A History of the Book of Common Prayer in Four- Minute Chunks (Part the Sixth)

During the grueling, four-month debate of the Savoy Conference, the Anglican Bishops yielded almost nothing to their Puritan and presbyterian opponents. Most of their responses to the pages and pages of Puritan objections to the Prayer Book were concluded with the same response: “we think it fit that it continue as it is.” Those few concessions they made, were, tar-baby like, almost all changes the bishops themselves had proposed before the Conference was even called.

Having refused to change anything in the Prayer Book during the Conference, however, the bishops after the Conference began proposing changes to the Old Book right and left. The Prayer Book some of them intended to put together would have made the Puritans apoplectic. Looking back to the first Prayer Book of 1549 and the Scottish Prayer Book of 1637, they meant to review the Liturgy of the English Church “ comparing the same with the most ancient liturgies, which have been used in the Church in the primitive and purest times” (to use King Charles’ directive), and revise it accordingly.

The men of Parliament, however, were not liturgical scholars. They had little interest in “the most ancient liturgies.” They wanted to quit arguing about religion. The King was restored, the Church re-established; it was time to get things back to normal. They tossed the Prayer Book to the Convocations of Canterbury and York (the governing houses of clergy for the two provinces of England), telling the reverend members to present their new Prayer Book “to us without delay for our consideration, allowance, or confirmation." The two Convocations (York in northern England, Canterbury in the south) worked together to reach agreement on the new book. On November 21, 1661, the King’s letters conveying Parliament’s statement were read to the Convocation of Canterbury. “The time for your work,” they were told, “is short.”

Messengers carried the work of the two Convocations back and forth for a month; bishops and scholars burned their candles down to the nub, writing, reading, composing, and debating the changes to the New Book. By December 20, the Convocations reported to Parliament their work was done. The New Book was sent to the King and his Council before Christmas. Their work sat, unopened, in the Privy Council’s chamber for two months while other business was pursued. On February 24, 1662, the Bishops of London, Durham, Salisbury, Worcester and Chester were summoned “to that day present the said book to the King and Council.” By the afternoon, the notes of the Privy Council tell us, “the Book of Common Prayer, with the Amendments and Additions…was read and approved,” and ordered to be transmitted to Parliament. Not bad for a morning’s work: perhaps, like our modern-day legislators, they didn’t read the whole thing.

The Council sent the New Book to the House of Lords. They passed it “finding no need to review its contents.” The same day they passed the Act of Uniformity, declaring the New Book to be THE Book of Common Prayer. When the Book and attached Act was sent to the House of Commons, it was decided “the Book need not be read, the Lords Bishops being content to so have it.” Commons attached a series of resolutions to their approval of the Act, ordering “reverent gestures and demeanors” to be “enjoined on all at the time of Divine Service.” These required faithful Churchmen to “bow at the mention of the Lord Jesus’ Name” and to make “a humble gesture toward the Altar or Holy Table set in the Chancel” of their churches. The Puritans would not have been happy.

Parliament returned their work to the King. On May 10, 1662, he signed it, ordering that on St Bartholomew’s Day (August 24), printers across the country should make it available. The whole thing was put into the hands of John Cosin, the Bishop of Durham, to complete. He issued the following orders to all who were licensed to print the Book:

“To the Printers:

Page the whole Book.

Add nothing. Leave out nothing. Alter nothing, in what Volume soever it be printed. Particularly; never cut off the Lord's Prayer, Creed, or any Collect with an &c.; but wheresoever they are to be used, print them out at large, and add ‘Amen’ to the end of every prayer.

Never print the Lord's Prayer beyond—‘deliver us from evil. Amen.'

Print the Creeds always in three paragraphs, relating to the three Persons, &e.
Print not Capital letters with profane pictures in them.

In all the Epistles and Gospels follow the new translation [i.e., the King James Version of 1611].

As much as may be, compose so that the leaf be not turned over in any Collect, Creed, Verse of a Psalm, in the Middle of a sentence, &c.

Set not your own Names in the Title-page nor elsewhere in the Book, but only ‘Printed at London by the printers to the King's most excellent Majesty. Such a year.'

Print Glory be to the Father, &c. at the end of every Psalm, and of every part of Psalm 119.”

The Prayer Book of 1662 was done. It is still the official Book of Common Prayer for the Church of England today. Next week, we’ll look at some of the changes the Bishops made to the Book and, more interestingly, the changes they didn’t make. The Puritans may have been sent packing; but the united front the Bishops presented against them was already beginning to crack—and the Prayer Book would be a battleground once more.