The American Prayer Book
The title page of the 1785/6 Revision of the BCP The main reason that there is an American edition of the Book of Common Prayer is the revolution of 250 years ago. The 1662 BCP contained prayers for the King at each of the regular services - Morning Prayer, Litany, Holy Communion, and Evening Prayer - and these prayers were commonly amended on the fly between 1776 and 1783 in Patriot leaning congregations. Some parishes have preserved 1662 BCPs with these ad hoc changes wri
2 hours ago4 min read
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"Rogation" Sunday
Beating the Bounds - 1950s The Fifth Sunday after Easter is referred to by the subtitle 'Rogation Sunday' in the American 1928 Prayer Book as it is the Sunday before the three lesser Rogation days which are the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day. The fact that they were once called the 'lesser' Rogation Days implies that there were major Rogation Days, and these were associate with St Mark's Day in April. This year, the two are closer together than normal t
May 82 min read
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Risen with Christ...
Unlike so many clergy, I did not grow up in the Church as such. Christianity was kindly regarded by my family, but church-going was not on the regular schedule. My early perceptions of Christian worship were school assemblies (I grew up in the UK) and what was seen and heard via the TV or the radio. As a child I found the religious side of Christmas nice, but a bit irrelevant. It was only when the full impact of St John's words, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among
Apr 303 min read
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Holy Week & Easter Services
Palm Sunday (from a few years ago) Holy Week is upon us once more, and we are about to enter the eight most important days in the Church Calendar. Not every parish can keep the full round, and that is very much the case here, but we will be having services on Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and of course, Easter itself. PALM SUNDAY 11:00am Blessing of Palms, Procession and Holy Communion (1662) - this is the usual main liturgy for this day which starts with the co
Mar 282 min read
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Before Abraham was, I am
The Gospel for Passion Sunday, the Fifth Sunday in Lent, contains one of the more unnerving passages in the Gospel - a tense exchange between Jesus and "the Jews" - which is St. John the Evangelist's short hand for the political and religious establishment in Jerusalem. Jesus assertion that, "Before Abraham was, I am" must have hit them with the force of a hammer because in using that phrase Jesus is asserting his divinity, asserting that He is, "God of God, Light of light,
Mar 212 min read
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The Glory of these Forty Days...
Lent necessarily brings a change of pace in the Church's liturgy and life. The last three "Gesima" Sundays sort of got is into the mood, but with Wednesday's Litany and Penitential Office followed by today's Gospel which was Matthew's account of the temptation of Christ by the Devil at the end of His forty days in the wilderness the fact that Lent is upon us was brought home forcefully. In Latin, the Lenten season is called Quadragesima - the Forty Days. The English term,
Feb 223 min read
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Do you Speak "Church"?
Most organizations, if they survive long enough develop their own terminology. Given its origins in the time of the Roman Empire, it is not at all surprising that historic Christian traditions such as Anglicanism use a fair amount of recycled imperial terminology in their every day lives with terms like 'diocese' and 'province' being traceable to the administrative Reforms of Diocletian (284-305). The terms bishop and priest derive from the Latin versions of the Greek episk
Feb 72 min read
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