Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals

I received my copy right before the first day in the book (December 1st) so I've been praying with this book daily since then. I am loving it! As an individual who loves liturgy and common prayer but would not consider himself to be Anglican/Episcopalian nor necessarily a part of any of the classic liturgical denominations, I find this prayer book to be a refreshing look at the 'style' - if you will. As a youth pastor, this has been a good way for me to introduce a form daily and communal prayer and Scripture study to some of my more dedicated kids without having to throw extra explicitly denominational traditions/ideas/concepts on them that they may not be familiar with nor do they necessarily need. Although it does mention this 'New Monasticism' stuff, it's more of a "hey check this out if you want to" and not shoved down your throat at every turn. I enjoy the Morning, Mid-day, and Evening setup. It allows you to start your day with good prayer, good Word, and some thoughts to roll over in your mind for the day that stem from a multitude of traditions. I've been pleased to read quotes from Church Fathers all the way to modern missionaries. I've found that taking the Mid-day prayer at my lunch break has made my workday much more (only word I can think of to put here is 'beautiful'). And the Evening prayer helps me to go to bed on a good note no matter what. I also enjoy the 'Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers' ideas at the end of each month with ways to put the faith into practice. I like the inclusion of the Occasional Prayers, especially the adoption prayer. My only concern is the Songbook doesn't include complete lyrics. This does make the song section of the morning prayer difficult if someone you are praying with (or you yourself) does not know the song which, considering the wide variety of traditions they pulled from, isn't too hard to fathom. I'm attempting to compile a complete set but some songs are difficult to find (or cost money to get the lyrics to, such as 'Freedom Train'). Although I disagree with other reviewers that a complete set of source references is needed, I do think the Songbook should be fleshed out. I also disagree with those complaining that this isn't THE Book of Common Prayer and that Thomas Cranmer isn't mentioned. First, the description shows that it is not and even a quick flip in the bookstore would show it. Finally, the subtitle should be a major clue. Beyond that, it is not meant to be the classic denominational handbook but a guide for praying and reading together no matter what your community looks like. To summarize: If it's going to hurt your feelings that this isn't the 'official' Book of Common Prayer with Thomas Cranmer's touch . . . get over it and enjoy it for what it IS. For everyone else, pick up this neat little liturgy for the rest of us today. It will open your eyes and help you to focus in your prayer time.

I haven't ever done a regular morning devotion before, but somehow I got started on this one and am really enjoying it. What I like the most about it is that is very diverse, drawing material from Roman Catholic, mainstream protestant and evangelical sources. I also like that it makes a lot of references to the social justice tradition of Christianity: Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, etc. This book contains many resources: a short collection of songs, and occassional prayers: blessings for homes, workplaces, major life transitions, meal times, and other special occassions. The heart of the book is a set of prayer services for morning, mid-day and evening. These incorporate Scripture, historic prayers and repetitive elements and can be done individually, as a community or a family. There is just one mid-day prayer liturgy, which is short enough that it could be memorized and repeated at lunch or on a coffee break. There are separate evening prayer services for each day of the week, which I found got a little repetitive after a few weeks. I have been using the morning prayer services most consistently, as there is a new one for each day of the year. There are some repetitive elements that open ("O Lord, let me soul rise up to meet you as the day rises to meet the sun." ) and close ("May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you...") each day. Then there are unique elements which change every day: a selection from the psalms, Old Testament and New Testament, a quotation and a prayer. There is also space for personal prayers for others. Occassionally there are short descriptions of important anniversaries of important events in the history of the church or the social justice movement. Each month there is a introduction to a theme of the "new monasticism" which are not just for people who are part of that movement, but taken as a whole are a good introduction to practices most Christians share - this is why the book is called "Common Prayer" - it is a good effort at developing a set of resources that Christians from many traditions could share. The whole book is really well written with lots of great resources. On the practical side, it is pretty heavy to carry a Bible and this book when I travel, so I ended up buying a copy for my Kindle, and I am enjoying using that.

Excellent text, the only small flaw was due to the seller or dispatcher - there was a small dent on the cover and I would have appreciated to recieive a copy in a better state

I fully agree with the other two reviewers of this book, James and A Grey in their very positive comments on this book. I am sorry though that, as witnessed by some of the tags that some have added for this book, (which are totally unwarranted, suggesting that this book is heretical and representing a false Christianity), some very strongly disagree. These tags are very mistaken and misleading. On the other hand they may lead some to take more of an interest in this book instead and benefit from what they find ! I understand though, that some are unfortunately objecting to this book and getting very hot under the collar because they see the title, "Common Prayer" and see it as somehow trying to usurp the position of the Anglican "Book of Common Prayer", often shortened to "Common Prayer". I am quite sure that the authors of this book never had the slightest intentions of doing this. In fact, if only those who get upset will note, the full title of this book is, "Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals", their objections ought to be, at least to some extent, resolved. Just as the original "Book of Common Prayer" formed a more concise version of previous ecumenical liturgies for the people of the time, which its successors still do, I believe that "Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals" does a similar job for our time. I cannot speak for the authors of this book, but it looks to me as if they had the intention of actually honouring the original "Book of Common Prayer" in using its shortened name as part of the title of this book. As such, and as I have already said, I am sure that they did not have any intention of trying to propose this book as a replacement. Those with experience of the Liturgy of the Hours and similar forms for daily prayer, will recognise this as a very valid and useful resource for prayer and reflection. It includes elements from a number of different Christian traditions and so can be very useful towards helping Christians of all denominations feel at home and to come together in prayer. A small criticism of this book might be in the way that it separates the material for morning prayer from evening prayer. At the same time, bearing in mind that morning prayer is more or less the same for each day of the week, and evening prayer has material for each day of the Christian year, I can see that, in the end, it makes sense. On the other hand, those wanting to bring more variety into their morning could easily make use of the seasonal material as well. It is worth noting here that some liturgical books can be even more difficult for newcomers to find their way around, so this one is very easy by comparison). For those wishing that this book included Night Prayer, as I did, on first looking at it, it is worth noting that, as with the "Book of Common Prayer", Evening and Night Prayer have been combined into one service. If anyone wanted to keep to a separate Night Prayer, they could quite easily simply omit the Nunc Dimittis - The Canticle of Simeon from Evening Prayer and adapt the form for Evening Prayer, including the Nunc Dimittis and perhaps some other suitable prayers for Night Prayer. I note though, that the forthcoming shortened Pocket Version Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals will include a separate form of Night Prayer, as well as other material not included in this full edition, as mentioned in an email the publishers have sent to me, as follows:- "Common Prayer Pocket Edition helps individuals and today's diverse church pray together across traditions and denominations. With an ear to the particulars of various liturgical prayer traditions, and using an advisory team of liturgy experts, the authors have created a tapestry of prayer that celebrates the best of each tradition. This convenient and portable book also includes tools for prayer scattered throughout to aid those unfamiliar with liturgy and deepen the prayer life of those already familiar with liturgical prayer". "Common Prayer Pocket Edition adds new prayers for Compline (late evening) and for individual use, such as prayers for travel, protection, and various blessings. It includes a table of days and readings for the morning prayers as well as an annotated list of saints and days to remember". I have the Pocket Edition on pre-order already, because as well as supplementing the big book, it will evidently be very useful for traveling as well. As one who mainly uses other forms of the Liturgy of the Hours, I find this book provides good additional and alternative material to help me in my prayer life. I also believe that this book will be helpful for those who would find the more formal church books of prayer less attractive. Likewise those who might want to begin with something that is easier to use, even if they may later on want to make use of the formal denominational ones, such as used by Anglicans, Lutherans or Roman Catholics etc. Oh yes! I nearly forgot to mention, as well as providing the words of hymns and songs, the music and chords are also helpfully provided. As a saying goes, "Those who sing, pray twice". A lot of careful thought and artistry has gone into the production of this book and I recommend it.

This is an outstanding prayerbook. Many prayerbooks have 5-6 pages of liturgy for morning, noon, and evening. They are overwhelming and are too much for a person who has a busy life. I find the smaller portions from the prayerbook to be the perfect solution for a busy person. I like the fact that every day of the week has a slightly different liturgy, complete with a short story or thought to think about. I also like the fact that there is a hymn that you can sing and the words and the music for the hymn are found in the back of the prayerbook. I like the prayerbook so much that I purchased a Kindle version to supplement the hardback.

Used everyday.

Really enjoying making my way through this daily. Also grateful for the guides through out! A must for Pastors!