The Anglican Service Book: A Traditional Language Adaptation of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, Together with the Psalter Or Psalms of David and Additional Devotions

Good Shepherd Press, Sep 1, 1991 - Anglican Communion - 734 pages

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User Review -

After a lengthy period of "Trial Rites" in various colored covers, the Episcopal Church finally adopted the current 1979 Prayerbook to the dismay of many who preferred the "old" 1928 Book of Common Prayer. However, on of the provisions allowed in the "new" Prayerbook was the right to adopted the contemporary language of Rite Two to the more traditional language found in Rite One. While some parishes did take advantage of this by printing their own in-house leaflets, it was not until 1991 that a dedicated effort to produce a book that would replace the contemporary language with traditional Elizabethan language. This was achieved by The Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, Pennsylvania.
This effort required more work than simply replacing you with thee and thou. A great deal of attention was paid to retaining the sort of cadence found in the work of Thomas Cramner which had made past editions of the Book of Common Prayer so beautiful to say. It is obvious that a great deal of work went into "translating" the 1979 BCP into Elizabethen English and producing a work which had the potential to satisfy if not please the more traditionally inclined Episcopalians. All except the ordination of a bishop was and some of the Eucharistic Prayers was put into Jacobean English: the Coverdale Psalter was retained. Additionally, there are a number of rites and rituals not a part of the Book of Common Prayer but which are practiced in many Anglo-Catholic parishes. When these additions appear in the service that are designated by a line in the margins. There are a lot of lines.
While these additional Anglo-Catholic rites meet the needs of Anglo-Catholics, some of them may be outright offensive to those of the "Low" or "Evangelical" parties in the Episcopal Church. There is no doubt that this book is intended for Anglo-Catholics and Ritualists. One wonders if the appeal of the book might have been broader if the publishers had simply reformed the 1979 Prayer Book.
That being said, there is a lot to like about this volume. In some ways it is an improvement over the 1979 BCP in its layout: congregational responses are printed in bold and therefore it kind of jumps out of you and encourages you to say your part in the Service. It is a nice cloth bound volume that should hold up to the normal weekly (and possibly daily).
Because of the relatively low demand of a book such as this, the cost is rather high. (I cannot help but note that the Anglican Breviary is published for $85.00 in a bonded leather with ribbons -- it would have been nice if this volume were also published in that format). One wishes that the price was lower so more parishes so inclined could afford it. The question is how many traditional language parishes remain in the Episcopal Church, as well as how many "continuing Anglican" parishes would use it. Outside of the "8 o'clock" service and perhaps Lent, one rarely finds Rite One being used which is tragic (one also wishes that the rubrics were two way - that one could modernize Cramner's language).
Overall, I like the book and think that the Church of the Good Shepherd did a fine job in producing an Elizabethan Anglo-Catholic Missal, but it also leaves me with a certain sense of sadness about what our society has lost in its drift away from the language of Shakespeare, Cramner, & King James. 

Contents

• Foreword: 6
• Prayers and Thanksgivings 629: 8
• The Daily Office: 30
• Noonday Prayer: 63
• Compline: 84
• Holy Days: 123
• Various Occasions: 138
• The Holy Eucharist 235: 140
• The Great Litany: 152
• Palm Sunday: 171
• Holy Saturday: 196
• Preparation for Mass: 238
• Alternate Eucharistic Prayers: 269
• Prayers of the People: 289
• Offertory Sentences: 303
• The Blessing of a Civil Marriage: 321
• Thanksgiving for the Adoption of a Child: 337
• Ministration at the Time of Death: 355
• The Commendation: 376
• Episcopal Services: 390
• Ordination of a Deacon: 417
• Celebration of a New Ministry: 431
• Antiphons on the Benedictus: 668
• The Canon of 1549: 684
• Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament: 708
• Blessing of the Font: 721

Popular passages

Page 256 - Christ's sake, Forgive us all that is past ; And grant, that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life, To the Honour and Glory of thy Name, Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.‎

Page 122 - BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.‎

Page 154 - By thine Agony and bloody Sweat ; by thy Cross and Passion; by thy precious Death and Burial; by thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension ; and by the coming of the Holy Ghost, Good Lord, deliver us.‎

Page 60 - ARISE, shine; for thy light is come, And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And gross darkness the people: But the Lord shall arise upon thee, And his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, And kings to the brightness of thy rising.‎

Page 104 - ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility; mercifully grant that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.‎

Page 446 - The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom shall I fear ? the Lord is the strength of my life ; of whom shall I be afraid ? 2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.‎

Page 46 - Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us...‎

Page 298 - THE body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life ! Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee ; and feed on him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving.‎

Page 256 - YE that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbours, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways ; draw near with faith, and take this Holy Sacrament to your comfort ; and make your humble confession to Almighty God, meekly kneeling upon your knees.‎

Page 361 - ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, who of thy tender mercy didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our redemption ; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world...‎

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Anglican Service Book: A Traditional Language Adaptation of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, Together with the Psalter Or Psalms of David and Additional Devotions
• Contributor: Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pa.)
• Publisher: Good Shepherd Press, 1991
• ISBN: 0962995509, 9780962995507
• Length: 734 pages