THE PRAYER BOOK THROUGH THE AGES
Revised Edition of
The Story of the Real Prayer Book
William Sydnor
OTHER BOOKS BY WILLIAM SYDNOR
How & What the Church Teaches
Jesus According to Luke
Keeping the Christian Year
Looking at the Episcopal Church
More than Words
The Son of God (with Edric Weld)
Sunday’s Scriptures
Traveling the Way (with Drusilla McGowen)
Your Voice, God’s Word
Introductions to the Scripture Read in Worship
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank the following publishers and other copyright owners for permission to quote from the works listed.
Macmillan, London and Basingstoke, for F. Proctor and W.H. Frere, A New History of the Book of Common Prayer, 1955, and G.J. Cuming, A History of Anglican Liturgy, 1969.
Oxford University Press, for P. Dearmer, The Story of the Prayer Book, 1933.
The Folger Shakespeare Library, for J.E. Booty, The Book of Common Prayer—The Elizabethan Prayer Book, 1976.
There are numerous quotations, principally from editorials and letters to the editor, which these periodicals have given me permission to use: The Christian Challenge, The Churchman, The Living Church, The Witness, and Open—The Associated Parishes Newsletter.
Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church gave permission to quote from A. Dean Calcote, “The Proposed Prayer Book of 1785,” Vol. XLVI, September, 1977.
Marion J. Hatchett gave permission to quote from “The Making of the First American Prayer Book,” his doctor’s dissertation, 1973.
If the author has inadvertently infringed any copyright, sincere apologies are offered.
Copyright © 1978 by William Sydnor
Morehouse Publishing
Copyright Revised Edition © 1997 by William Sydnor
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright owner.
Morehouse Publishing
Corporate Office:
P.O. Box 1321
Harrisburg, PA 17105
Morehouse Publishing is an imprint of Church Publishing Incorporated.
A Catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: 0-8192-1509-0
Cover art: Portrait of Thomas Cranmer from The New Episcopal Way by Carl G. Carlozzi, also available from Morehouse Publishing.
Dedication
to
Caroline
who knows how to keep smoldering embers aglow
PREFACE
The predecessor of this book, now titled The Prayer Book Through the Ages, first saw the light of day in answer to a protest nearly two decades ago. The protester wanted a return to “the real Prayer Book services.” He meant the 1928 Book. The answer to him was The Story of the Real Prayer Book in which the eight revisions of the Book of Common Prayer since 1549 were described—why each revision was necessary, what was changed, added, omitted, but more importantly, what was always retained in the “new” book.
The Story of the Real Prayer Book was argumentative, intended to justify the appearance of the 1979 Book. This revised edition intends to take a more temperate view of the whole history of the Book of Common Prayer during its centuries of use.
The people who were my mainstays during the days when I was writing The Story of the Real Prayer Book included these gifted persons who were generous with their help and encouragement. This volume contains many of their insights.
William Sydnor
July 1, 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter I An Extraordinary Book
Chapter II The First English Prayer Books, 1549 and 1552
Chapter VI The First American Prayer Book, 1789