A Corporate Act of Prayer Members of the Society are encouraged to join together in saying the following Collect at the same time in their own homes, at 10.00 p.m. each Sunday evening. THE COLLECT OF THE SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY O LORD, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Issue No. 2 · Trinity 2016 Patron: Prayer Book Churches and Clergy Co-ordinator: ISSN: 2059-9528 HRH The Prince of Wales, KG, KT, GCB John Service Telephone: 07557 665609 Ecclesiastical Patron: The Prayer Book Today E-mail: [email protected] The Rt Revd and Rt Hon. Richard Chartres , Editor: KCVO, DD, FSA, Bishop of London Press Officer The Revd Canon Andrew Hawes Tim Stanley Lay Patrons: Telephone: 0117 9625658 Address for correspondence: The Rt Hon. Lord Hurd of Westwell, The Prayer Book Society, The Studio, E-mail: [email protected] CH, CBE, PC Copyhold Farm, Goring Heath, Youth Officer: Reading RG8 7RT Lord Sudeley, FSA Telephone: 0118 984 2582 The Revd Canon Fredrik Arvidsson President: E-mail: [email protected] Lord Cormack, DL, FSA The Prayer Book Society’s child Website: www.pbs.org.uk protection policy is available on its Vice-Presidents: website, www.pbs.org.uk All contributions, including articles, The Revd Dr Roger Beckwith letters for publication, Branch news The Prayer Book Society, like the The Rt Hon. Frank Field, MP and notices of forthcoming events, Church of England, is a broad church should be sent to ‘The Prayer Book Professor Roger Homan which embraces a wide breadth of Today’ at the above address, or by C. A. Anthony Kilmister, OBE opinion and churchmanship. Views e-mail to [email protected] The Revd John Masding expressed in the The Prayer Book Today are those of their individual authors, and Submission by e-mail is preferred Board of Trustees: whenever possible. Electronic sub- do not necessarily represent the mission in editable format (such as Miss Prudence Dailey Chairman opinion of the Society or of the Editor. Word® or RTF) saves the Editor a The Revd David Harris Deputy Chairman The inclusion of any advertisement in considerable amount of work. A short Miss Hilary Rudge Company Secretary the The Prayer Book Today does not imply style sheet is available from the PBS John Wimpress Treasurer that the Society endorses the advertiser, office, and adherence to this is also its products or its services. very helpful in reducing the need for Peter Hardingham Regional Trustee – time-consuming subediting. We reserve Midlands Region the right to edit or amend con- The Revd Richard Hoyal PBS TRADING LTD Orders and enquiries for PBS Trading tributions. Nicholas Hurst Regional Trustee – Eastern should be sent to: Region Advertising Manager: PBS Trading Ltd, The Studio, Paul Meitner Regional Trustee – South East Ian Woodhead Copyhold Farm, Goring Heath, Please contact via the Prayer Book Region Reading RG8 7RT Society office at Copyhold Farm The Revd Andrew Montgomerie Website: www.pbs.org.uk /online-shop (details as above) Regional Trustee – West and Central Region Ashley Perraton-Williams Cover image: Produced & printed by SS Media Ltd Genevieve Sang, Cranmer Awards Junior Third David Richardson – Director of Fundraising Prize winner, receives her prize and certificate THE PRAYER BOOK SOCIETY The Revd Canon Cyril Roberts Regional from the Bishop of Worcester A Company Limited by Guarantee Trustee – North East Region Photography: Helen Peters Registered in England No. 4786973 Registered Charity No. 1099295 John Scrivener Regional Trustee – North The deadline for contributions for the Isle of Man Registered Charity No. 952 West Region next issue is: The Revd Paul Thomas Friday, 9th September Registered office: The Studio, Copyhold (preferably typed or electronically submitted) Farm, Goring Heath, Reading RG8 7RT Dick Wilkinson, CVO Regional Trustee – Publication date: South West Region Friday, 21st October If you are interested in becoming a member of the Prayer Book Society, please visit our website or contact the office at Copyhold Farm for an application form. © The Prayer Book Society 2016 Individual articles are © the authors. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the Editor, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organisation. Prayer Book parishes New Deputy and the search for a Chairman appointed The Board of vicar Trustees is pleased The growing popularity of e-mail bulletins to announce the listing current clergy job vacancies in churches appointment of the using the Book of Common Prayer for services Revd David Harris means that 100 subscribers now are receiving as Deputy Chairman details of around 40 vacancies every week. of the Prayer Book The free service launched four years ago by Society. David has the Prayer Book Society details the nature of been Vicar of St each vacancy as well as the church and the Giles, Reading for diocese in which it is located. It also provides an five years, and has indication of the extent to which the Book of been a Trustee of the Common Prayer is used currently. Online links Prayer Book Society to individual advertisements are provided, and since 2013. Born in Nova Scotia, he was the closing date for applications is stated where previously Chairman of the Prayer Book Society known. The names and details of clergy who use of Canada, and brings valuable experience to his the e-bulletin to review or apply for vacancies new role. The appointment has been welcomed are kept strictly confidential by the Society, by the outgoing Deputy Chairman, the Revd Paul which does not disclose them to parishes or any Thomas, who continues enthusiastically as a other third parties. Trustee, but is unable to continue as Deputy Chairman because of increasing demands on his time and additional responsibilities in the Church. General Enquiries about the Book of CONTENTS Common Prayer Jots and Tittles from the Lord’s Supper 4 From time to time, the Society receives requests for information relating to the Book of Quicunque Vult! 8 Common Prayer from members of the public. The Prayer Book Recent requests have included enquiries about and a new clerical generation 10 posture during Prayer Book services; the Table of Prayer Book videos are launched 11 Moveable Feasts; availability of translations of the Book of Common Prayer into foreign BCP is a winner in Chelsea 13 languages; and references to ‘unicorns’ in the Cranmer Awards Finals 2016 14 Prayer Book Psalms. Co-ordinator’s column 16 Those with such general enquiries— Oxford uncorks old wine whether or not they are members of the Prayer Book Society—are encouraged to direct them in for new ordinands 17 the first instance to the PBS office at Copyhold Book Reviews 18 Farm (details inside front cover), from where Church Times ‘Out of the Question’ 20 they will be forwarded to the most appropriate ‘expert’ for a reply. We cannot promise that we Correspondence 21 will know the answer to every question; but we News from the Branches 22 will always do our best to identify someone Forthcoming Events 28 who is able to provide a response. Branch Contacts 30 3 Jots and Tittles from the Lord’s Supper Christopher Idle hose familiar with the Prayer for the Church the space of a mere six words. Militant in the 1662 Communion service can ‘Indifferently’ seems to have been replaced, hardly fail to notice the small variations made almost universally and without obvious protest, by Tto the authorised text by the celebrant or minister, ‘impartially’. No problem here, then? At least it keeps often at eight in the morning. the rhythm of the prayer intact. But didn’t C. S. Lewis Some are not so small; some clergy are notorious encounter an old countryman who said that for embellishing the prayer, and doubling its length, ‘indifferently’ meant making no difference between with intercessions of their own, from the ad hoc him and the next chap, while ‘impartially’… he had insertions which can hardly have been thought no idea what that meant! Lexical purists might even through to the well-practised homemade script observe that linguistically they don’t mean quite the repeated week by week. It is hard to say which of same thing. these is the more irritating and therefore distracting. Until recently I had never seen ‘the punishment of Prayer can be a fragile thing. wickedness and vice’ as a problem; I have thought, But some of the small changes are intriguing. and still think, that they deserve punishment. Here is a selection; if you hear no more than these, But what is this? I now hear a prayer ‘for the correction or even none at all, you may count yourself blessed. of’ these two things which I marvel we are still The first blip comes in the opening lines: allowed to call wickedness and vice. And I feel a mild ‘Almighty and everliving God, who by thy holy shudder; for punishment is or should be precise and Apostle hast taught us to make prayers and proportionate, under law and exercised by due supplications, and to give thanks, for all…’. Who, authority. But who is to administer ‘correction’? exactly? Well, ‘men’, it says in the book; some service In ‘corrective’ labour camps, such treatment can last sheets and some clergy will aim to help us by a lifetime, and bears less relation to the crime explaining that this actually means ‘people’.