The Proposed Book of Common Prayer (1928) of the Church of England

In the early twentieth century a serious attempt was made to revise The Book of Common Prayer (1662) then in use in the Church of England. Except for some alterations and omissions in language in the existing services, the proposed revision consisted of several additional newer services—alternative forms for Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer, Holy Communion, Baptism, Confirmation, and the Communion of the Sick and the services of Prime and Compline. Compared with some more recent Anglican service books, the proposed revision was fairly conservative.

The proposed revision was approved by wide margins in the Church of England Convocation and the Church Assembly, the predecessors of the General Synod, but was twice rejected by Parliament. Despite the refusal of Parliament to approve the proposed revision, it was used in a number of Church of England dioceses with the approval of the ordinary.

In the SPCK pamphlet, The New Prayer Book Explained, W. K. Lowther Clarke, provides a sketch of the proposed revision.

The proposed revision is an example of one approach to Prayer Book revision, which is the addition of alternative language in existing services or alternative forms of these services. A second approach is to adopt Alternative Books while retaining the 1662 Book of Common Prayer as the official Prayer Book. The Church of England and the Anglican Church of Australia would adopt this approach to Prayer Book revision.

While the Proposed Book of Common Prayer of 1928 did not become the Church of England’s official Prayer Book, it would influence a number of later Anglican service books.

The links to the texts of the earlier drafts of the proposed revision and to the final draft and to a books and a collection of essays on the proposed revision can be found on the Society of Archbishop Justus’ The Book of Common Prayer collection website.