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Episcopal Basics: The Book of Common Prayer | Print |  E-mail
Written by Brad Latham   
Thursday, February 21, 2008

A users' guide for Episcopalians

Unique to Anglicanism, the Book of Common Prayer is a collection of worship services that all worshipers in an Anglican church follow. It’s called “common prayer” because we all pray it together, around the world. The first Book of Common Prayer was compiled in English by Thomas Cranmer in the 16th Century, and since then has undergone many revisions for different times and places. But its original purpose has remained the same: To provide in one place the core of the instructions and rites for Anglican Christians to worship together.

The present prayer book in the Episcopal Church was published in 1979. Many other worship resources and prayers exist to enrich our worship, but the Book of Common Prayer is the authority that governs our worship. The prayer book explains Christianity, describes the main beliefs of the Church, outlines the requirements for the sacraments, and in general serves as the main guidelines of the Episcopal life.

 

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St. Thomas' Parish at Dupont Circle
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    As usual, Jim Naughton, the Canon for Communications in the Diocese of Washington, scoops everyone on statements by his boss and our Bishop, John Chane.  The Lead, part of the superb diocesan blog, Episcopal Cafe, posted the following editorial by Bishop Chane from the UK newspaper, The Guardian. The framing of mutual joy: Our church’s evolving [...]
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    An editorial worth reading on the Global Anglican meeting currently going on in Jerusalem appeared in the UK online paper, The Guardian, yesterday. It  said in part: The issue on which all of this currently hinges is the status of openly gay people. Over the past half century, civil society in many parts of the world, including [...]
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