Sunday Theology Talks
The Book of Common Prayer: History and Theology – The New Prayer Book: From 1928 to 1979
The Rev. Dr. Andrew McGowan
Dean of Berkeley Divinity School and
McFaddin Professor of Anglican Studies at Yale
Parish House 5th Floor
Coffee and cookies from 9:45 am
Talk at 10 am
Dear Friends,
On Sunday June 22nd we will have the last talk of the series on the History and Theology of the Book of Common Prayer.
As you know, the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) is the name given to the book of prayers used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. A permanent feature of the Anglican and Episcopal Churches’ worship and a key source for their doctrine, the Book of Common Prayer is loved for the beauty of its language and as a treasure of spirituality.
Here is the abstract of the talk for this coming Sunday:
Movements for liturgical change were only paused in 1928 as social change accelerated, while liturgical scholarship rediscovered the life of a Church more ancient and unified. Across the Western Church in the twentieth century a set of parallel developments reflecting patristic inspiration appeared in Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Protestant settings, renewing interest in eucharistic worship, lay participation, and the centrality of scripture.
Here are the titles and the dates of the series (Video-Recording and Handouts of previous talks can be accessed by clicking on the title):
- The First Books of Common Prayer: Reformation and Tradition (January 12)
- Comprehension and Restoration: Radicals and Royalists (April 6)
- The Beginnings of an American Prayer Book (June 15)
- The New Prayer Book: From 1928 to 1979 (June 22).
The Rev. Dr. Andrew McGowan has been Dean of Berkeley Divinity School and McFaddin Professor of Anglican Studies at Yale since 2014. His scholarship focuses on ancient Christianity and especially the Eucharist, food and meals, and sacrifice, and on aspects of contemporary Anglicanism. His books include Ancient Christian Worship (Baker Academic, 2014) and Seven Last Words: Cross and Creation (Cascade, 2021), the latter based on Good Friday sermons given at S. Thomas in 2017. He was formerly editor of the Journal of Anglican Studies.
The class will take place as usual on Sunday at 10 am in the Parish House, 5th floor.
As usual the class will be both in person and via the livestream.
All blessings,
Fr. Luigi Gioia
Theologian In Residence
