The revised edition of the Book of Common Prayer overcomes divisive tension between different places of worship,writes Canon Ricky Rountree.
Today the bookshops release the third revised edition of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) since the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1870. While the editions of 1878 and 1926 were mild revisions of the 1662 prayer book, the 2004 edition is a much greater exercise in updating the liturgy of the Church of Ireland.
The new BCP incorporates both traditional language services and contemporary language services. The traditional language material is derived from the main liturgies of the 1926 book with only rubrical simplification and the change of "Holy Ghost" to "Holy Spirit" and the "who" form of the Lord's Prayer.
The contemporary language liturgy is a combination of the material of the Alternative Prayer Book (1984) and the fruit of liturgical development since then.
It now means that the Church of Ireland returns to having one book forming its core worship book and personal devotional manual.
In 1997 the General Synod of the Church of Ireland requested its Liturgical Advisory Committee to undertake a thoroughgoing revision of the Book of Common Prayer, and each year since then the legislative process has continued. Liturgical legislation is a matter of substance for the Church of Ireland requiring a two-year process for each piece of legislation and a two-thirds majority of all clergy and laity of the General Synod in favour of each piece of legislation.
A resolution with the schedule of the new material is presented to General Synod in year one. Members of synod then have the opportunity to table amendments, which are debated at the following year's synod when the bill goes through its three parliamentary readings. Only then will that piece of liturgy be accepted by the church and later authorised for use.
It is a time-consuming process, but one in which the whole church is involved through its elected representatives, both clerical and lay.
The legislation completing the range of material to be included in the book was finalised in June 2003 and since then the editorial and design work has been in full swing. Columba Press in Dublin was chosen as the publisher of the book and they have delivered a well-bound volume in a number of editions.
The new BCP is published in an ordinary pew edition, a presentation pew edition, both an ordinary and presentation desk edition and a special edition for people with partial sight. A Braille edition is also being made available. Work is well advanced on the Irish language edition of the new book and will be available later in the year, along with an electronic edition especially designed for those preparing service sheets and managing the liturgical life of a parish.
The book contains all the sacramental liturgies, Holy Communion and Christian Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, etc.), Morning and Evening Prayer and a Service of the Word. The occasional offices of Marriage, Funeral Ministry to those who are Sick and the Ordination Services are all included.
The Psalter is the Common Worship Psalter of the Church of England which is printed with pointing marks for ease of singing. The table of Scripture readings according to the three-year lectionary of the Revised Common Lectionary is the one provided.
The newest material in the new BCP is the Christian Initiation and the Ordinal. It has been in these areas of theology and liturgical renewal that the Anglican Communion has given most attention in the past 20 years. The Church of Ireland finds itself as the first Anglican Church to have revised its services of Ordination since the International Anglican Liturgical Consultation met on this subject in 2001.
An important feature of the new BCP is its emphasis on being a private devotional manual as well as being the church's core worship book.
Traditionally Church of Ireland people have wished to own their own book and to use it for their private daily prayers. To facilitate this, the book not only includes a Daily Prayer section with a shortened morning and evening prayer together with intercessions and thanksgivings for each day of the week, but also has included a simple daily prayer for a single time of prayer each day.
The church is aware that many people would like to recapture the discipline of the daily office, but often find it hard to make more than a single period available in a busy schedule.
This simple structure for a daily prayer is printed just inside the cover as well as in the Daily Prayer section to emphasise the provision. There is an added bonus at the end with a subject index of all the prayers and collects used in the book.
Again this helps to make the new BCP a useful tool for private devotion.
The Book of Common Prayer (2004) brings together two integrities of worship, traditional and contemporary. It is a unifying force overcoming the divisive tension which often occurred between different places of worship. It is, therefore, being warmly welcomed throughout the whole Church of Ireland.
The language of the contemporary material has also attempted to be as inclusive as possible and so some of the material drawn from the APB of 1984 has had to be modified to meet that demand.
Modern Anglican worship is characterised by having a definite shape and structure, but within that structure includes a wide opportunity for freedom and creativity in the liturgy of the church. BCP (2004) seeks to facilitate that reality to the best of its ability.
Canon Ricky Rountree is Central Liturgical Officer of the Church of Ireland