Looking at my prayer books
I have described on this blog awhile back about how I came to be interested in The Book of Common Prayer, so I shan’t repeat all of that story here. As the years have passed (over twenty of them), I have acquired several different prayer books. So I thought I would discuss them below…
1979 Book of Common Prayer (Episcopal Church USA)
The first copy I purchased of this BCP was a basic, black hardcover edition. No frills, pretty similar to the one found in the pews of most Episcopal churches. Shortly after that, I got two more editions of the 1979 BCP: a little white leather edition (which got water damaged a few months later), and a black bonded leather edition that combined the BCP with the 1982 Hymnal. (That one, even though it looks nice, hasn’t weathered very well: the leather is beginning to crack pretty badly.) The 1979 BCP is readily available online.
1928 Book of Common Prayer (Episcopal Church USA)
I think the next prayer book I discovered was the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the predecessor of the 1979 BCP. The first copy I bought of that edition (from a Barnes & Noble, perhaps?) was a nondescript hardcover edition, burgundy colored with a yellow ribbon marker, published by Oxford University Press.
Later on, I found a slightly older edition of the 1928 BCP at a used bookstore: it was black, with no ribbon marker. (At first, I didn’t realize that it was the same as my other copy of the 1928 BCP, but I finally discovered that the only differences were minor aesthetic ones.) I still sometimes use the 1928 BCP in my devotions, and it’s also available online in PDF form. (You can also listen to the Daily Office from the 1928 BCP at Cradle of Prayer.)
Ebury Press 1662 Book of Common Prayer
At some point around the same time I was discovering the 1928 and 1979 versions of the BCP, I stumbled across an abridged version of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. At least, I think it’s the 1662 edition: it doesn’t specify which edition it is. It’s published by Ebury Press, and it merely says The Book of Common Prayer on the cover. It’s pretty, but not particularly useful for actual worship. It looks like this…
1662 Book of Common Prayer (Cambridge University Press)
Fast-forward several years, to when I caught a YouTube review of Cambridge University Press’s 2016 printing of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. I was impressed with what I saw in the video, and so I ordered a hardcover edition of the Camridge 1662 BCP. It’s actually quite similar to the 1928 BCP in many respects. I don’t use this one all that often, but it is an interesting historical artifact.
Reformed Episcopal Church Book of Common Prayer (2005 Printing)
Just recently, I was in a used bookstore in Nashville, and I came across a prayer book I hadn’t seen before, published by the Reformed Episcopal Church (I hadn’t even been aware that there was such a denomination). It was slightly larger than my 1928 BCP, but rather similar to that edition. However, it also incorporated some material from the old 1662 version. It’s a simple edition of the BCP, but very nicely laid out. You can see a PDF edition of the version here.
2019 Book of Common Prayer (Anglican Church in North America)
Finally, just a couple months ago, the Anglican Church in North American published their own Book of Common Prayer. My copy is a beautiful, red imitation leather edition, and it is quickly becoming my favorite prayer book in my collection. The ACNA attempted to balance the tradition of the older versions of the BCP with the accessible modern English of the 1979 BCP. (I think they largely succeeded in that goal.) The entire text of the ACNA’s new BCP is available in PDF. Here’s a picture of the edition I have…
