How long have God’s people been debating about the language and order of worship? Almost as long as we’ve been gathering for prayer and praise. The history of the Christian church has been marked by times of stability broken by periods of reform. Almost without exception, the rethinking of the church’s faith (theology) has inspired the reworking of the church’s worship (liturgy), not always in that order. Prayer in one tradition must be extemporaneous, or it is not thought to be authentic. A century later, those who have inherited the tradition of extemporaneous prayer are publishing prayer books in an effort to offer thanksgiving and intercession to God in a style and form deemed worthy of divine attention. One generation’s metered psalms are the next generation’s “stodgy” hymns. The patterns evolve and occasionally repeat but never seem to end. Prayer books, hymnbooks, worship orders, and lectionaries come and go. Governments and denominations rise and fall. Through it all, some elements of the church’s historic faith and worship persist. Pentecost 2024 marked the 475th anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer.
Anglicans recall with excusable pride that this is the oldest prayer book in continuous use in the English-speaking church. Library shelves, periodical indices, and websites are filled with detailed history and exhaustive analysis of “the prayer book.” But this anniversary is not merely historical trivia, nor should its observance be limited to Christians who answer to Canterbury. Church historians and liturgical theologians will quickly remind us that much of the language of the Book of Common Prayer is familiar to countless worshipers who have never even held one in their hands. This uncommon prayer book, first conceived a generation before Shakespeare, continues to shape the life and faith of Christians around the world.
Origins of the Book of Common Prayer
Although Reformed, Lutheran, and Anglican Christians all trace a significant portion of their theology and worship to the reforms that took place in the sixteenth century, the Church of England is unique in both the origin and the outcome of its reform. The infamous British King Henry VIII challenged the authority of the pope and led the Church of England away from Rome for reasons both personal and political. Liturgy and prayer were low on the list of Henry’s complaints. As a result, liturgical reform followed political separation at a safe distance.
