The Book of Common Prayer: A Rookie Anglican Guide
You can’t be curious about Anglicanism for long without running into the Book of Common Prayer, commonly called the Prayer Book or simply the BCP, which forms the liturgical heart of the Anglican tradition. Of course, based on the title, you might reasonably assume that there’s just one Book of Common Prayer out there. However, if you type “Book of Common Prayer” into Google, you’re faced with an overabundance of options. You’ll often see them referred to by numbers such as 1662, 1928, 1979, or 2019. The truth is, the Book of Common Prayer is a family of books with a shared lineage dating back to the Reformation.
If you can overcome the decision paralysis and purchase a BCP for yourself, things don’t improve. Open it, and the table of contents is quite overwhelming! Why is the content arranged in this order? Why are there multiple versions of the same thing? How do I use this to pray and read the Bible? Allow us to demystify the BCP for you and give you enough information about the BCP[s] to start using one on your own!
Sponsored
What is the Book of Common Prayer?
Put simply, the Book of Common Prayer is the comprehensive service book for Anglican churches. Anglican churches are those that trace their lineage back to the Church of England worldwide. The Prayer Book shapes both how Anglicans worship and what Anglicans believe. It has also shaped Christian worship in the English language for almost 500 years.
The first Prayer Book was published in 1549, and revised in 1552, 1559, 1604, and 1662. The 1662 Book of Common Prayer remains the official Prayer Book of the Church of England and has served as the model for subsequent BCPs throughout the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Prayer Book Contents
Editions of the Prayer Book contain the written liturgies for almost any service held at an Anglican church. These include:
- daily prayer services (the Daily Office)
- weekly worship (the Holy Eucharist)
- special services, like Ash Wednesday and Good Friday
- services held throughout one’s life, such as baptism, weddings, visitations of the sick and dying, and vigils and burials of the dead
- ordination and consecration services (for a bishop, priest, or deacon)
- services to celebrate new ministries or churches
The Book of Common Prayer also usually contains:
- a calendar to help you follow the Church Year
- prayers and thanksgivings that you use throughout the Church Year or at any time
- A Psalter, or Book of Psalms, because these get used a lot in Anglican worship
- a catechism and other documents to teach the basics of the Christian faith
- lectionaries, which let you know what passages of Scripture to read during all the services mentioned in the previous list
With merely a Bible and a Prayer Book, you should have all the text you need to hold Anglican worship services.
How Did We Get the Book of Common Prayer?
Ironically enough (from our perspective, at least), the first Book of Common Prayer was a simplification! Thomas Cranmer drew from existing liturgical traditions and manuals to produce the first BCP in 1549 in the reign of Edward VI. He intended it as an all-in-one resource (used alongside the Bible, of course) for both clergy and laity. This book gathered the church’s services—Holy Communion, Daily Prayer, baptism, marriage, burial, and more—into a single, accessible volume.
A more explicitly Protestant revision followed in 1552, which more strongly emphasized Reformation theology and simplified ceremonial elements. However, after a brief return to Roman Catholic worship under Mary I, the Prayer Book was restored and revised again in 1559 under Elizabeth I, helping to establish a durable Anglican settlement that balanced catholic continuity and reformed doctrine. This edition was largely based on the 1552 edition, but also restored the best of the 1549 edition, creating a “middle way” that would become a hallmark of the Anglican tradition.
Shaping the English Language: The 1662 Prayer Book
The most enduring edition appeared in 1662 after the English Civil War and Restoration. This version became the standard for centuries and profoundly shaped Anglican spirituality, theology, and English religious language. Its cadences influenced not only Anglican worship worldwide but also the development of English prose itself. It gave the English-speaking church a shared voice in prayer, rooted in Scripture, ordered by ancient tradition, and expressed in timeless, beautiful language.
As Anglican missionaries traveled the globe, Prayer Books began to appear, adapting Cranmer’s original liturgies to local contexts. Each local Prayer Book has its own nuanced story. For more information on the development of the BCP, check out Alan Jacobs’ The Book of Common Prayer: A Biography.
The First American Prayer Books
The history of the Book of Common Prayer in the United States begins in the aftermath of the American Revolution, when Anglicans in the former colonies could no longer use a prayer book that prayed explicitly for the British monarch. With the creation of the independent Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, American church leaders began to adapt the Prayer Book to a new national and ecclesial context.
The first American Prayer Book appeared in 1789. Guided by figures such as William White and Samuel Seabury, this edition preserved the structure and theology of the classic 1662 English Prayer Book, as well as the Scottish eucharistic rite of 1764. The latter became a significant influence because the first Anglican bishop in the USA, Samuel Seabury, was consecrated in 1784 by Scottish bishops. References to the British Monarch were removed, and, significantly, the Holy Communion liturgy incorporated elements of the ancient, more explicit eucharistic theology preserved in the Scottish Episcopal tradition, reflecting Seabury’s influence.
The American Prayer Book continued to develop through several revisions. The 1892 edition modestly updated the language and added flexibility, while the 1928 edition expanded the pastoral and devotional richness, including new prayers and a greater emphasis on God’s kingdom and mercy. The 1928 Prayer Book became deeply beloved and remained in widespread use for decades.
Modern American Prayer Books
A major turning point came with the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, produced amid the broader liturgical renewal movement of the 20th century. This revision introduced contemporary language. However, this edition was more an innovation than an update in many respects. It introduced new liturgies, favored reconstructing ancient liturgical patterns over maintaining traditional BCP liturgical structures, and offered multiple options for many prayers, including the Eucharist’s consecration prayer.
More recently, the Anglican Church in North America published its own Prayer Book in 2019. This edition sought to recover classical Anglican theology and language while expressing it in accessible contemporary English. Drawing on the full sweep of the Anglican tradition—including 1549, 1662, and American predecessors—it represents both continuity and renewal in Anglican worship in North America.
Which Prayer Book Should I Use?
Great question! In places where different editions have appeared over time, such as in the U.S., you may hear debates over the 1662, 1928, 1979, 2019, and so on. We wish more Anglicans would spend more time expanding and enriching the kingdom of God than taking potshots at one another over different editions of the Prayer Book.
At the same time, Anglicanism has traditionally held to the principle of lex orandi, lex credendi—meaning something close to “the law of prayer is the law of belief.” In other words, words matter! When Christians gather to pray, the words that they use both reveal and shape their theology. There’s a good reason for Anglicans to care deeply about the language used in the Prayer Book. These words shape the theology of subsequent generations. Which version you use depends on how you intend to use it. For most purposes, we find these two below the most helpful for everyday Anglicans today.
The “Official” Prayer Book: 1662
If the “official” Prayer Book is what you’re after, then the 1662 Book of Common Prayer is the closest thing. It remains the official Prayer Book of the Church of England and retains the majority of Cranmer’s work from the 1549 and 1552 Prayer Books.
- We recommend you buy this Oxford World’s Classics edition of the 1549, 1559, and 1662 BCPs if you want to study all the classic Prayer Books.
- However, if you intend to use the 1662 Prayer Book as a devotional resource, we recommend the 1662 Book of Common Prayer: International Edition. It’s a great, accessible edition, slightly adapted for Christians outside the United Kingdom, with additional prayer resources in the appendices.
That said, it’s arguably more important to own a BCP that you regularly use than it is to own the “official” Prayer Book!
Today’s American Prayer Book: 2019
If you would like a Book of Common Prayer in more modern language, we recommend the ACNA’s 2019 Book of Common Prayer. While updated to more contemporary English, it retains the essential theology of Cranmer’s original. If you begin to attend an ACNA parish, you are likely to find this edition of the BCP in use. Yes, like every other BCP, it has its shortcomings. However, the 2019 edition is a great all-in-one resource for personal use. And it’s a great first BCP for Angli-curious individuals!
How do you use the Book of Common Prayer?
Here is where the rubber meets the road! Unfortunately, as mentioned above, the Book of Common Prayer can feel overwhelming when you first open it. It’s important to remember that the BCP is a comprehensive resource. That means that unless you’re an Anglican clergyman, you won’t use the entire BCP very often. Instead, you’ll come back to specific sections time and time again, and you’ll use others maybe once in your life; let’s focus on the sections you’ll use most often. We’ll be keying these instructions to the 2019 Book of Common Prayer (see our more comprehensive guide to this edition here).
What Day Is It? The Calendar of the Church Year
The first thing you need to do when using the Book of Common Prayer is determine the liturgical day. Specifically, you need to know which week of the liturgical year you’re in and whether today is a feast day. This is where The Calendar of the Church Year (pp. 691–729) comes in handy. However, because the liturgical date is dependent upon the date of Easter, which changes from year to year (see Tables and Rules for Finding the Date of Easter Day, pp. 713ff.) It’s easier to use an online tool such as LectServe. Keep that liturgical date in mind.
The Daily Office
Anglican daily prayer is rooted in the Daily Office (pp. 8–88) most often. These four prayer services are the most basic building blocks of Anglican life, walking you through “confessing sin, worshipping God, reading scripture, and praying for yourself and others.
- Morning Prayer (pp. 11-31)
- Midday Prayer (pp. 33-39)
- Evening Prayer (pp. 41-56)
- Compline (prayer right before bed, pp. 57-66)
- Family Prayer (abbreviated morning, noon, early evening, and close of day services, beneficial for families with children, pp. 67-78).
- Supplemental Canticles for the Daily Office section are on pp. 79-88.
(For a guide to how to lead a Daily Office service for a group of people, click here.)
The Collects for the Church Year
In saying the Daily Office, you’ll notice a point in each service where “The Collect of the Day” is supposed to be prayed. What is a collect? It is a signpost that draws our intention into a single, focused prayer, preparing us to worship. You find the Collect of the Day by looking it up in the Collects of the Christian Year (pp. 598-640). Here’s where knowing the liturgical date comes in handy. Typically, you use the collect for each Sunday of the Christian year, for the following weekdays until the next Sunday. However, if it’s a feast day, there’s a special collect just for that day. See the “Holy Days” sections on pages 624-635.
Reading the Scriptures in the Daily Office Lectionary
There’s also a place in the Daily Office where you read passages from Scripture. To find out what passages you should read, use the liturgical date and the Daily Office Lectionary (pp. 734-763). Take a minute to read the instructions for the Daily Office Lectionary on page 734. You’ll find that the lectionary in the 2019 BCP follows a two-year cycle: Year One and Year Two. If it’s an odd-numbered year, it’s Year One. If it’s an even-numbered year, it’s Year Two. You’ll also learn how to divide the readings between Morning and Evening Prayer.
(We have a guide to the Daily Office Lectionary and the different lectionary options that are out there. Click here to read it.)
Reading the Psalms: The Psalter and Occasional Prayers
Because they are often used in worship, complete copies of all 150 Psalms are included in virtually all Prayer Books. The 2019 edition is no exception; its Psalter (book of Psalms) is on pages 267–467. It’s also worth knowing about the “Occasional Prayers” section (pp. 641-683). You’ll find a list of prayers on pages 642-645. You can use these prayers and thanksgivings whenever you like, whether in a liturgical service or not!
Participating in Holy Communion
Those are the sections of the BCP that you’ll use most often on your own. The next most important section is undoubtedly “The Holy Eucharist” (pp. 103–158), used for services of Holy Communion. There’s a separate Sunday, Holy Day, and Commemorations Lectionary (pp. 716-733 in the 2019 BCP) on a one-year or three-year cycle (Year A, B, and C), depending on the Prayer Book a church uses, to determine which passages of Scripture should be read at a service of Holy Communion.
Learning What We Believe
Finally, especially helpful for those dipping their toes into the Anglican stream for the first time, there’s the Documentary Foundations section in the 2019 Book of Common Prayer (pp. 755-802). These “historical documents” include
- The “Definition” of the Council of Chalcedon,
- The Athanasian Creed,
- The Preface of the first BCP (1549),
- The 39 Articles of Religion, and
- The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral.
Additional Resources
- The 2019 Book of Common Prayer. This section of the ACNA website has the current BCP in PDF and Word Document formats. A Print edition of the 2019 BCP can be purchased here.
- The Book of Common Prayer for the Episcopal Church. Along with previous American editions of the Prayer Book, this website also has PDF and HTML versions of most BCPs ever produced worldwide.
- The Prayer Book Society. A society based in England that encourages the use and preservation of the 1662 Prayer Book and provides numerous resources, including valuable videos on conducting a Prayer Book service.
Image: photo by Paul Maguire, courtesy of iStock. Digitally edited by Jacob Davis.
Published on
The 1662 Book of Common Prayer: The One Prayer Book Every Rookie Anglican Needs
A liturgy makes it easier to pray with others, and to pray with the church—past, present, and future. Liturgical prayers are not the only kind, but there is something special about them. These prayers can be etched on your heart, taught to your children, and remembered at the close of life. For Anglicans, these prayers…
The 2019 Book of Common Prayer: A Rookie Anglican Guide
In 2019, the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) released its official edition of the Book of Common Prayer. As we explain in the Rookie Anglican Guide to the Book of Common Prayer (AKA “BCP”), the Book of Common Prayer is the comprehensive service book for Anglican churches (churches that trace their lineage back to…
