Companion to the Book of Common Prayer

Reverend Dr Gerald Bray gained his doctorate from Paris-Sorbonne. He worked as Anglican Professor of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School, and is now a Research Professor at the same institution. He is also Director of Research at the Latimer Trust. His previous publications with James Clarke & Co. include The Books of Homilies: A Critical Edition (2016), The Institution of a Christian Man (2018), and Documents of the English Reformation (third edition 2020).

The 1662 Book of Common Prayer has had a massive influence on corporate worship inside and outside the Anglican world ever since it was published. The principles which guided the production of this book take us beyond our contemporary superficial approaches to what we do when we gather as the church of God, allowing the great truths of the gospel to shape our response to that gospel as God\rquote s redeemed people. Gerald Bray is uniquely placed to reacquaint us with those principles. His encyclopaedic knowledge of Anglican history and theology enables us to understand why the various services of the book have the shape they do and so enable us to make better use of them. This is a richly edifying companion to the Book of Common Prayer which I highly recommend.

• Preface and Acknowledgements ix1. History of the Book of Common Prayer 1Before the Reformation 4The Reformation Era 23Since the Reformation 752. Introductory Material 103The Preface 103Concerning the Service of the Church 112Of Ceremonies 117The Order How the Psalter Is Appointed to Be Read 122The Order How the Rest of Holy Scripture Is Appointed to Be Read 126Rules Governing the Moveable and Immoveable Feasts 131The Calendar 1383. The Daily Offices 148Morning and Evening Prayer 148Appendices to the Daily Offices 1824. Collects, Epistles and Gospels 198Collects 199Epistles and Gospels 2445. The Lord's Supper 255What's in a Name? 255Basic Principles 257Historical Developments 260The Reformation 269The Ante-Communion 274The Communion 301The Post-Communion 322Excursus: From the 1637 Scottish BCP to the 1789 American BCP 326The Appended Collects 329The Closing Rubrics 3306. Christian Initiation336Introduction 336The Forgotten History 338The Reformation 344The Reformed Baptismal Rites 348English Baptismal Rites 350Public Baptism of Infants (1552/1662) 361Private Baptism of Infants (1552/1662) 376Adult Baptism (1662) 378The Catechism 382Confirmation 3887. Matrimony 393Historical Introduction 393The Reformation 398The Preliminaries to the Marriage Service 398The Marriage Service 403The Post-Matrimonial Service 4078. Other Services and Rites410The Visitation and Communion of the Sick 410The Burial of the Dead 416The Thanksgiving of Women after Childbirth 424A Commination 426Forms of Prayer to Be Used at Sea 431The State Services 4349. The Ordinal 438Introduction 438Theological Questions 439The Reformed Church of England 443The Nomenclature 447The Title and Preface 451The Making of Deacons 456The Ordering of Priests 459The Consecration of an Archbishop or Bishop 46510. The Articles of Religion 471Bibliography 477Index 485Holy Scripture and Early Christian Writings 485Names and Places 493Subjects 498Liturgies and Rites 504Church Councils 505Parliamentary Statutes and Measures 506