History of Christian Worship

Corporate worship among the earliest Christians was grounded in historic Jewish practice: praying the Psalms, reading and teaching Scripture in the synagogue, and the daily and yearly patterns of prayer and sacrifice at the Temple. Many Jewish followers of Jesus continued to participate in synagogue and Temple worship. However, they also began to gather on the first day of the week, “the Lord’s day,” in remembrance of Christ’s resurrection. The centerpiece of their worship was the Eucharist, or Lord’s Supper, which Jesus instituted before his crucifixion.

Following the gradual separation of Christianity from rabbinic Judaism, and the increased inclusion of Gentile converts, variations of the basic Christian pattern of worship emerged in different communities. Greater uniformity came after the end of persecutions in the early fourth century. Throughout the medieval period, liturgies continued to develop regional varieties, though there were also recurring efforts to maintain consistency and establish unity. Eucharistic worship remained central, even as the piety and practices surrounding it shifted in various ways.

In sixteenth century England the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, gathered resources from a variety of rites and practices and reworked them in the production of a Book of Common Prayer. This provided a comprehensive order for corporate worship for English Christians in their own language. Though this book underwent several updates and changes, both in England and (after the American Revolution) in the United States and elsewhere, it remained the basic pattern and rule for worship for all Anglican Christians.

The twentieth century saw a “liturgical renewal” movement that simultaneously looked back to ancient sources and sought greater ecumenical collaboration and unity in practice. This had a major impact on Anglican liturgical revisions from the 1960s onward, including the US 1979 Prayer Book and England’s Common Worship in the early 2000s. The Book of Common Prayer 2019 seeks to restore the historic Anglican pattern while also drawing on recent scholarship and honoring ecumenical relationships.

Candidates should be familiar with the history and development of the Book of Common Prayer in both England and America. A basic understanding of the ancient and ecumenical influences that have shaped the Prayer Book tradition is also desirable.

Recommended Reading

The Book of Common Prayer 2019 [1]

For copies of all the historic versions of The Book of Common Prayer see http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/

The Book of Common Prayer: A Biography by Alan Jacobs

Areas of Liturgics

1. History of Christian Worship
2. Content and use of The Book of Common Prayer
3. Daily Office
4. Corporate and Private Prayer
5. Sacramental Theology
6. The Holy Eucharist
7. Baptism and Confirmation
8. Marriage and Children
9. Rites of Healing
10. Death and Burial
11. Sanctification of Time
12. Sanctification of Space
13. Liturgy and Music
14. Liturgy and Mission