Comments on: With the Grain of the Prayer Book https://livingchurch.org/covenant/with-the-grain-of-the-prayer-book/ Thu, 20 Jun 2024 21:37:22 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 By: Keith Thompson https://livingchurch.org/covenant/with-the-grain-of-the-prayer-book/#comment-5445 Thu, 20 Jun 2024 21:37:22 +0000 https://livingchurch.org/?p=75172#comment-5445 Although not an Anglican I have found such beauty and strength in the prayers and forms as found in the Book of Common Prayer, adapting the grain to my needs and circumstances. My concept of the Almighty is one where order was brought out of disorder and form is at the very root of the creation and substance of this world. I serve a God of order and form. For me it’s a matter of approaching divinity with the proverbial removing of my sandals and then to have a structured and orderly approach to my own personal relationship with the Divine. Spontaneity is not hindered by form nor does form inhibit or negate spontaneity. With the current attitudes of society it has become fashionable to throw off anything that speaks of too much structure. I have long remembered a workshop that I took many years ago and the opening words were, “structure relieves stress.” Approaching God with a sense of awesomeness and acknowledging the need for structure in approaching the divine I have found to be inexplicably liberating.

]]> By: Todd Granger https://livingchurch.org/covenant/with-the-grain-of-the-prayer-book/#comment-5172 Sat, 15 Jun 2024 13:16:00 +0000 https://livingchurch.org/?p=75172#comment-5172 An excellent essay and both imaginative and solid advice in how pastorally to use the Prayer Book and its ethos to order liturgies for those out of the ordinary places and times in our lives.

You might be interested to know that the Book of Common Prayer (2019) of the Anglican Church in North America expanded the Prayer for a Vigil into a short service (pages 243-245) whose structure is very similar to what you created yourself.

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