350th Anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer

350th Anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer August 23, 2012

My students and I are halfway through a week of mission at an Anglican Church in Brisbane (St. Stephen’s Cooparoo) and we learnt that this year marks the 350th annivesary of the Book of Common Prayer. There is a whole webpage dedicated to celebrating the event (here) and you can learn more about the BCP here and also read Gerald Bray’s brief intro.

You might think that the BCP is just an “Anglican” thing. Not so! In F.F. Bruce’s autobiography, and Bruce was a life long Brethren man, I learnt that he kept only two books on his desk at all times. A Greek NT and a copy of the BCP! I’ve also enjoyed using the BCP in my own devotional life and I do so handily now using the BCP app for iPad and iPhone. I also thoroughly recommend David deSilva’s wonderful book, Sacramental Life: Spiritual Devotion Through the Book of Common Prayer, as a companion to the BCP.

The good thing about the BCP is that it teaches you to pray your theology!

Caveat: There are different “prayer books” in the Anglican communion. The BCP has been revised several times in several different places. Generally speaking, be cautious of any prayer book written after 1979!

See also Paul Barnett’s post on the BCP which is very good too.


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