Prayer books

My copy of The Book of Common Prayer 2019 arrived in the mail this morning. I value this sort of thing primarily for the prayers although I also very much like some of the specific orders of worship, especially because they keep the focus of worship where it ought to be — on God. I've accumulated several versions of the Book of Common Prayer. The 1559 version was used in the time of Elizabeth I. The 1928 Episcopal book is valued by American traditionalists. The new 2019 revision was prepared for the Anglican Church in North America, a denomination that split from today's Episcopalians over issues regarding the authority of Scripture. Here, in the second row, are some of the other collections that I have used when preparing to lead worship.

The middle book in the top row is the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer containing the 1928 revision. It was given to me by a fellow teacher who had once studied for the Episcopal priesthood. The Presbyterian collection from 1906 includes a lot of prayers from various traditions and also prayers for home/family worship. The final book, The Worship Sourcebook (2004), is published by Christian Reformed affiliated houses and is a really good resource.