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Book of Common Prayer Services at St. Clement’s

Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and is considered one of the great works of world literature. The first prayer book, published in 1549 in the reign of King Edward VI of England, was a product of the English Reformation following the break with Rome. The 1549 work was the first prayer book to include the complete forms of service for daily and Sunday worship in English. It contains Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, the Litany, Holy Communion, and occasional services in full: the orders for Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, “prayers to be said with the sick”, and a funeral service. It also sets out in full the “propers” (the parts of the service that vary weekly or daily throughout the Church’s Year): the introits, collects, and epistle and gospel readings for the Sunday service of Holy Communion. Old Testament and New Testament readings for daily prayer are specified in tabular format, as are the Psalms and canticles, mostly biblical, to be said or sung between the readings.

The 1549 book was soon succeeded by a 1552 revision that was more Reformed but from the same editorial hand, that of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. It was used only for a few months, as after Edward VI’s death in 1553, his half-sister Mary I restored Roman Catholic worship. Mary died in 1558 and, in 1559, Elizabeth I’s first Parliament authorised the 1559 prayer book, which effectively reintroduced the 1552 book with modifications to make it acceptable to more traditionally minded worshippers and clergy.

In 1604, James I ordered some further changes, the most significant being the addition to the Catechism of a section on the Sacraments; this resulted in the 1604 Book of Common Prayer. Following the tumultuous events surrounding the English Civil War, when the Prayer Book was again abolished, another revision was published as the 1662 prayer book. That edition remains the official prayer book of the Church of England, although throughout the later 20th century, alternative forms that were technically supplements largely displaced the Book of Common Prayer for the main Sunday worship of most English parish churches

Our Evensong services:

At St. Clement’s we have long yearned to start praying together using the Book of Common prayer, in addition to our Sunday Sung Eucharist services, and at Easter 2024 we were ready to start with bimonthly services, which have proved a success.  

Join us every first and third Wednesday of the month at 5 pm and participate in an intense, timeless act of worship that has entranced Anglicans by its simplicity and uplifting language for over three and a half centuries.

You may wish to also read or chant the Psalms we use during our services of Evening Prayer at St. Clement’s. Click on the links below:

Download the order of service
for Morning Prayer

Download the order of service
for Evensong

Download our
Psalter Collection, Volume 1

Psalms:

Canticles (Songs):