Content and use of The Book of Common Prayer
Thomas Cranmer’s introduction to the first Book of Common Prayer (1549) underscores the purposes for which it was prepared: to restore the centrality of Scripture in worship, to provide an “order for prayer” consistent with early Christian worship, to simplify medieval practice and make the book easier to understand and use, and to establish unity of practice across the English Church (see Book of Common Prayer 2019, page 794). Central to this project was worship in English, a language understood by the people (Articles of Religion 24). In the long run, this was a book that could be used not only by clergy in the church building, but also in the home, especially the Daily Office. It offered a holistic spiritual system, a grammar for prayer and a pattern for Christian practice. Finally, it offered the most basic and fundamental statement of the Church of England’s theology.
Areas of Liturgics
- History of Christian Worship
- Content and use of The Book of Common Prayer
- Daily Office
- Corporate and Personal Prayer
- Sacramental Theology
- The Holy Eucharist
- Christian Initiation: Baptism and Confirmation
- Marriage and Children
- Rites of Healing
- Death and Burial
- Sanctification of Time
- Sanctification of Space
- Liturgy and Music
- Liturgy and Mission
