Turning Points in Prayer Book History: From England Through Scotland, to the United States

The story of the development of the American prayer book told through eight turning points.

The Book of Common Prayer has a central place in the faith and practice of Anglicans around the world and, within the United States, in the Episcopal Church. In their exciting new work in prayer book studies, Nathan Jennings and Matthew Olver tell the story of the development of the American Book of Common Prayer through eight turning points, from the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cramner’s translation of currents of the Protestant Reformation in the first English-language liturgies to the renewed baptismal theology that is central to the current American Prayer Book. Each turning point includes detailed historical context alongside an evocative discussion of how historical events shaped the theology of the Book of Common Prayer.

The book concludes with a commentary on key liturgies within the American prayer book, tracing the historical development of each liturgy through earlier English-language traditions and examining the theology of each rite. Written by top scholars, Turning Points in Prayer Book History offers a fresh introduction to the American prayer book for clergy, students, and anyone else who is interested in engaging more deeply with the Anglican tradition.