Book of Common Prayer

Definition and Meaning

The Korean term gongdong gidoseo (共同祈禱書) is a translation of the English title "Book of Common Prayer." "Common" refers to prayer offered together by clergy and congregation in the same words. The book contains the orders of service and prayers for rites such as Morning and Evening Prayer, Holy Communion, Baptism, marriage, and burial. It also includes prayers arranged according to the church year, tables of Scripture readings, and the Psalms. Creeds and prayers such as the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Lord's Prayer have a fixed place in its services, and in some editions the Communion service includes the Agnus Dei ("O Lamb of God").

Biblical and Historical Background

The tradition of praying together at set times is an ancient one, as reflected in the record that the early church "continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42). The medieval Western church used the Latin Missal and the Divine Office (prayers offered at several fixed hours throughout the day).

During the Reformation in England, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, led the production of the first Book of Common Prayer in English, published in 1549. The book was revised in 1552, and the 1662 edition long served as the standard for the Church of England. Since then, each province of the Anglican Communion has drawn on this tradition to produce its own prayer book in its own language.

The Book of Common Prayer also influenced other traditions. John Wesley abridged and revised it to create a service book for Methodists in North America. By contrast, Puritans and Presbyterians opposed the imposition of set forms of prayer. In the 1640s the Westminster Assembly prepared the Directory for the Public Worship of God, which set out principles and an order of worship rather than fixed prayers.

Practice in Korean Churches

• Anglican: The Anglican Church of Korea is known to use a Korean-language prayer book in the tradition of the Book of Common Prayer. Sunday worship centers on the Holy Eucharist (the Communion service) as set out in the prayer book, and the congregation reads the responses together from the book.
• Methodist: Methodist churches such as the Korean Methodist Church use orders of service and worship books published by their denominations. Some influence of the Book of Common Prayer remains through Wesley.
• Presbyterian and other denominations: Many denominations, including Presbyterian churches, have denominational service books but place greater emphasis on extemporaneous prayer than on fixed forms. The representative prayer and simultaneous audible prayer of Korean churches belong to this tradition.

Because of these differences, assessments of prayer-book worship vary. Anglicans hold that prayer-book worship safeguards the unity of the church and its confession of faith. Denominations that emphasize free prayer hold that worship centered on reading set texts can become formalistic. In recent years, some non-Anglican denominations have also drawn on prayer-book-style prayers for seasonal services, such as those during Lent.