A Prayer Book for all Seasons

My first introduction to the Book of Common Prayer was at a small Reformed Episcopal Church in my home town of Omaha, Nebraska. It changed my life forever. In a world where the pace of life is continually increasing and we are constantly being pulled into a fabricated digital world, I found the Prayer Book to be a grounding force. It became something that fed me in a culture that was becoming more and more malnourishing. The Prayer Book broadened my prayer life. It helped me to ask for things that I had not thought to ask for, and encouraged me to pray about things that I had never thought to pray about. Since adopting the Prayer Book into my practice, no facet of my life has been without some sort of service, prayer, or collect (liturgical prayer) to accompany it. Because it provides beautiful and traditional liturgy, broadly reformed theology, and guidance through Scripture, I believe the greater Protestant world would benefit from utilizing the Book of Common Prayer in their services and devotional practices.

For readers who may be unfamiliar with the Book of Common Prayer (1662/1928 (U.S.)), it is the standard for Anglican worship. It contains the liturgical calendar for the year, giving Psalter, Old Testament, and New Testament readings for each day, and denoting holy days and Feast days. For ministers, it provides the Order of Service for Sunday worship services (and every other day of the year, for that matter), much like a Sunday bulletin does. It also contains services for the major transitions and milestones in human life—birth, baptism, marriage, and death. 

But beyond having services for Sunday Holy Communion, Marriages, and Funerals, the Book of Common Prayer offers something unique for all Christians, both clergy and layman; it contains the Daily Office. Adapted from the monastic tradition for use among the laity, the Daily Office consists of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, which provide the reader with daily scripture readings and scriptural prayers. They make complete use of the liturgical calendar, and walk the reader through the year emphasizing the major themes and doctrines of the church.

Developed during the English Reformation by noted and martyred theologian, Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, the Book of Common Prayer is a distinctly Protestant form of worship that honors the historical and Biblical standards of worship held by the Church through the ages. It is generously reformed and properly catholic. Though many variations and modernizations of the Book of Common Prayer exist, the authoritative versions were created in 1662 and 1928 (U.S.).

So how does the Book of Common Prayer speak to the Christian, or in this context, how can it help a broadly reformed group of Christians, both laity and ministers? It helps by providing us with a deep, historical yet Protestant form of worship. In our present context, many Protestant traditions tend to pride themselves on an intellectual tradition, leaving their form of worship either minimal or secondary to proper doctrinal teaching. But we are not merely intellectual beings. In fact, many who claim Christ likely don’t have the time or capacity for fully comprehending the importance of covenantal theology, nor will they ever care to crack open Calvin’s Institutes of Religion. And, frankly, it’s not necessary. I believe that good teaching, exegesis, and proper Law/Gospel distinction is necessary in any faithful church; but I don’t believe that every parishioner is called to have a presbyter’s understanding of these things. What we are all called to have, in depth, is a life formed by the Gospel. We are called to be in the Scriptures, to pray, to thank our God, and to ask him for those things which are requisite and necessary for life and salvation. The Prayer Book gives us the breadth to pray for all those things that we have been called to pray for, yet do not pray for, because of our own human limitations.

The new norm is to invent our own form of worship in an attempt to better reflect the immediate culture of a church, or to cherry-pick liturgical prayers as a minister sees fit. Our robust worship tradition, in many cases, has either been lost or it has been exchanged for a cheap reflection of modernity and pop culture. As churches begin to look more and more like living rooms, parishioners may find themselves questioning whether they need to leave their own couches on Sunday Morning, especially if the service can be live-streamed. The Prayer Book has been a pushback against the pop culture and Puritan reactionary standards held in many Protestant churches, and in the wake of the pandemic and streaming services, the Prayer Book still calls people to meet together to participate in the liturgy and Holy Communion. It provides a form of worship that requires participation, not mere observance. This, I have found in itself to be revolutionary to our individualistic senses.

Perhaps pre-written prayers seem too cookie-cutter for one who holds fast to an extemporaneous format of prayer (a form of prayer I use as well), but for someone like myself who at times struggles to find the right words, or in the midst of tragedy or exhaustion struggles to pray at all, it has been the Book of Common Prayer that pulled me through. It has been a tool that God used time and time again to bring light into my darkness when I am too weak to do so myself.

Finally, the prayer book acts as a corrective to the modern mess of Protestant practices. It corrects those who would preside at the Lord's table too casually, and gives a richer historical form of worship to those who would stand before their congregation in business attire. Though the Service of Holy Communion is explicitly sacramental, making it a bit theologically exclusive, the world of reformed sacramental ministers should have no problem using this timeless piece of Christian heritage to their benefit instead of relying on the limited imagination of their own invention. Often I have heard it said that the Prayer Book service sets too high of a standard for admittance, that the language is outdated, and it isn’t easily accessible for newcomers. I think we often assume that we know more about people's capabilities than we actually do. I have been to many services where people from all walks of life, and all ranges of education, worshiped together in the uniformity of the Prayer Book. It is the learning and repetition that helps solidify prayers and Scripture in our hearts.

One can certainly pray or find Scripture readings for all times of the year without guidance, but I would challenge the most pious man or woman to find a better text to guide him or her through the Scriptures, nourish one's spiritual life, and focus their concentration in the liturgical year better than the Book of Common Prayer. I would be so bold to say that the Book of Common Prayer is the greatest form of worship to come out of the Reformation. It is a gift to Protestantism.

I encourage both ministers and laity to consider using the Book of Common Prayer and see how their spiritual life deepens.