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Monday, November 29, 2004

It Came 

As I mentioned, over the holiday week I was reading Jeff Lee's book "Opening the Prayer Book" and thus became very interested in the history of liturgical change. He talks about the relatively minor rhetorical changes in the early editions that represented vast theological gulfs and then then how the 1928 and 1979 editions were both radically different in both semantics and theology (without going outside the bounds of what it means to be an Episcopalian Christian of course, though some might disagree). So, I obviously have a 1979 Book of Common Prayer because that is the one in use right now. I also have a 1928 BCP, the previous edition, given to me by my Uncle Al from the church of his youth. As different as '79 is from '28, '28 is from 1892. That sequence - 1892, 1928, 1979 - represents almost a complete scope of the Episcopal liturgy. So, just because I was curious, I went online to see if anyone still had an 1892 BCP and was selling it. The first place I looked, Half.com, came up empty. Then I turned to Ebay, which I had never used before. I found an 1892 BCP for auction and the current going price was....are you ready for this...$6.50. There were zero other bidders. So, I put in my bid, with an appropriate maximum bid. But, the auction closed without anyone else bidding on it, so I won it for that incredible price plus s&h. It came today. I have not had time to really sit down with all three BCP's and look over some of the more obvious differences let alone the minutia, but I will. For the time being though, I am very, very excited.

A side effect of all this has been a shift in my thinking. I used to think along the lines of, "The 1979 BCP is the one I grew up with and is the one I want to use forever." Now, I have come to an understanding that the BCP is a living document, just as its users and the liturgy it contains are living. It should change with time, through careful consideration, prayerful intent, and scholarly investigation. For now though, I am fascinated with the changes that have gone on in the past and look forward to unraveling them.

-R

posted by Ryan @ 7:03 PM   Permanent Link for this Entry

8 Comments:

I think most of the BCPs can be found here at Anglicans Online.

Not the same as having book in hand. And for $6.50, you can hardly beat the price.

By Blogger Dawgdays, at 10:04 PM  

K - I also "enjoy" the form of prayer for visitation with those in prison..."Dearly beloved, it hath pleased Almighty God, in his justice, to bring you under the sentence and condemnation of the law."

-R

By Blogger Ryan, at 12:35 AM  

I have a 1928, of course, that being what we used when I was a child; and then, a set of books that my grandmother was given in high school: 1892 BCP, and 1895 hymnal. I love looking through them, and getting a feel for how theology, and worship, have changed. A living document, indeed.

Wes is right, they are all online; but someday it would be grand to have more of the "real" texts, as well: 1789, and back to the English texts.

You're going to love Ruth's Anglican Worship class.

By Blogger Jane Ellen+, at 7:39 AM  

I have a complete set of American prayerbooks. I got both my 1892 and my 1789 on eBay, and, as I noted on my blog at the time, for $30 the lot, including shipping. Quite a deal. The secret is that a 1789 BCP will not be described as such. But all you have to do is find a Book of Common Prayer printed before 1892, and you've got it! I think mine was printed sometime in the 1820s.

Good luck. <--Micah.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:06 PM  

". . .the BCP is a living document, just as its users and the liturgy it contains are living. It should change with time, through careful consideration, prayerful intent, and scholarly investigation." That's it right there, isn't it? All living things change. We live and grow in our understanding. Our liturgy lives and grows. The problem with some, if not most conservatives, is that they want everything to stay exactly the same -- static, unchanging . . . dead. If we are to grow, we need to change in many ways, and that can be difficult for some to cope with.

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:15 PM  

To Anonymous:

You wrote: "The problem with some, if not most conservatives, is that they want everything to stay exactly the same -- static, unchanging . . . dead."

That simplifies the issue a bit too much, I think. Conservatives, if I may be so bold as to make such a broad statement, hold a more traditional theology which manifests itself in practices that some view as archaic at the worst and irrelevant to modern society at best. The arguments across the conservative/liberal divide usually break down quickly, with everyone running back to the same old trenches. Then, liberals are unable or unwilling to provide good theological and/or scriptural support for the changes they are desiring(that's not to say it isn't there, just that it's not brought into the conversation very often)and conservatives see no need to change what works for them. In other words, we should stop calling each other names and pointing fingers and talk more about experience and feeling. When we share experiences and feeling we become more real to one another and then we are more willing to listen to one another. Defensive walls come down and we're more willing to engage each other. To make the leap from saying "unchanging" to "dead" just builds those walls higher. So, I appreciate your comment and hope that you are willing to be a partner in the conversation around liturgical change. That's what Jeff Lee's book has done for me - invited me into the conversation and been willing to talk it out with me. The invitation is as vital as the content.

-R

By Blogger Ryan, at 11:53 PM  

Hmmm -- That "Anonymous" post came from me. Not sure how that happened, I thought I was logged in as me. Oh well. Anyway, you are right in that the conversation needs to keep going. Enjoy your books. And I'm going to have to check out e-bay.

By Blogger Reverend Ref +, at 12:35 PM  

Oh, hi Ref! Yes, do check out Ebay - its a great place for this kind of thing apparently. Also, congratulations on your new signage.

-R

By Blogger Ryan, at 6:00 PM  

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