What is The Book of Common Prayer?

Episcopalians are Christians who worship according to The Book of Common Prayer.  The first Book of Common Prayer was produced by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in 1549.  He also produced a revision in 1552 as part of the Church of England breaking its ties with the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation.  These prayer books allowed worship to be conducted in English rather than Latin.  They also brought the diverse rites and services of the medieval church together into one book for use by both clergy and layfolk.

In 1559, another revision appeared as part of the Elizabethan Settlement of Religion that charted the course of Anglicanism as a via media (or middle way) between Protestantism and Roman Catholicism.  A later revision in 1662 is still the official Prayer Book in the Church of England.

Each church in the Anglican Communion has it own adaptation of the Book of Common Prayer.  The prayer book for Episcopalians has gone through a number of revisions. The first prayer book for the American Episcopal Church was approved in 1789.  Today the prayer book the Episcopal Church uses is the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.  The newest revision of the Prayer Book is based firmly upon the Holy Scriptures, the teachings of Patristic Church, the historic Christian liturgies of the early Church, especially the first four centuries of the Christian era, and the earlier Prayer Books.

What are Sacraments?

According the The Book of Common Prayer, sacraments are "outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace, given by Christ as sure and certain means by which we receive grace" (BCP page 857). The Episcopal Church recognizes two sacraments as biblically essential to the Church:  Baptism and the Eucharist. It also recognizes other sacramental rites which evolved in the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, including Confirmation (or baptismal renewal), Ordination, Holy Matrimony, Reconciliation of a Penitent (Sacramental Confession), and Unction (Anointing) of the Sick. These rites make up the traditional seven sacraments of the Western Church.

Holy Baptism: The sacramental rite of full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into membership in the Christian church.  Baptism has received special emphasis in recent years, a development reflected in its prominent place in the Prayer Book (BCP pp. 299-311, as well as in the Easter Vigil and Confirmation rites). At Baptism, the congregation renews its own baptismal vows and welcomes the newly baptized into the community.  If the person baptized is too young to make baptismal promises, they are made in the name of the child by parents and godparents.  Baptism may be by immersion or by pouring water over the head of the baptized.  The Prayer Book strongly urges that Baptism be done by the bishop when possible, and there is no more powerful time than the Easter Vigil when the bishop baptizes and confirms.

The Holy Eucharist: The word "eucharist" means "thanksgiving" in Greek, and is now perhaps the most ecumenically common name for what has also been know as the Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, or the Mass. The Eucharist is the identifying act of the Christian community, what the Prayer Book calls, "the principal act of Christian worship on the Lord's Day, and other major Feasts"  (BCP page 13).  It is found in the Prayer Book in two full versions, one in traditional language called Rite One (BCP pp. 323-49) and one in contemporary language called Rite Two (BCP pp. 355-82).  The Eucharist is the sacrament of Christ's resurrection and his ongoing presence at work among us; it also anticipates the eschatological banquet through which Christ's lordship is proclaimed to all and his promises fulfilled.

Confirmation: A rite (BCP pp. 413-419) for those baptized at an both early age or as an adult desire to make their first mature public affirmation of their faith by renewing their baptismal vows, making a commitment to the responsibilities of baptism, and receiving the laying on of hands by the bishop.  

Reception: a rite designed for those who have been baptized as members of another Christian denomination and have made an adult affirmation of faith in that community, but who now desire to join the Episcopal Church.  If an adult has not made some sort of adult affirmation of faith, then that person should be confirmed, rather than received. Both Confirmation and Reception are a Reaffirmation of Baptismal Vows, and in each case, the candidate makes a mature reaffirmation of faith and receives the laying on of hands by the bishop.

Reaffirmation:  the last of three Prayer Book Confirmation rites. It is designed for persons who have already made a mature public affirmation of faith and have later left the Church or fallen away from active participation in the community and who now wish to express their renewed commitment to their baptismal promises and life as a member of the Episcopal Church.

Holy Matrimony: Holy Matrimony is the Sacrament of Christian marriage. Marriage in the Episcopal Church is a sacramental rite (BCP pp. 422-38) which conveys God's grace to enable the couple to keep the vows they make to each other and to the community. It is intended to be a lifelong union. Divorced persons may remarry in the Episcopal Church but only after the officiating priest has consulted with the bishop and received permission to perform the rite.

Reconciliation of a Penitent: Also know as Sacramental Confession or Penance, the service for the Reconciliation of a Penitent (BCP pp. 447-52) appears in two forms. The purpose of the rite is to provide a mechanism by which one who feels the need to experience forgiveness as the result of sin, can hear God's forgiveness and feel the power of God's reconciling love made concrete in the person of the priest.

Unction of the Sick: The part of the service of Ministration to the Sick (BCP pp. 455-57) which involves anointing the sick with blessed oil and the laying on of hands "by which God's grace is given for the healing of body, mind, and spirit" (BCP page 861). This rite may also take the form of A Public Service of Healing, or as a part of the Eucharistic Rite.

Ordination: The Sacramental Rite by which a man or woman is set apart, by the laying on of hands and prayer by a bishop, to become a deacon (BCP pp. 537-47), priest (BCP pp. 525-35), or bishop (BCP pp. 512-23).