The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Common Prayer

by Meyers, Ruth A.; Teixeira Coelho, Luiz Carlos; Bradshaw, Paul F.

• ISBN13: 9780197673089
• ISBN10: 0197673082
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780197673096
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2026-03-06
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• More Book Details
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Summary

The use of a Book of Common Prayer has been a hallmark of Anglicanism, resulting in a liturgical language that shapes doctrine. What began as a single Book of Common Prayer in sixteenth-century England has developed into a family of prayer books authorized by member churches of the global Anglican Communion. The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Common Prayer offers a holistic view of the prayer-book tradition in Anglicanism and explores new directions emerging in the Communion. Written by forty-six diverse Anglican scholars from throughout the world, it analyzes historic and more recent editions bearing that title in churches throughout the Anglican Communion, as well as modern books that fulfill the same function, to aid understanding and practices of worship in Anglicanism.

The Handbook begins with an exploration of the Book of Common Prayer in context, assessing its colonial legacy and exploring the significance of the book for Anglican identity. It considers inculturation of worship and cultural differences in the texts of the books and in the use and interpretation of the books. Themed sections cover the language of the Book of Common Prayer, including questions of translation and inclusive and expansive language, and worship space, rubrics, and music. Other sections consider theologies and practices of the liturgical year, Christian initiation (baptism, confirmation, admission to communion), services of the word (daily offices and eucharist), ordination and ministry, and pastoral offices.

While many of the chapters introduce historical background, the focus in this volume is the interpretation and use of contemporary Prayer Books, with attention to the impact of the twentieth-century Liturgical Movement. Since the 1980s, Anglicans have met through the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation to consider principles for liturgical revision and to share news of developments in their home Provinces, and this book takes note of the findings of these consultations.

Author Biography

Ruth A. Meyers is Hodges-Haynes Professor Emerita of Liturgics at Church Divinity School of the Pacific, Berkeley and a member of the Core Doctoral Faculty of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She is a past president of the North American Academy of Liturgy, and a past member of the Steering Committee of the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation.

Luiz Carlos Teixeira Coelho is a Spanish-Portuguese Brazilian-born Anglican priest and the Custodian of the Book of Common Prayer for the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil. He serves on the Societas Liturgica Council and the Steering Committee of the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation. As a professor at Rio de Janeiro State University, he teaches in the School of Engineering and the Program of Liturgy and Art.

Paul F. Bradshaw is Emeritus Professor of Liturgy at the University of Notre Dame. He formerly served in a number of academic positions in England. He is a past president of Societas Liturgica and of the North American Academy of Liturgy, and a past chair of the Steering Committee of the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation.

Table of Contents

List of Contributors

Introduction
Paul F. Bradshaw, Luiz Carlos Teixeira Coelho, Ruth A. Meyers

Part I The Book in Context
1. The Book of Common Prayer and Anglican Identity
Christopher Irvine
2. Colonial Legacy of the Book of Common Prayer
Jennifer C. Snow
3. Inculturation
Phillip Tovey
4. Liturgical Revision and the Book of Common Prayer
Sheryl A. Kujawa-Holbrook
5. How the Book of Common Prayer Shapes--and Is Shaped by--Other Liturgical Traditions
Melanie C. Ross
6. Books of Occasional Services and Other Supplemental Books
Shawn O. Strout

Part II. Language
7. Prayer Book Language through Time
Bridget Nichols
8. Inclusive Language in the Book of Common Prayer
Charles Read
9. The Challenges of Translating Liturgies
Pierre W. Whalon
10. Language and Doctrine: The Didactic Use of Liturgy
Bryan D. Spinks

Part III. The Prayer Book Enacted
11. Performance of the Liturgy
Stephanie A. Budwey
12. Service Music and Congregational Song
Anne Bagnall Yardley
13. The Book of Common Prayer and Liturgical Space
Richard Giles
14. Children and the Book of Common Prayer
Stephen R. Shaver

Part IV. The Calendar and Liturgical Year
15. The Concept of the Liturgical Year
Sylvia A. Sweeney
16. Lectionaries
Hilary M. Bogert-Winkler
17. The Triduum in the Book of Common Prayer
James W. Farwell
18. Calendars of Saints
Júlio Eduardo dos Santos Ribeiro Reis Simões

Part V. Initiation
19. Initiatory Preparation and Practice in the Anglican Tradition
Jason Haddox
20. Baptismal Theology: Faith and Baptism
Melissa M. Hartley
21. Ethical Implications of Baptism: Togetherness and Transformation as an Ontological Feature of Creation
Paulo Ueti
22. The Relationship of Baptism and Confirmation: What Constitutes Christian Initiation?
Ruth A. Meyers
23. Admission to Communion in the Book of Common Prayer: Evolution and Challenges
Luiz Carlos Teixeira Coelho and Juan M. C. Oliver

Part VI. Daily Offices and Services of the Word
24. The Form and Function of the Daily Offices
Paul F. Bradshaw
25. Collects
Matthew S. C. Olver
26. Intercessions
Gillian F. Varcoe
27. From Penitence to Praise, and Back Again
J. Barrington Bates

Part VII. Eucharist
28. Eucharistic Prayers in the Prayer Book Tradition
J. Neil Alexander
29. Eucharistic Offering/ Sacrifice
Gordon Jeanes
30. Modes of Real Presence in Anglican Eucharistic Theology
Lizette Larson-Miller
31. From Traditions to Transformations: Trajectories and Practices in the Church of South India's Communion
Viji Varghese Eapen
32. From Week to Week? The Book of Common Prayer and Frequency of Communion from 1549 to Today
Catherine Haynes

Part VIII. Ministry and Ordination
33. Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and the Book of Common Prayer: The Three-fold Nature of Ministry in and outside the Prayer Book
John L. Kater
34. The Ordination of Women, an Evolving Story
Paula D. Nesbitt
35. Ordination Rites, Past and Present
James F. Turrell
36. The Ministry/ Mission of the Whole Church in Relation to Ordained and Lay Ministry
Elise A. Feyerherm
37. Lay Designated and Licensed Ministry
William H. Petersen and Susan Marie Smith

Part IX. Pastoral Rites
38. Inculturation of Marriage
Chun Wai Lam
39. Same-Sex Marriage and the Book of Common Prayer
Deirdre J. Good and Andrew R. Wright
40. Evolution of the Funeral Rites in the Book of Common Prayer
Rafael Vilaça Epifani Costa
41. Inculturation of Funeral Rites in Kenya
John Ndung'u Ikenye
42. Corporate Reconciliation
Michael Battle
43. Anglican Rites of Healing
Linda Malia

Appendix: Anglican Prayer Books

Index