The Book of Common Prayer in Modern Reformation

In the latest issue of Modern Reformation, Lee Gatiss has a nice article on “The Book of Common Prayer” (see here for an on-line view if you have a subscription). Gatiss writes:

The BCP is a prayer book, a service book, a book to aid us in our worship of the one true and living God. It’s a book to live, love, and die by – for baptisms, weddings, and funerals. It’s a book designed to fill us with awe and reverence as we participate in its rituals and regularities. It’s not an evangelistic tract to be read out to a congregation every Sunday. It’s more than that. But it has a sharp mission edge. It’s carefully put together to teach the gospel and to reach people’s hearts with the message of salvation. Its much-praised eloquence is all in the service of an impassioned plea to trust, obey, and please the Lord Jesus who died for his family, the church. So it’s not a stuffy old book for stuff old people. It’s a way to reach liturgical people with the good news of Jesus.