User:Pbritti/sandbox/Book of Common Prayer (REC)

Various editions of the Book of Common Prayer have been used by the Reformed Episcopal Church and other churches affiliated with it since the first was published in 1874. Since then, the Reformed Episcopal Church and Free Church of England have published many different prayer books derived from the general Book of Common Prayer tradition, which forms the basis for much Anglican liturgy. Current editions of these prayer books continue to see regular use in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom.

Background
Following the English Reformation and the separation of the Church of England from the Catholic Church, the liturgies of Anglicanism were transcribed into English. The first such production was the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, traditionally considered to be work of Thomas Cranmer, which replaced both the missals and breviaries of Catholic usage. Largely a translation of the Sarum Use books, the liturgies were the Communion service and canonical hours of Matins and Evensong, with the addition of the Ordinal containing the form for the consecration of bishops, priests, and deacons in 1550.

Under Edward VI, the 1552 Book of Common Prayer was a radically Protestant liturgy, greater Reformed theology. This process continued with the 1559 edition, following Elizabeth I's rejection of the Marian Restoration. The 1559 edition was for some time the second-most diffuse book in England, only behind the Bible, through an act of Parliament that mandated its presence in each parish church across the country.

American prayer book
The 1662 Book of Common Prayer was introduced shortly after the Stuart Restoration and renewed requirement that Church of England liturgies follow the prayer book. This prayer book introduced roughly 600 changes, many reflecting the High Church and Laudian tendencies of its editors. The 1662 prayer book was regularly utilized by the Church of England in the Thirteen Colonies until the American Revolutionary War, following which the independent Episcopal Church was founded in 1785.

The revision process for the first American prayer featured several proposals. Among the proposal was that of William White. Influenced by Benjamin Franklin, White forwarded a broad Latitudinarian revision of the 1662 prayer book, offering reconciliation to reformed Dissenters. This proposed text was superseded by a 1789 prayer book. The influence of non-juring Scottish Episcopalians on the early American Episcopal Church was significant–Samuel Seabury was consecrated in Aberdeen in 1784–and an Epiclesis similar to that found in non-juror offices was inserted into the 1789 prayer book's Eucharistic prayer. Proposals to remove the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds faced successful objections from both a caucus of High Church Virginians and English bishops who had been consulted on the prayer book's production.