Three Contemporary English Services of Holy Communion for North American Anglicans

This article was originally posted on November 30, 2013. I am reposting it for readers who might be interested in looking at the form that The Book of Common Prayer 2019 might have taken if the Prayer Book and Liturgy Task Force and the College of Bishops had been committed to providing the ACNA with a comprehensive Prayer Book rather than a party book.

In 2009 I compiled Alternative Forms of Service, a collection of services intended for the use of North American Anglicans. I have uploaded material from Alternative Forms of Service on my blog, Exploring The Book of Common Prayer. It includes:

Interpretation, The Preface, and General Notes

Initial Directions

The Holy Communion, First Order

The Holy Communion, Second Order

The Holy Communion, Third Order

The Holy Communion, First Order is a contemporary English revision of the 1662 Communion Service. The Prayer of Humble Access comes from An Australian Prayer Book (1978) and A Prayer Book for Australia (1995) and incorporates one of the recommendations of the Puritans at the Savoy Conference.

The Holy Communion, Second Order is a contemporary English adaptation of the 1549 Communion Service.

The Holy Communion, Third Order adopts the contemporary ecumenical pattern of the Holy Eucharist.

The First Thanksgiving in The Holy Communion, Third Order was taken from A Prayer Book for Australia (1995) and was derived from the Diocese of Sydney’s Experimental Sunday Services (1993).

The Second, Third, Fourth and Sixth Thanksgiving are original compositions, incorporating material from various sources.

The Fifth Thanksgiving comes from The Book of Common Prayer (2004) of the Church of Ireland.

In First, Second, and Third Thanksgivings the epiclesis is muted as in the 1662 Prayer of Consecration. It takes the form of a petition calling upon God—an epiclesis in the basic sense of the word.

Like 1662 Prayer of Consecration the anamnesis of the First and Second Thanksgiving recall Christ’s death and passion. It does not include Christ’s other mighty works.

The Third Thanksgiving speaks of doing what Christ commanded and remembering all that he has done for us.

The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Thanksgivings have more developed anamneses.

The Fourth Thanksgiving contains the only epiclesis  that petitions God by the power of His Holy Spirit to sanctify the communicants and the bread and wine. I am planning to modify the epiclesis and I will post the revised Thanksgiving at a later date.

What is absent from all six thanksgivings is anything suggestive of eucharistic sacrifice, a doctrine that is not consistent with the biblical and Reformation theology of the Thirty-Nine Articles and the 1662 Prayer Book. This includes the idea that we somehow participate in Christ’s sacrifice in the Eucharist.

The rubrics permit the use of other “authorized thanksgivings,” including thanksgivings that are not in the book.

If there is no communion, a collection may be taken before the Prayer of Intercession in the First Order or after the Prayers of the People in the Second and Third Orders and a hymn or other song may be sung and the service may conclude with the Lord’s Prayer, other authorized prayers at the discretion of the minister, and the Grace or the Blessing. A deacon or licensed catechist or reader may officiate at the service.

One or more Collects may be read after the Collect of the Day or before the Blessing, as in the 1926 Irish Prayer Book and the 1954 South African Prayer Book. A selection of suitable Collects is provided after the First Order. They include a number of Prayers for Mission. Other suitable Collects authorized by the Ordinary may be used.

For those who would like to use these three services of Holy Communion the introductory sentences of Scripture and offertory sentences at An American Prayer Book (2009): Sentences may be used with the services.  Additional introductory services may be found at the beginning of the services of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer at An American Prayer Book (2009): Morning Prayer and An American Prayer Book (2009): Evening Prayer. Canticles that may be used in the three services of Holy Communion may found at An American Prayer Book (2009): Canticles.

At An American Prayer Book (2009): Prayers for Various Occasions may be found six other forms that may be used for the Prayer of Intercession in The Holy Communion, First Order, and for the Prayers of the People in The Holy Communion, Second Order and The Holy Communion, Third Order. A selection of general confessions, occasional prayers, thanksgivings, blessings and endings also may be found at An American Prayer Book (2009): Prayers for Various Occasions.

Propers that may be used with the three services of Holy Communion may be found at An American Prayer Book (2009): Collects and Readings at Holy Communion. The Collects are largely drawn from An Australian Prayer Book (1978) and An English Prayer Book (1994). A number of the Collects have been altered.