Historic Worship

Would Christians of other times and places even recognize as Christian worship,

what happens on Sunday mornings in today's congregations? Where are the Bible readings and Psalms, the creeds and formulations like the Gloria Patri and Gloria in

Excelsis Deo (known as the minor and major doxologies), the Lord's Supper and the

Lord's Prayer?

It is easy to think of tradition as that which is past, a lifeless shell, what ought to be

left to history. But everywhere the destructive consequences of forgetting our

heritage - whether as Christians or Americans - are clear. We live in a generation

that has been systematically cut off from its past. Renewal, and in fact, spiritual life

and safety, depend upon a different premise: tradition is not that which is dead, but

that which is already living.

Rediscovering historic Christian worship is to discover the living Christian witness

from the time of the Apostles to our day. It is to tie into the foundation. To use the

Biblical metaphor, as living stones, we are to be a part of God's building, built upon

the one foundation.

The Book of Common Prayer, or simply Prayer Book is the product of the Church of

England (Anglican) as it was reformed through the Protestant Reformation. It is

historic, Christian worship. It is the Bible and good theology in action, that is,

expressed in serving God through worship.