In 1873 Bishop George David Cummins and a group of evangelical clergy and laity formed the Reformed Episcopal Church in response to the growth and increased influence of the Ritualist movement in the Protestant Episcopal Church. Evangelicalism and Ritualism, they had concluded, were incompatible religious systems with contradictory beliefs and conflicting practices.
The establishment of the Reformed Episcopal Church was not the first fracture in the Protestant Episcopal Church. Earlier in the nineteenth century the Evangelical Episcopal Church had broken away from the Protestant Episcopal Church. At the outbreak of the American Civil War the Protestant Episcopal Church split into two churches—one in the south and the other in the north. The two churches would reunite after the war.
The General Council of the Reformed Episcopal Church initially authorized the use of the Proposed Book of Common Prayer of 1785 in the new denomination. A year later, in 1874, the General Council authorized the first Reformed Episcopal Book of Common Prayer for use. The Alternative Order of Evening Prayer in the first Reformed Episcopal Prayer Book anticipates a number of later Prayer Books. The 1926 Irish Prayer Book has two Alternative Forms of Evening Prayer. An Australian Prayer Book(1978), the Episcopal Church’s The Book of Common Prayer (1979), the Church of England’s Alternative Service Book 1980, the Church of Ireland’s Alternative Prayer Book 1984, the Anglican Church of Canada’s The Book of Alternative Services (1985), A Prayer Book for Australia (1995), the Church of England’s Common Worship (2001), and the Church of Ireland’s The Book of Common Prayer (2004) permit the use of metrical versions of the canticles or hymns in place of the prose canticles. An Australian Prayer Book, The Book of Alternative Services, A Prayer Book for Australia, Common Worship, and the new Irish Prayer Book have alternative forms that may be used instead of Morning and Evening Prayer.
The rubrics and texts of the Alternative Order of Evening Prayer have been provided in full for congregations that might want to use the service in their worship. Congregations that use praise choruses and worship songs in their services may wish to replace the opening anthem or hymn with a medley of these choruses and songs before the introductory responses and the general confession. Two or three choruses or songs might be used, beginning with praise and transitioning to adoration. I definitely recommend concluding the psalmody with a traditional or contemporary setting of the Gloria in Excelsis or metrical version of this hymn of praise. I also recommend that a different person should be assigned to read each lesson. Special music may be most appropriate after the first lesson and a hymn after the second lesson. I further recommend that the prayers should be divided among several voices with the officiator saying A General Supplication and all singing or saying the Grace. This would make the service more congregational and participatory. Come Celebrate, available from The Community of Celebration, has a setting of the Grace that may be sung as round. The congregation might join hands as they sing or say the Grace.
A sermon might be preached after the second lesson or before the Apostles’ Creed. The hymn could be used as a response to the second lesson and the sermon or it could be used as an introduction to the sermon. Alternately exposition of one or both of the lessons might follow the service and be informal.
The Alternative Order of Evening Prayer is particularly suited for small group worship. CDs and MP3s of the tunes of hymns and songs might be used to accompany any singing.
Prayers and Thanksgivings “for use before the two final prayers of Morning and Evening Service” are found on pages 53-75 of the 1874 Reformed Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, now on the Internet at the University of Toronto’s Internet Archives.
AN ORDER OF EVENING PRAYER, WHICH MAY BE USED INSTEAD OF THE PRECEDING.
¶ The Evening Prayer shall be opened by the singing of a Hymn or Anthem.
¶ The Minister shall then say,
Let us pray:
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Answer. Christ, have mercy upon us.
¶ A General Confession, to be made by the whole congregation, with the minister, all kneeling.
MOST merciful God, who art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and hast promised forgiveness to all those who confess and forsake their sins, we come before thee in an humble sense of our own unworthiness, acknowledging our manifold transgressions of thy righteous laws. But, O gracious Father, who desirest not the death of a sinner, look upon us, we beseech thee, in mercy, and forgive us all our transgressions. Make us deeply sensible of the great evil of them, and work in us an hearty contrition, that we may obtain forgiveness at thy hands, who art ever ready to receive humble and penitent sinners, for the sake of thy Son Jesus Christ, our only Saviour and Redeemer. Amen.
¶ Then shall follow the Lord's Prayer.
OUR Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation ; but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
¶ Then shall the Minister say,
O Lord open thou our lips.
Answer. And our mouth shall show forth thy praise.
¶ Here, all standing up, the Minister shall say,
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
Answer. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Minister. Praise ye the Lord.
Answer. The Lord's Name be praised.
¶ Then shall follow a portion of the Psalter, after which shall be said or sung the Gloria Patri, or else the Gloria in Excelsis.
Gloria Patri.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
¶ Or this,
Gloria in Excelsis.
GLORY be to God on high, and on earth peace, good will towards men. We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks to thee, for thy great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Thou that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. For thou only art holy ; thou only art the Lord; thou only, Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
¶ Then shall be read the first Lesson, from the Old Testament. After which shall be said or sung an Anthem or Hymn.
¶ Then shall be read the second Lesson, taken out of the New Testament. After which shall be said or sung an Anthem or Hymn.
¶ Then shall be said the Apostles' Creed, by the Minister and the people, standing: And any churches may insert after the words, Was crucified, dead, and buried, the words, He descended into Hell; or the words, He went into the place of the departed spirits.
I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, horn of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; The third day he rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholic Church—the Communion of Saints; The forgiveness of sins; The resurrection of the body, And the life everlasting. Amen.
¶ And after that, the Minister shall say,
The Lord be with you;
Answer. And with thy Spirit.
Minister. Let us pray.
O Lord, show thy mercy upon us;
Answer. And grant us thy salvation.
Minister. O God, make clean our hearts within us.
Answer. And take not thy Holy Spirit from us.
¶ Then shall the Minister say the Collects and Prayers following, in whole or in part, or others, at his discretion.
A Collect for Peace.
O GOD, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed; give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments, and also that by thee, we, being defended from the fear of our enemies, may pass our time in rest and quietness; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen.
A Collect for Divine Light and Protection.
LIGHTEN our darkness, we beseech thee, heavenly Father, and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers, for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
A Prayer for Future Protection
.
ALMIGHTY God, by whose will we were created, by whose providence we have been sustained, and by whose mercy we have been called to the knowledge of eternal life, vouchsafe unto us evermore thy preserving and protecting grace. Unto thee, the support of our infancy, the help of our youth, and the guide of our advancing years, do we commit our lives for the time to come. In all our ways we acknowledge thee; and wilt thou direct our paths. In our prosperity give us grace to use with moderation our several enjoyments, and a compassionate spirit for the wants of others. Save us from those temptations which might occasion our fall, and in our adversity impart unto us patience and strengtlh. These blessings we ask in the name of our only Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
A Prayer for the Impenitent.
O MERCIFUL God, who wouldest not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live, and hast revealed Thyself as pardoning iniquity through Thine only Son: We beseech Thee to have mercy upon the impenitent and unbelieving, especially upon such as may be here present. Awaken in them by Thy Holy Spirit, a deep sense of their sinfulness and peril. Take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of Thy word. Make them to know and feel that there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby they must be saved, but only the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so fetch them home and number them among Thy children, that they may be Thine forever; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, One God, world without end. Amen.
A Prayer for Ministers and People.
MOST Gracious God, the Giver of all good and perfect gifts, give thy grace, we beseech thee, to all the Ministers of thy word, and so replenish them with the truth of thy doctrine, and endue them with innocency of life, that they may faithfully serve before thee, to the glory of thy great name and to the benefit of thy holy Church. And to all thy people give thy heavenly grace, that with meek heart and due reverence they may hear and receive thy holy word, truly serving thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of their life; through Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Redeemer. Amen.
A Prayer for Christian Faith.
ALMIGIITY God and heavenly Father, Open thou our eyes that we may see ourselves to be sinners in thy sight, partakers of a fallen nature, and actual transgressors against thee. Enable us to realize our continual need, both of thy pardoning mercy and of thy quickening grace, and to receive Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of our souls. May we trust in his atonement, and rely on his intercession, as our only hope. Rejoicing in thy free salvation, and renouncing our own righteousness, may we walk in the way of thy commandments, serving thee faithfully, and striving against every sin; through the grace that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for the Holy Spirit.
O GOD, Holy Ghost, sanctifier of the faithful, visit, we pray thee, this congregation with thy love and favor; enlighten their minds more and more with the light of the everlasting gospel; graft into their hearts a love of the truth; increase in them true religion; nourish them with all goodness; and of thy great mercy keep them in the same, O blessed Spirit, whom with the Father and the Son together we worship and glorify as one God, world without end. Amen.
A General Supplication.
ALMIGHTY God, who hast promised to hear the petition of those who ask in thy Son's Name: We beseech thee mercifully to incline thine ears unto us, who have now made our prayers and supplications unto thee; and grant, that those things which we have faithfully asked according to thy will, may effectually be obtained, to the relief of our necessity, and to the setting forth of thy glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
2 Cor. xiii, 14.
THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen.
¶ Here endeth the Alternate Order of Evening Prayer.
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