Celebrating the Book of Common Prayer since 1986
PBSC National Vice-Chairman the Revd. Chris Dow calls into question a problematic alternative collect in the Revised Common Lectionary that was authorized for use by General Synod in 2019, and seems to be addressed to the Prince of Darkness.
The annual PBSC bursaries programme is now open. The Society offers bursaries of up to $1,000 to theological students who support the use of the Book of Common Prayer. The deadline for applications is November 1st, 2025.
In an interesting development, this new lectionary that was developed under the auspices of the PBSC to supplement the BCP eucharistic lections has been approved for trial use in some Florida parishes.
In an exciting development, the Revd. Chris Dow, one of the national Vice-Chairmen of the PBSC, has been appointed as the chaplain of Wycliffe College in Toronto. Fr. Dow describes his experiences since arriving at the College.
A group of Maritime clergy is reviving the practice of holding occasional retreats featuring Prayer Book worship at a Nova Scotia monastery. The first will take place from Friday, March 21 to Sunday, March 23, 2025.
The 2025 Annual General Meeting of the Prayer Book Society of Canada was held via Zoom on Saturday, May 31st. The supporting documents and the reports that were presented at the meeting can be read here.
Beginning January 2, 2025 Huron’s Licentiate in Theology Program will offer this course, offered either for credit or to audit, and to be hosted via zoom.
The annual PBSC bursaries programme is now open. The Society offers bursaries of up to $1,000 to theological students who support the use of the Book of Common Prayer. The deadline for applications is November 1st, 2024.
We are delighted to announce the completion of the project, launched in 2021, to produce a series of Old Testament lections to complement the Prayer Book Eucharistic lectionary. Full details, background information, and additional resources are available.
We are delighted to report that at the 2024 Annual General Meeting of the PBSC, recently retired Bishop Michael Hawkins was elected as its new Honorary President, in recognition of his long-standing support of the Society.
The 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Prayer Book Society of Canada was held via Zoom on Saturday, May 11th. The financial statements and the reports that were presented at the meeting can be read here.
Our longstanding goal of adding audio content has begun to come to fruition! Musical setting audio, voiced by Heidi Fewster, can now be heard for Compline.
This is a project that has recently been undertaken by Dr. Crouse’s former students to pass on in publication form “his profound philosophical thinking that gathers up the riches of the Western intellectual tradition, interpreted by caritas.”
The Very Revd. Chris Dow provides an update on the initiatives to expand the app to include French and Inuktitut, and to include musical settings for the liturgies, beginning with Compline.
The annual PBSC bursaries programme is now open. The Society offers bursaries of up to $1,000 to theological students who support the use of the Book of Common Prayer. The deadline for applications is November 3rd, 2023.
This prayer, spearheaded by members of the PBSC, was formally approved at General Synod in late June and will be included in all future printings of the BCP.
The 2023 AGM was held via Zoom on Saturday, May 27th. The documents relating to the meeting can be found here.
This annual event for youth aged 13-19 has been running in the Maritimes for 33 years! Participants pray together using the BCP, learn about the Anglican tradition, and relax and play in a beautiful riverside setting. Highly recommended!
In response to numerous requests, the Society is currently engaged in adding the French translation of the 1962 Canadian BCP to the Common Prayer Canada app. The Very Revd. Chris Dow, who chairs the app development committee, provides an update on this project.
The Revd. Benjamin von Bredow provides an update on this project, begun last year, to compile a set of optional Old Testament lessons to complement the Prayer Book eucharistic lections.
This book is a compilation of hundreds of prayers, thematically arranged, drawn almost exclusively from the Canadian Book of Common Prayer. A review of it appeared in the Michaelmas 2022 issue of the PBSC Newsletter.
In this article, written in 2022 for the 60th anniversary year of the 1962 Canadian BCP, the Revd. Gordon Maitland, the national chairman of the PBSC, describes some unique and historically significant Prayer Books that are in his private collection.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the introduction of the 1962 Canadian BCP. The Revd. Dr. Gordon Maitland reflects on this milestone, and highlights three significant dates: March 21, September 3 and November 27.
The Very Revd. Chris Dow, now Dean of the Arctic, writes about his experiences since moving to Iqaluit, and updates us on continuing work towards making the Common Prayer Canada app available in the Eastern Arctic Inuktitut language.
Liturgical Suggestions for 2022 Celebrations of the 60th Anniversary of the Canadian Book of Common Prayer
Bursaries Available: The annual PBSC bursaries programme is now open. The Society offers bursaries of up to $1,000 to theological students who support the use of the BCP. The deadline for applications is November 4th, 2022.
The new Rector of St. Jude’s Cathedral in Iqaluit and Dean of the Diocese of the Arctic is the Rev’d Chris Dow, a member of the PBSC National Council and one of the main architects of the BCP app.
The “Common Prayer Canada” app, developed by the PBSC and released in Advent 2020, has been a great success, having been downloaded by nearly 1,000 users as of February and receiving unanimous 5-star reviews. A major update is planned for this year.
“My aim is threefold: first, to demonstrate that this prayer is in keeping with the form and tradition of the Prayer Book; secondly, to argue that it is necessary in its penitential post-supersessionist attitude toward the Jewish people; and thirdly, to show that it is biblically rooted.” – Rev. Chris Dow
The Revd. Jonathan R. Turtle writes about the motivation that led to the parish that he serves switching from the Revised Common Lectionary to the Prayer Book lectionary for services of the Eucharist, despite its not being a strictly “Prayer Book parish”.
PBSC national chairman the Revd. Dr. Gordon Maitland writes about the new version of the Book of Common Prayer recently produced by the Anglican Church in North America, praising the overall approach taken and the liturgical principles that were followed.
The Revd. Dr. J.I. Packer was a staunch supporter of the BCP, and served as a vice-chairman of the PBSC for many years. He was one of the giants of the Evangelical and Anglican world, like the California Redwoods…
The Society hopes that this mobile app will encourage Christians throughout Canada to take up the discipline of regularly praying the Offices during this “Covidtide”, as well as throughout the next liturgical year and beyond.
“…The Prayer Book is still the core of my devotional life, and the reason why I am an Anglican.” – Diana Verseghy in conversation with Bishop Stephen Andrews and Rev. Gordon Maitland
A notice from the Michaelmas 2014 issue of the PBSC Newsletter, describing the PBSC’s formal response to the proposal to change the marriage canon, in which the Society upheld the classical theology of Christian marriage as laid out in the BCP.
Writing in 2011, Desmond Scotchmer, a past National Chairman of the PBSC, gives an overview of the concerns that led to the founding of the Society in 1986,the challenges that it faced in its early years, and its key accomplishments.