From the Archives: "A Compendium of More Recent Anglican Liturgies"

By Robin G. Jordan

A wealth of liturgical material is available on the Internet for examination, comparison, adaptation, and use. The following list and accompanying links is far from exhaustive. What I have included in this list should give readers a slight idea as to what is available.

With the exception of The Book of Common Prayer (1662), this liturgical material dates from the mid-twentieth century on. I have included the 1662 Book of Common Prayer because it is not only an authorized service book of a number of Anglican Provinces but also it is a classical formulary of the Anglican Church. With the Articles of Religion of 1571 and the Ordinal of 1661, it forms the doctrinal standard of Anglicanism.

A wealth of liturgical material is available on the Internet for examination, comparison, adaptation, and use. The following list and accompanying links is far from exhaustive. What I have included in this list should give readers a slight idea as to what is available.

With the exception of The Book of Common Prayer (1662), this liturgical material dates from the mid-twentieth century on. I have included the 1662 Book of Common Prayer because it is not only an authorized service book of a number of Anglican Provinces but also it is a classical formulary of the Anglican Church. With the Articles of Religion of 1571 and the Ordinal of 1661, it forms the doctrinal standard of Anglicanism.

The two Books of Homilies can be included in this standard as they expound upon the doctrine of the Articles of Religion (Article 11). The Articles of Religion commend them as containing “a godly and wholesome Doctrine, and necessary for these times” (Article 35).

The Jerusalem Declaration (2008) upholds the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as “a true and authoritative standard of worship and prayer, to be translated and locally adapted for each culture.” Being Faithful: The Shape of Historic Anglicanism Today, the official commentary on the Jerusalem Declaration, stresses that the 1662 Book of Common Prayer is such a standard “because the principles it embodies are fundamentally theological and biblical.” The 1662 Prayer Book also “provides a standard by which other liturgies may be tested and measured." While we should not expect liturgical uniformity throughout the global community of Anglican Churches, we should expect to find a common theological basis.

A form of corporate worship bears a family resemblance to the 1662 Prayer Book in so far as it reflects the principles underlying the liturgy of that book. Only liturgies that reflect these principles stand in continuity with the 1662 Prayer Book. A liturgy may superficially resemble the 1662 Prayer Book such as use texts from that book but not reflect its underlying principles.

Among the material that I have listed is material of particular interest because it illustrates how a number of Anglican provinces have responded to the particular challenges of developing a liturgy or Prayer Book. This includes dramatic shifts in the culture of a particular Anglican province. In a number of cases it confirms my own observations about existing and proposed rites and services of the Anglican Church in North America or shows alternative ways of wording a rite or service.

I have also included in the list The Book of Divine Worship, which adapts a number of Episcopal rites and services for use in the Roman Catholic Church. Read More

I first posted this article four years ago. I have not had an opportunity to check all of the links in the article. If a link does not work, let me know in the comment section . For those who may be interested in my own efforts to put together an Anglican service book for use on the North American mission field, visit A Prayer Book for North America.