How to Use the Book of Common Prayer

"The Book of Common Prayer is a rich resource for Christians who want to be more wisely prayerful, but its structure and organization may confuse novices. Samuel Bray and Drew Nathaniel Keane have provided a great service to anyone puzzled by the BCP—and to many longtime users like me. This book is a trove of wonders and a guide full of wisdom, and every serious user of the BCP should own it."

-Alan Jacobs, distinguished professor of humanities in Baylor University's Honors Program and author of The Book of Common Prayer: A Biography

"The recent revival of interest in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer has created a need to provide modern readers with a user-friendly introduction to it. The editors of the of The 1662 Book of Common Prayer, International Edition have assumed no prior knowledge of liturgical worship and have guided readers step by step through its principles and content. This book challenges both students and pastors to reflect carefully about our public devotion to the service of God and shows how it can be enriched by drawing on this classical English text."

-Gerald Bray, research professor of divinity at Samford University

"If like me you struggle to navigate the Book of Common Prayer, help is at hand. Samuel Bray and Drew Nathaniel Keane have come to the rescue by providing us with this excellent guide."

-Alistair Begg, senior pastor of Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio

"Samuel Bray and Drew Nathaniel Keane have succeeded extraordinarily in a task where many others have failed. This introduction to the ascetical use of the Book of Common Prayer (for it has no other purpose!) is given a very helpful historical background that never overwhelms the purpose of the prayer book and this volume: to help us to pray, and to pray rightly. No single book of prayers has shaped the prayer lives of English speakers like the 1662 BCP, and thankfully this little guide will only add more names to that list."

-Matthew S. C. Olver, publisher and executive director of The Living Church Foundation

"As a user and teacher of the Book of Common Prayer on the ground in local churches, I have long hoped for a resource like this to hit the shelves. For me and my congregations, it needed to be comprehensively researched, theologically tuned to Cranmer's intentions, and then written with a punchy immediacy that wonderfully ordinary worshipers could enjoy. Thank God that resource is finally here!"

-Zac Hicks, pastor of Church of the Cross in Birmingham, Alabama, and author of Worship by Faith Alone

"The Book of Common Prayer is the undisputed masterpiece of English liturgy that has stirred the souls of countless Anglicans (and others) across five centuries. This guide opens with a short history of the BCP and then expounds the significance of the components of the various services. Readers unfamiliar with the BCP will find it to be a treasure trove of public and private devotion to God, while those familiar with its use will be blessed by the careful explanation of the liturgical magnificence of Thomas Cranmer, the expert liturgist. This book will be a valuable resource for many."

-Glenn N. Davies, former archbishop of Sydney

"I've been consistently blessed and also enlightened in reading and reflecting on the insights of this unique guidebook. It's much more than just a guide. Having been raised on prayer book worship, and then having led Anglican worship for fifty additional years, I am pretty well saturated with the prayers and poetry of the Book of Common Prayer, the unique book that nurtured Wesley, Whitefield, Newton, Stott, Packer, and millions more. Yet each chapter fed and refreshed me in my own walk with Christ. Reading Bray and Keane is like sitting with a wise, godly mentor who wants to open your mind and heart to new depths of worship."

-John Yates, founding pastor of The Falls Church Anglican