Celebrating the Book of Common Prayer since 1986
Newsletter editor Diana Verseghy recently interviewed Arlie Coles, the developer of a new online resource designed to demonstrate how thoroughly Scriptural the Prayer Book is. Arlie tells how this project grew out of her interest in linguistics and computer science.
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.
Archdeacon John Ferns provides a retrospective on the life and scholarly writings of Ian Robinson: a prolific author, a long-time trustee of the English Prayer Book Society, and an ardent proponent of the Book of Common Prayer and the King James Bible.
The Rt. Revd. Michael Hawkins, Bishop of Saskatchewan, wrote this piece for our newsletter after accepting the Society’s request in 2021 to become our Episcopal Visitor. We have been grateful for his support ever since the early days of the PBSC.
This chronological survey by Peter Scotchmer demonstrates the impact of the Prayer Book on the work of 45 major writers from Shakespeare to T.S. Eliot. Copies are still available.
“…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
Louis Harris, a PBSC bursary recipient in 2017, chats about his own faith journey, about the attitudes of the millennial generation towards traditional Christian belief, and about the role of the BCP in the renewal of the church.
The Revd. Don Aellen muses on the power of the BCP burial office in the context of a traditional commital, together with its healing effect on family and friends.
On the occasion of starting his position as Principal of Wycliffe College in Toronto in August 2016, the Rt. Revd. Dr. Stephen Andrews wrote about the past, present and future place of the Book of Common Prayer at the College.
Two young Chinese people, James Liu and Morning Wang, have started Mandarin fellowship groups in Toronto Anglican churches. And they are enthusiastic users of the Book of Common Prayer! They were interviewed for the PBSC newsletter in 2016.
The celebrated mystery writer P.D. James, who passed away in 2014, was a warm supporter of the Book of Common Prayer and a patroness of the English Prayer Book Society. A past chairman of that Society, Anthony Kilmister, reminisces about her.
The Revd. Gordon Maitland, PBSC National Chairman, reflects on the subtle interplay between the themes of incarnation and atonement during Advent and Lent within the traditional church calendar, as it is preserved in the Book of Common Prayer.
By Aaron James. This essay won the third prize in a competition organized by the PBSC Ottawa Branch in 2012 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Canadian BCP and the 350th anniversary of the 1662 English BCP.
Attending a service of BCP choral Evensong and seeing a young woman in a hijab sitting in a pew, Presbyterian professor Carl Trueman is led to reflect on the powerful Scriptural witness and the compelling devotion found in the Book of Common Prayer.
A sermon preached by the then Bishop of London, the Rt. Revd. Richard Chartres, at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, England, on the occasion of the celebration of the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, held on May 2, 2012.
In this piece, written in 2012, the Rt. Revd. Dr. Stephen Andrews, then Bishop of Algoma, reflects on his discovery of the Book of Common Prayer as a young theological student and his ongoing deep appreciation for it.
A sermon preached by the Revd. Dr. Ephraim Radner, Professor of Historical Theology at Wycliffe College, Toronto, in which he expounds upon the many profound ways in which the Prayer Book is spiritually challenging, nurturing and formative.
By Joel Reinhardt. This essay won the second prize in a competition organized by the PBSC Ottawa Branch in 2012 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Canadian BCP and the 350th anniversary of the 1662 English BCP.
The Revd. Gordon Maitland, PBSC National Chairman, wrote this article for the PBSC Newsletter in 2012, describing two moving services of BCP Evensong that he had attended within the space of one week, in widely differing time zones and settings.
By Elliot Rossiter. This essay won the first prize in a competition organized by the PBSC Ottawa Branch in 2012 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Canadian BCP and the 350th anniversary of the 1662 English BCP.
Bishop Stephen Andrews writes about his experience at one of the “Cranmer Conferences” for young adults, which the PBSC promoted and helped to organize and which were held annually from 2006 to 2011.
Desmond Scotchmer, a past National Chairman of the PBSC, offers a meditation upon the Prayer of Humble Access, explaining it as “a prayer of searching, uncompromising spiritual purity and power”.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury the Rt. Revd. Dr. Rowan Williams reflects upon the echoing sequences of words built up in the Prayer Book by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer so as to express again and again “our amazement at God’s free forgiveness”.
Desmond Scotchmer, a past National Chairman of the PBSC, meditates upon the cycle of Advent collects and lections in the Book of Common Prayer.
In this article the Revd. David Burrows, then rector of St. Olave’s Church in Toronto, offers some humorously individual but striking remarks from his perspective as a police chaplain as to why he appreciates the BCP.
Although this address was delivered by the Revd. Kevin Holsapple of Bangor, Maine to the Eastern Newfoundland Branch of the Society back in 1995, it still resonates with down-to-earth wisdom, insight and humour.
This book was produced in 1989 by the Association for Common Prayer, to encourage a renewed appreciation of the spiritual richness of the Prayer Book. It contains reflections on the services in the BCP, written by various members of the Association.