The Prayer Book Society, UK
Some organisations have been around for so long that we give little thought to their timeline and origins. The PBS, UK is one of them.
The society was founded in 1972 amidst liturgical reform in the Church of England. It was feared that the 1662 Book of Common Prayer – despite its continued status as the Church of England’s official standard of teaching –- would fall into disuse, being replaced by contemporary forms of worship.
Deeply rooted in the Bible, The Book of Common Prayer is the traditional service book of the Church of England and contains its official teaching. Created in 1549 and then revised in 1552 by Thomas Cranmer (1489 – 1556), it was the handbook of the new English church which had just split from Rome.
Cranmer – a leader of the Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I – compiled The Book of Common Prayer by drawing extensively on his personal library of 600 printed books and more than 60 manuscripts. Although further revisions were made in subsequent editions published in 1559, 1604 and 1662, the content of the 1662 Prayer Book in use today remains significantly as Cranmer wrote it.
The Prayer Book Society encourages rediscovery and use of the majesty and spiritual depth of The Book of Common Prayer at the heart of the Church of England’s worship.
- land of the living
- all sorts and conditions of men
- a tower of strength
- till death us do part
- weigh the merits
- lead a new life
- all my worldly goods
- give up for lost
- at death’s door
- make haste
