Episcopal Christianity is a Way of Teaching
We profess that God comes in events rather than propositions—in Jesus crucified and risen, in water poured, in bread and wine shared. However, in making this affirmation we do not say that words formed into statements of faith are unimportant. Words are very important because …
Therefore, the Holy Spirit calls preachers, teachers, and witnesses to explain the Living Word in words. The Episcopal Church describes itself as “Protestant, yet Catholic” and claims apostolic succession, tracing its bishops back to the apostles via holy orders. The Book of Common Prayer, common words witnessing to the Living Word is a collection of rites, blessings, liturgies, and prayers used throughout the Anglican Communion, and is central to Episcopal worship.
The Protestant movement began in the sixteenth century when a university professor realized that the church was using ‘words” in a way that was hindering the Living Word from reaching the hearts of the people. Some teachers in the church were telling people that they could buy God’s mercy by purchasing indulgences—certificates guaranteeing the forgiveness of sin. The professor understood the practice to be saying, “You don’t need the Living Word which calls for a revolution in the way your live.” The professor, Martin Luther (who was also a Roman Catholic priest), did not want to begin a new church. He wanted to stay in the Roman Catholic church to (1) debate those whose teachings he thought were hindering the Living Word and (2) to teach and preach the Gospel which he believed would reform the church and would call women and men to obedient trust. We can say that Luther understood his work to be …
Leading a teaching movement within the Western Church.
The English Reformation began with Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE) and continued in stages over the rest of the 16th century CE. The process witnessed the break away from the Catholic Church headed by the Pope in Rome. The Protestant Church of England was thus established, and the English monarch became its supreme head. Other consequences included the dissolution of the monasteries, the abolition of the Mass, the use of the English language in services and in the Bible used, the replacement of altars with communion tables, and a general doing away of the more decorative and showy elements of Catholicism both within services and the churches themselves. Most people went along with the change, the rich because of the wealth they gained from the stripped-down Church, and the commoners because they deferred to the authorities and imposition of fines for not toeing the line and attending the new Anglican Church, as it became known. There were, too, objections from both Catholics and more radical Protestants such as the several Puritan groups who would go their own way and establish their own churches which adhered more closely to the thoughts expounded by such reformers as John Calvin (1509-1564 CE).
What is the significance of the English Reformation?
The English Reformation split the Church in England from the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. The Protestant Church of England was established, and the English monarch became its supreme head not the Pope.
What were the three causes of the English Reformation?
The main causes of the English Reformation were King Henry VIII’s desire to divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon, which the Pope would not allow. The king also wanted to reform the Church which many thought corrupt and he wanted its wealth for himself.
How did the English Reformation affect England?
The Reformation had significant effects for England. The monarch became the head of the Protestant Church of England, monasteries were abolished, and their wealth confiscated, and there were significant changes in church services, notably the use of the English language and not Latin and the evolution of the Book of Common Prayer.
The BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER consists of common words witnessing to the Living Word. It is a collection of rites, blessings, liturgies, and prayers used throughout the Anglican Communion, and is central to Episcopal worship (See the attachment How to use the Book of Common Prayer for daily devotions).
How to use the Book of Common Prayer for daily devotions
The Book of Common Prayer can be used to breathe new life into your daily devotions. Regardless of if you’re taking your first steps into a daily prayer habit or you’ve been one who has prayed faithfully for a half-century, this treasury of distilled wisdom can take you deeper into the heart of God and the prayer life of the church than you’ve ever gone before.
The Book of Common Prayer has a rich and complex history that is fascinating, but you don’t have to know very much about it to benefit from its guidance in prayer. This article aims at getting you started with praying the daily offices from the Book of Common Prayer, taking a learn-as-you-go approach. As always, we’ll start small.
Where to find the Book of Common Prayer
First, you’ll need to get your hands on the content. If you’re reading this, you have an internet connection and can therefore get free and easy access to the BCP in several different flavors. If you’ve never used written prayers like the BCP before, I recommend starting with these digital resources even if you think you might prefer a bound edition that you can hold in your hands. The reason is that learning to navigate the printed version can be daunting because you must flip back and forth using the book’s sometimes-confusing print organization. You can always begin with the digital, and if you find it useful, getting a printed copy is very affordable online or in your favorite local bookstore.
In terms of digital resources, I recommend the use of the Church of England’s Daily Offices web site, which should be highly readable from any computer with a web browser. The web page will attempt to determine the time of day and properly select the morning, evening, or night prayer for the current date. I recommend using the “contemporary” version, which uses modern English.
If you would prefer an app for smartphones, the same resources from the Church of England are freely accessible for both iPhone and Android. I suggest you check out Time to Pray
https://www.chpublishing.co.uk/apps/time-to-pray
What exactly is a “daily office”?
The daily orders of prayer and worship outlined in the Book of Common Prayer are called the “daily offices”. The word “office” here is used in a similar sense as the office of president of the United States. While at any given time, the President of the United States is a distinct individual, he or she is also a citizen merely occupying an office larger and more significant than any single person. To pray the daily office is to step into the priestly role conferred on us by Jesus when we were baptized (remember, we are a priesthood of all believers). We take up prayers shaped by centuries of accumulated Christian wisdom, rich enough and flexible enough to be instructive and transformative, day in and day out, our whole lives. These prayers preceded us and will continue after we are gone. They are larger than us and we are enlarged by stepping into them.
Pray the Daily Office in pieces
At first glance, the order for each office can appear quite long. Don’t be intimidated by its length; remember that it’s meant to be comprehensive enough to use for public worship. That doesn’t mean you will use every part of it for daily devotions. Most people who use the BCP select parts of it as a general framework and skip over the rest. We will go through each section briefly and then you can choose for yourself which of these components you’ll want to use.
Overview of the contents
There are three general orders that make up the Daily Offices: morning prayer, evening prayer, and night prayer. Morning prayer and evening prayer are both longer selections, while night prayer is much shorter and has less variation from day to day. Morning prayer is meant to be used to begin the day before regular work or leisure begins. Evening prayer is meant for the end of the workday as a kind of pause before we enter the final stretch of mealtime, rest, and family time that makes up the final third of the day. Night prayer is meant to be used just before retiring for the night.
Throughout the order for prayer, you’ll see notes in the margins indicating which parts are to be read by the leader and which parts are responses on the part of those gathered for prayer. If you’re reading this alone, obviously you’ll read all the parts—but let these cues constantly remind you that you are not alone in praying these prayers; God is with you, listening intently, and that others are praying similar prayers around the world on the same day, perhaps even at the very same time.
All the offices have similar organizational structures, broken into four parts:
Preparation: a series of short “versicles” (short fragments of Scripture) and either an invitational psalm or a seasonal prayer. The preparatory section in the morning and evening ends with a prayer grounding us in the time of day, helping to mark the passing of time and reminding us of God’s presence with us.
Word of God: after the preparation, we proceed into the first of the two principal parts of the Daily Office. For the longer morning and evening prayer, you’ll find one or more psalms (depending on their length), an Old Testament Reading, and a New Testament reading. The readings are arranged thematically to match certain themes and seasonal events in the life of Jesus, with an overall schedule that covers most of Scripture over time. Sometimes the Old Testament selection is taken from the so-called Deuterocanonical books not considered part of the biblical canon. If you prefer, you can use the alternate canonical readings listed below the non-canonical reading. In between the different selections, you’ll find short transitional prayers such as the “Gloria Patri”, other short “responsory” prayers, and canticles drawn from Scripture and long-standing tradition.
Prayers: following the selections from the Word of God, there will be directions separate from the actual prayer, guiding you to various themes of intercession and time to be silent before God. Incorporate your own prayers here and use whatever time of silence you think appropriate. Next is the collect of the day, a traditional written prayer calling us to the imitation of holy men and women who have come before us or drawing us into a discipleship theme appropriate to the season. The Lord’s Prayer follows and leads into the concluding section.
Conclusion: A themed, responsive prayer ends the daily office.
Selecting the components for your daily devotions
If praying written prayers like those in the Book of Common Prayer is new territory for you, I recommend starting small and getting to know the contours of the prayers as you learn to find your own voice in them. Here’s a suggested arrangement of the material for the day.
New to daily devotions: for those who have never used a written prayer book before and who don’t have a daily devotional habit established. This habit should take 5-7 minutes a day while still putting you in touch with the rhythms of the Christian Year and expose you to a wide range of Bible readings. You’ll use the order for morning prayers only. Here are the components you’ll say:
In the preparation section, say the opening versicles and the prayer of thanksgiving or invitatory psalm that begins the section. Skip the hymn/song of scripture section and begin again at the “Gloria Patri” that begins with “Glory to the Father and to the Son…”, saying the last few lines over your day.
Choose one reading in the Word of God section: perhaps sticking from day to day to the New Testament or alternating between New Testament and Psalms.
In the prayers section, say the collect.
Say the prayers in the conclusion section.
As you learn the rhythms of these prayers, consider adding your own requests and intercessory prayers for people in your life before the collect of the day.
New to the Book of Common Prayer: for those who have a daily devotional habit but want to add some depth, structure, and seasonal rhythm. This habit should take 10-15 minutes a day, putting you deeply in the stream of the Christian Year. You’ll use the order for morning prayers only.
Say the whole of the preparation section.
Say the psalm and one of the other readings each day, especially if using the psalms as your own prayer is a new experience for you. Learning to place yourself into the grand narrative of Israel’s prayers as the people of God have been doing for years can be challenging but richly rewarding. Wrestle with the words of psalms that don’t immediately seem to apply; pray them for yourself or as intercessions for others who might have these kinds of prayers in their hearts. Align yourself with God’s steadfast love for his people, accepting it for yourself and praying it into the lives of others. After each reading, say the prayers and responsories following the selections of Scripture, holding in your mind the substance of the Scripture you just read.
Pray your own prayers and intercessions at the beginning of the prayers section. Then say the collect and the Lord’s prayer. Make the Lord’s Prayer the heart of your daily devotion, moving slowly through each line, recognizing its great breadth and depth, aligning yourself with the words of Jesus and where he is directing your thoughts and prayers through the guidance of each thematic line of the prayer.
Conclude with the final lines of the office.
Ready for a new experience of time, ordered by the presence and goodness of God: for those who have been praying the offices for a while and have an established habit of daily devotions, and are now ready for short but powerful patterns of prayer that make holy the hours of each day, offering them to God for his use and glory. You’ll use the morning, evening, and night prayers. Even if you have an established morning prayer routine, adding regular prayers to other parts of your day may still present a challenge. Heed the wisdom of habit change and start small, carving out short spaces of time and expanding them as they become part of your daily routine.
In the morning, use either an abbreviated or full morning prayer, making your intercessions and giving special attention to the coming few hours before lunchtime.
At lunch, pause for a moment, reflect over the previous few hours, mark where you’ve noticed his presence with you. Pray the Lord’s Prayer and offer any intercessions or prayers for the coming few hours until dinnertime.
As you end your workday and begin moving toward the last segment of the day, say an abbreviated selection from the order for evening prayer, with special attention toward the preparatory lines “that this evening may be holy, good, and peaceful“. Let the weight of the day fall from your shoulders as you focus only on what remains of the day.
Finally, before bed, say the night prayers, allowing God to cleanse your spirit through the prayers of confession, going to your night’s rest in full awareness of his presence, love, and care.
- These are only a few suggestions of ways to use the Book of Common Prayer. Listen always to the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you adjust your prayer habits. Allow God himself to lead you into deep, personal knowledge of his love and of the opportunities to bring that love to life in our world. This is the good life of his kingdom.
How to use the Book of Common Prayer for daily devotions
The Book of Common Prayer can be used to breathe new life into your daily devotions. Regardless of if you’re taking your first steps into a daily prayer habit or you’ve been one who has prayed faithfully for a half-century, this treasury of distilled wisdom can take you deeper into the heart of God and the prayer life of the church than you’ve ever gone before.
The Book of Common Prayer has a rich and complex history that is fascinating, but you don’t have to know very much about it to benefit from its guidance in prayer. This article aims at getting you started with praying the daily offices from the Book of Common Prayer, taking a learn-as-you-go approach. As always, we’ll start small.
Where to find the Book of Common Prayer
First, you’ll need to get your hands on the content. If you’re reading this, you have an internet connection and can therefore get free and easy access to the BCP in several different flavors. If you’ve never used written prayers like the BCP before, I recommend starting with these digital resources even if you think you might prefer a bound edition that you can hold in your hands. The reason is that learning to navigate the printed version can be daunting because you must flip back and forth using the book’s sometimes-confusing print organization. You can always begin with the digital, and if you find it useful, getting a printed copy is very affordable online or in your favorite local bookstore.
In terms of digital resources, I recommend the use of the Church of England’s Daily Offices web site, which should be highly readable from any computer with a web browser. The web page will attempt to determine the time of day and properly select the morning, evening, or night prayer for the current date. I recommend using the “contemporary” version, which uses modern English.
If you would prefer an app for smartphones, the same resources from the Church of England are freely accessible for both iPhone and Android. I suggest you check out Time to Pray
https://www.chpublishing.co.uk/apps/time-to-pray
What exactly is a “daily office”?
The daily orders of prayer and worship outlined in the Book of Common Prayer are called the “daily offices”. The word “office” here is used in a similar sense as the office of president of the United States. While at any given time, the President of the United States is a distinct individual, he or she is also a citizen merely occupying an office larger and more significant than any single person. To pray the daily office is to step into the priestly role conferred on us by Jesus when we were baptized (remember, we are a priesthood of all believers). We take up prayers shaped by centuries of accumulated Christian wisdom, rich enough and flexible enough to be instructive and transformative, day in and day out, our whole lives. These prayers preceded us and will continue after we are gone. They are larger than us and we are enlarged by stepping into them.
Pray the Daily Office in pieces
At first glance, the order for each office can appear quite long. Don’t be intimidated by its length; remember that it’s meant to be comprehensive enough to use for public worship. That doesn’t mean you will use every part of it for daily devotions. Most people who use the BCP select parts of it as a general framework and skip over the rest. We will go through each section briefly and then you can choose for yourself which of these components you’ll want to use.
Overview of the contents
There are three general orders that make up the Daily Offices: morning prayer, evening prayer, and night prayer. Morning prayer and evening prayer are both longer selections, while night prayer is much shorter and has less variation from day to day. Morning prayer is meant to be used to begin the day before regular work or leisure begins. Evening prayer is meant for the end of the workday as a kind of pause before we enter the final stretch of mealtime, rest, and family time that makes up the final third of the day. Night prayer is meant to be used just before retiring for the night.
Throughout the order for prayer, you’ll see notes in the margins indicating which parts are to be read by the leader and which parts are responses on the part of those gathered for prayer. If you’re reading this alone, obviously you’ll read all the parts—but let these cues constantly remind you that you are not alone in praying these prayers; God is with you, listening intently, and that others are praying similar prayers around the world on the same day, perhaps even at the very same time.
All the offices have similar organizational structures, broken into four parts:
Preparation: a series of short “versicles” (short fragments of Scripture) and either an invitational psalm or a seasonal prayer. The preparatory section in the morning and evening ends with a prayer grounding us in the time of day, helping to mark the passing of time and reminding us of God’s presence with us.
Word of God: after the preparation, we proceed into the first of the two principal parts of the Daily Office. For the longer morning and evening prayer, you’ll find one or more psalms (depending on their length), an Old Testament Reading, and a New Testament reading. The readings are arranged thematically to match certain themes and seasonal events in the life of Jesus, with an overall schedule that covers most of Scripture over time. Sometimes the Old Testament selection is taken from the so-called Deuterocanonical books not considered part of the biblical canon. If you prefer, you can use the alternate canonical readings listed below the non-canonical reading. In between the different selections, you’ll find short transitional prayers such as the “Gloria Patri”, other short “responsory” prayers, and canticles drawn from Scripture and long-standing tradition.
Prayers: following the selections from the Word of God, there will be directions separate from the actual prayer, guiding you to various themes of intercession and time to be silent before God. Incorporate your own prayers here and use whatever time of silence you think appropriate. Next is the collect of the day, a traditional written prayer calling us to the imitation of holy men and women who have come before us or drawing us into a discipleship theme appropriate to the season. The Lord’s Prayer follows and leads into the concluding section.
Conclusion: A themed, responsive prayer ends the daily office.
Selecting the components for your daily devotions
If praying written prayers like those in the Book of Common Prayer is new territory for you, I recommend starting small and getting to know the contours of the prayers as you learn to find your own voice in them. Here’s a suggested arrangement of the material for the day.
New to daily devotions: for those who have never used a written prayer book before and who don’t have a daily devotional habit established. This habit should take 5-7 minutes a day while still putting you in touch with the rhythms of the Christian Year and expose you to a wide range of Bible readings. You’ll use the order for morning prayers only. Here are the components you’ll say:
In the preparation section, say the opening versicles and the prayer of thanksgiving or invitatory psalm that begins the section. Skip the hymn/song of scripture section and begin again at the “Gloria Patri” that begins with “Glory to the Father and to the Son…”, saying the last few lines over your day.
Choose one reading in the Word of God section: perhaps sticking from day to day to the New Testament or alternating between New Testament and Psalms.
In the prayers section, say the collect.
Say the prayers in the conclusion section.
As you learn the rhythms of these prayers, consider adding your own requests and intercessory prayers for people in your life before the collect of the day.
New to the Book of Common Prayer: for those who have a daily devotional habit but want to add some depth, structure, and seasonal rhythm. This habit should take 10-15 minutes a day, putting you deeply in the stream of the Christian Year. You’ll use the order for morning prayers only.
Say the whole of the preparation section.
Say the psalm and one of the other readings each day, especially if using the psalms as your own prayer is a new experience for you. Learning to place yourself into the grand narrative of Israel’s prayers as the people of God have been doing for years can be challenging but richly rewarding. Wrestle with the words of psalms that don’t immediately seem to apply; pray them for yourself or as intercessions for others who might have these kinds of prayers in their hearts. Align yourself with God’s steadfast love for his people, accepting it for yourself and praying it into the lives of others. After each reading, say the prayers and responsories following the selections of Scripture, holding in your mind the substance of the Scripture you just read.
Pray your own prayers and intercessions at the beginning of the prayers section. Then say the collect and the Lord’s prayer. Make the Lord’s Prayer the heart of your daily devotion, moving slowly through each line, recognizing its great breadth and depth, aligning yourself with the words of Jesus and where he is directing your thoughts and prayers through the guidance of each thematic line of the prayer.
Conclude with the final lines of the office.
Ready for a new experience of time, ordered by the presence and goodness of God: for those who have been praying the offices for a while and have an established habit of daily devotions, and are now ready for short but powerful patterns of prayer that make holy the hours of each day, offering them to God for his use and glory. You’ll use the morning, evening, and night prayers. Even if you have an established morning prayer routine, adding regular prayers to other parts of your day may still present a challenge. Heed the wisdom of habit change and start small, carving out short spaces of time and expanding them as they become part of your daily routine.
In the morning, use either an abbreviated or full morning prayer, making your intercessions and giving special attention to the coming few hours before lunchtime.
At lunch, pause for a moment, reflect over the previous few hours, mark where you’ve noticed his presence with you. Pray the Lord’s Prayer and offer any intercessions or prayers for the coming few hours until dinnertime.
As you end your workday and begin moving toward the last segment of the day, say an abbreviated selection from the order for evening prayer, with special attention toward the preparatory lines “that this evening may be holy, good, and peaceful“. Let the weight of the day fall from your shoulders as you focus only on what remains of the day.
Finally, before bed, say the night prayers, allowing God to cleanse your spirit through the prayers of confession, going to your night’s rest in full awareness of his presence, love, and care.
- These are only a few suggestions of ways to use the Book of Common Prayer. Listen always to the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you adjust your prayer habits. Allow God himself to lead you into deep, personal knowledge of his love and of the opportunities to bring that love to life in our world. This is the good life of his kingdom.
What does the Church of the Creator Believe?
We are a parish in the Episcopal Church of the Diocese of Mississippi and member of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Keeping with the Anglican Spirit, our beliefs are best expressed through prayer. Here is a prayer (or collect) to express what we believe:
Church of the Creator Collect
Almighty and Eternal God, you call us together as the Creator family and bind us in Christian love and witness. So focus our hearts and minds upon Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and guide us to know your Holy Spirit in the life of our parish, that we may realize that our similarities are greater than our differences. Help us to recognize your image in all people as we work together as one body in Christ to the glory of your Kingdom now and forever. Amen.
Our Vision: To make Christ’s love for us known by our love for others.
Our Core Values:
1) Gospel-centered Worship—Rooted in the liturgical traditions of the apostolic church, our hearts and minds are focused upon our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through the:
a. Proclamation of the gospel
b. Singing of sacred hymns
c. Recitation of common prayer
d. Confession and assurance of forgiveness
e. Receiving of the spiritual food of Christ’s body and blood
2) Theological Exploration – We believe that the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth not by giving us the right answers but by inviting us to ask better questions within a community who values relationships over ideas.
3) Generous Hospitality – We believe that God looks upon the whole human family with a spirit of compassion, and we seek to do likewise through our parish family.
4) Reconciling Community – We seek to model a faith that believes the love of God breaks down the walls that separate making us one body in Christ.
5) Relationship-based Mission – We believe that all people – the weak and the strong, the rich and the poor, the young and the old – are an essential part of life together in the kingdom of God.
- For more information on what we believe, check out the Episcopal Outline of Faith (or Catechism).
What does the Episcopal Church believe?
From the National Church’s website
We Episcopalians believe in a loving, liberating, and life-giving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As constituent members of the Anglican Communion in the United States, we are descendants of and partners with the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church and are part of the third largest group of Christians in the world.
We believe in following the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection saved the world.
We have a legacy of inclusion, aspiring to tell and exemplify God’s love for every human being; women and men serve as bishops, priests, and deacons in our church. Laypeople and clergy cooperate as leaders at all levels of our church. Leadership is a gift from God and can be expressed by all people in our church, regardless of sexual identity or orientation.
We believe that God loves you – no exceptions.
Prayer for the Church
Gracious Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth and in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Savior. Amen.