Book of Common Prayer
Commentary by The Rev. Jed Roseberry
For many who attend Christ Church, Anglican worship is a new and exciting way of worship, but there are still unfamiliar parts to our heritage. One of the things that makes Anglican worship so significant is our Book of Common Prayer.
It is believed that Anglicans, more than any other denomination, are people of a common prayer out of a single book. It’s one of the things that makes the time of worship so special. Regardless of where you are in the world, Anglicans will be worshipping in a similar style united by the Book of Common Prayer. (At Christ Church, that’s the black book with a cross on it, right next to the Bible in the pew rack.) We not only conduct our public services out of this book, but it is also a source for the theology that guides for our private prayer time.
There is a saying that summarizes worship out of the prayer book: lex orandi lex credendi which means “the way we pray determines the way we believe.” In a sense you could say we are liturgical theologians. We read, sing and pray our theology all out of this book. Even though it is a source of our theology, our main guide is still the Bible itself which is the sustaining spirit and underlying foundation of the Book of Common Prayer.
If you have time this week, dust off, borrow or purchase a Book of Common Prayer and check things out for yourself. Don’t just take our word for it. Open it up to any service and try to see the rich saturation of Scripture in the liturgy. Look for words that send you back to your Bible and let the words of this contemporary Prayer Book collect speak to you:
“Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, make, learn and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ.” BCP, p. 236