By Robin G. Jordan
What follows is a list of the sections one would expect to
find in a Prayer Book designed for the twenty-first century North American
mission field.
Proper lessons for
Sundays and special days for Services of the Word
Calendar with table
of lessons for daily use
General notes
Services of the Word
– In addition to orders for Morning and Evening Prayer the Prayer Book would
contain several alternative patterns of worship for Sundays and other occasions.
All forms for the Service of the Word, including Morning and Evening Prayer, would
be tailorable to the particular circumstances of a congregation – size and
composition of the congregation, its ministry target group, its music
resources, its meeting place, and the like. Their overriding purpose would be
to enable a congregation no matter how small to gather around God’s Word on
Sundays and at other times.
Orders for Morning
Prayer and Evening Prayer, including a selection of seasonal and
penitential sentences and provisions for shortening the Orders for Morning and
Evening Prayer for daily use.
Alternative forms for
the Service of the Word, including guidelines that congregations may follow
to develop their own forms for Services of the Word and liturgical material
that they may use in these forms. The alternative forms for the Service of the
Word contained in the Prayer Book would serve as models.
Additional canticles
– a selection of canticles for use in the rites and services contained in
the Prayer Book and not contained in a particular rite or service.
A Service of Light
- The ancient office of the lucenary has been revived in a number of more recent Anglican service book. It is a
useful addition to the Prayer Book. It may be used at the beginning of Evening
Prayer, one of the alternative forms of the Service of the Word, or one of the
Services of the Lord’s Supper, or with the addition of Scripture readings, a
canticle, and prayers as a separate service. This service and the following
service are particular useful at conferences, weekend retreats, and other special events.
Prayer at the end of
the day, also known as Compline
The Litany and
other forms of general intercession that may be used in the rites and services
contained in the book.
Prayers and
thanksgivings for various occasions, include a selection of general
confessions and endings for Services of the Word.
The Propers - Scripture
readings and collects for Sundays, special days, seasons, and occasions for
use at the ministration of the Lord’s Supper
A service of the
Lord’s Supper – a contemporary English translation and modernization of the
Communion Service of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.
An alternative service
of the Lord’s Supper –a service along the lines of the Third Order in A Prayer Book for Australia with the
changes recommended by the Diocese of Sydney’s Diocesan Doctrinal Commission. Provision
would be made in this service and the preceding service for the use of the
Liturgy of the Word as a separate service when there is no communion.
A shortened order for
the Lord’s Supper including a third Prayer of Thanksgiving and Consecration
and guidelines for the order’s use with alternative forms for the Service of
the Word.
An office for making a catechumen like the one in the Church of South India’s The Book of Common Worship.
A service of Baptism
for those able to answer for themselves
Thanksgiving for a child
A service of Baptism
for infants and children
A form for the
reception of infants and children baptized in an emergency
A catechism, or
outline of the faith, based upon the teaching of the Bible and the doctrine
of the Anglican formularies
A form for the
admission of children to the Lord’s Supper including guidelines for their
admission. This form would be use to admit to the Lord’s Supper baptized children
who evidence a genuine repentance and a vital faith and have undergone suitable
preparation. It would be used between
the visits of the bishop to the congregation.
A service of confirmation
in which those baptized in infancy would make a public declaration of their
faith in Jesus Christ and receive the prayers of the congregation.
A form for reception
into communicant membership
A form for renewal of
baptismal vows
A marriage service
A form for the
blessing of couples married in a civil ceremony
Prayers and
guidelines for ministering to the sick and the dying including a shortened
order for the Lord’s Supper for communion of the sick
Funeral services for
adults and children, including a form for the internment of ashes
A penitential service
based upon the Commintation and used on the first day of Lent and other
occasions
A form of
thanksgiving for the blessings of the harvest
A liturgical psalter
Forms for the
ordination of deacons and presbyters and the consecration of bishops
A form for the commissioning of lay readers
A form for the
installation of ministers for use with lay readers assigned pastoral
responsibility for a congregation as well as deacons and presbyters
The Articles of
Religion
Among particular features one would expect to find in a
Prayer Book designed for the twenty-first century North American mission field is
that Christ’s saving work on the cross, the need for repentance from sin and
faith in Jesus Christ would be major themes running through that Prayer Book.
They would permeate the rites and services contained in that book. Emphasized
would be the importance of spreading the gospel and making new disciples as well
as living a life worthy of the gospel and in the service of Christ.
What would be also notable about the rites and services contained
in such a Prayer Book would their simplicity and ease of use. Both their order
and their language would be easy to understand.
The rites and services would use modern English and would be
limited to the essential elements of the rite or service. Optional material
would not be printed in the rite or service itself but would be placed in a separate
section after the rite or service along with any additional directions.
When an element is printed in a rite or service, the
tendency is to use it even though it is optional. The result is that a rite or
service of a reasonable length is made unnecessarily long.
Optional material in its doctrine would be consistent with
the overall doctrine of the rite or service and the Prayer Book. It would not
change the doctrine of the rite or service or the Prayer Book.
Any ceremonies used in a rite or service would be kept to a
minimum, would conform to “the requirements of functional action and rhetorical
gesture,” and would have a discernible connection to the rite or service. They
would also conform to the structure, rationale, and theology of the rite or
service and the Prayer Book and would be understandable as to their meaning and
their use.
A Prayer Book designed for the twenty-first century North
American mission field would provide the maximum of flexibility where it is
needed the most. The forms for a Service of the Word, including the orders for
Morning and Evening Prayer would exhibit the greatest degree of flexibility.
Where they occurred, directions to stand, sit, or kneel would
be suggestions only.
Where parts of a rite or service may be sung to a musical
setting, the use of the words for which these settings were composed would be
permitted provided the doctrine of a particular setting was consistent with the
doctrine of the rite or service and the Prayer Book.
Hymns, canticles, and other worship songs would be permitted
in the rites and services other than where provision is made for them. The substitution
of metrical settings of the Psalms for prose settings would be permitted and
the substitution of hymns or other worship songs for canticles. Versions of the
psalms other than those printed in the Prayer Book would also be allowed.
Also see
Why the Prayer Book We Use Matters
A Prayer Book for the Twenty-first Century: You Can Make It Happen
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