The Book of Common Prayer
Official book of worship of the Episcopal Church.
The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) unifies Episcopal faith around a common life of worship. The prayer book has the order of worship (liturgy) for every service in the church that organizes prayer, movement, music, and silence into ordered, collective experience. In addition to the liturgies for Holy Eucharist, the BCP contains liturgies for:
- Morning Prayer (p. 75)
- Noonday Prayer (p. 103)
- Evening Prayer (p. 115)
- Compline (night time prayer) (p. 127)
- There are also brief liturgies for personal devotions (p. 136)
The BCP Includes:
The prayer book also contains many other services like weddings, funerals, confirmations, and ordinations. There are liturgies for visiting the sick and prayers for many occasions and circumstances. The entire book of psalms is in the prayer book. In fact, much of the prayer book is either directly quoted from scripture or an allusion to it. The prayer book contains the teachings of Jesus in the format of prayer. The use of these prayers forms the unity and the bond of faith for Episcopalians.
For more on the Book of Common Prayer or to view an online copy, follow the links below.