Why not the 1662?

Basically every time there is a some sort of social issue in the ACNA it is bound to be someone from the C4SO

 

And you’re right, it is. However the existence of the 2019 BCP indicates the existence of a faction within ACNA that wants to keep things updated all the time. So pretty soon that 2019 BCP will become 2034 BCP, and then the 2049 BCP. Etc. In other words it is not moored to anything older than our lifetimes.

Invictus is saying, could we not find a fixed objective anchor point that is unmovable, and goes back into misty times past, before all of the divisions, before Modernism and Revivalism, before Anglo Catholics and Evangelicals. And that BCP, written in vintage letters, with forgotten theology, could serve as our locus of unity. In fact the 1662 already is the locus of unity, because it is taken by Gafcon as the cornerstone of traditionalist Anglicanism, going forward. All newer Prayerbooks including the 2019 will have to measure up against it. It is the measure of orthodoxy they are judged against.

 

There is a saying, which I've read somewhere, but can't remember where, that goes like this:
"The more up-to-date something is, the more quickly it goes out-of-date."

 

The international edition of the 1662 was my first physical BCP and it has been a blessing. The aids offered on the IVP site for newcomers has been wonderful for introducing my family to the liturgical forms.

 

The 1552 Act of Uniformity was in relation to the 1549/1552 rites and provided for imprisonment

The 1558 Act of Uniformity in relation to the Elizabethan rite provided a fine of 12 pence for not attending weekly. Repealed in 1660.

The act of Uniformity required the use of the 166s Prayer book, and 2000 clergy refused and were forced to resign from their livings.

I have a great sympathy for this statement.

Now there are things about Anglican liturgy that make it unmistakably Anglican. Clearly there our peculiar prayers, such as the Collect for Purity and the Prayer of Humble Access. There is an unmistakable dialogue between the Transcendent and the Immanent. There is decency and order (tidy church rather than messy church), and a classic nobility, that has the capacity to lift us up and catch a vision of the veil that fills the temple.

Part of this comes down to the care and attention, the importance we place on the liturgy. The liturgy is not a hook on which we hang a sermon. The liturgy is laos ergon (the people's work). Whilst Cathedral Worship can be very inspiring, where everything is done for you or to you, it is parish worship that is the heart and soul of Anglican Worship where we are involved, where we are working, where we are part of the process of the liturgy, where we sing aloud and not simply listen to the choir.

Now I have seen Anglicans use Vatican 2 rites in truly Anglican ways, and honestly the experience was quite impressive and beautiful, and I have seen Anglicans use 1662, English Missal, 1928, and the current Australian rites in ways that make me wonder, and at times in ways that impress. There is in some expressions of Anglicanism a tendency to be overly frilly and one must conclude that Mass and Tatt is not where it is at, and an anti liturgical movement in some that seeks any excuse to make the liturgy look silly.

What I am trying to say is that it is not the particular rite, (though clearly some are better than others), but rather our approach and execution of the liturgy that I respond to as the best of Anglican liturgy.

I read the preface to the ACNA 2019 Book yesterday, and it is a good read, and I would commend it to you.

 

Recently I started to use the Cambridge Heritage Edition Prayer Book and Bible (2004) for my Daily Office readings.

The Psalter in the 1662 BCP is the best.

 

That's a good deal. The edition that is common with the 1928 American BCP goes for $85. I'm going to share that with my colleagues; there's always someone looking for the double book that doesn't want to come out of pocket for the American version.

 

The only problem is the only affordable editions exclude the Apocrypha.