The Book of Common Prayer
An introduction
St Botolph’s is a “Prayer Book Church”, in other words we generally use the words of the Book of Common Prayer for our Services.
The Book of Common Prayer is the traditional service book of the Church of England, and is central to its faith. Compiled in the sixteenth century by Thomas Cranmer, and modified in 1662, the Prayer Book remains at the heart of our worship, and is the official doctrinal standard of the Church of England, as well as of most other Churches in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The Prayer Book has been familiar to generations of men and women for their regular Sunday worship and to make holy the principal events of their lives, the births, the marriages and the deaths. It has been and continues to be loved for its wonderful language, dignified and memorable but always speaking to our human condition. Phrases from it have come into everyday use and have been quoted in literature. ‘Till death us do part’, ‘read, mark, learn and inwardly digest’, ‘peace in our time’. After the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer is the most frequently cited book in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, and is one of the guiding influences on our language and the basis of religious expression in this nation.
The leaders of great movements in the Church have been sustained by the Prayer Book, equally with the most simple worshippers. It has inspired musical settings from some of the best church composers. It keeps its dignity and offers its comfort in every setting from the cathedral to the small country church, or the visit for a communion in the home.
The Prayer Book Society is established for the advancement of the Christian religion as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer; and, in furtherance of this Object, for the promotion of the worship and doctrine enshrined in the Book of Common Prayer and its use for services, teaching and training throughout the Church of England and other Churches in the Anglican tradition.