer combined them into two services, one for use in the morning, and one for the evening. These rites, known by different names through the centuries, are called Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer in the Episcopal Church today.

The first BCP for use in the United States was ratified in 1789. Subsequent revisions were put into use in 1892, 1928, and the most recent, 1979. As with anything, each time a new revision was approved, numbers of Episcopalians decried the revision as unequal in beauty and theological correctness as its predecessor. In the case of the 1979 revsion, some churches actually seceded from the national church and continue to use the 1928 BCP independently.

Each member province of the Anglican Communion has its own version of the BCP. In the case of the Church of England, its official version is the revision of 1662, but for most services uses the Book of Alternate Services which has more contemporary language. A popular version is the New Zealand Prayer Book, which many U.S. churches borrow from for special occasions and not-so-special occasions. The NZ BCP has been hailed as a leader for its use of inclusive language and its absence of anthropomorphic references to God.

Daily Office

The Daily Office owes its form and function to the monastic prayer services chanted in monateries, abbeys and cloisters for centuries. Originally, the Daily (or Divine) Office consisted of eight separate services designed around the the hours of the day. The first office of the day, Lauds, was usually sung at 4:00 a.m. The last office, Compline, at 9:00 p.m. By the time Cramner was writing his BCP, it was apparent that the laity were not going to be able to go to church for these short offices eight times a day, so he combined them into two longer offices, Morning and Evening Prayer.

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