Common Prayer Texts Finally Available!

 

This past week the Anglican Church in North America finally made public their Texts for Common Prayer in downloadable format.  (I would have posted this earlier, but I am having some serious issues with my laptop!)  -  The texts include Morning and Evening Prayer, the Holy Eucharist, and the Ordinal. 

This is such exciting news for many of us who have been waiting for the ACNA to produce a Book of Common Prayer; something that is closer to the 1662 version (and, thus, closer to Wesley's version), but which is more "user friendly," i.e., in contemporary English.  It is hoped that it does include some of the good moves that the '79 Prayer Book made (e.g., the recovery of the Passing of the Peace), without making all of the theological shifts made there and without diverging so drastically from the common prayer tradition.

Also exciting is the statement made on the download site that says, "Although Texts for Common Prayer is copyrighted, many of the texts herein are in the public domain. Nothing in the copyright is designed to prohibit congregations from the free use of the texts in the form published."

It has been my hope that the ACNA would publish a form that could simply be taken over and utilized in a Wesleyan/Anglican worship setting.  With the downloadable option, it is likely that, if there are parts that stray from a Wesleyan understanding, they could be edited for use in a Wesleyan setting (though, I am hopeful that such will not be necessary!).


I should note (as does the article) that these are all still "working" texts.  That means that they are not necessarily in final form.  However, they are the approved texts for the Province.  It is hoped that a book form of these texts will be available by January 1, 2014. -  Until then, the texts, themselves, can be downloaded, here.  I have also included a link to them on my sidebar in the Books of Common Prayer section.

For more information about the liturgy project and the Texts for Common Prayer, click, here.

I look forward to praying these forms of the Daily Office, and I look forward to looking more closely at the service for Holy communion.