Book of Common Prayer, Pew, Red Hardcover – September 1, 1979

When I recently became a member of the Episcopal Church, I decided to purchase a personal copy of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP). I like everything about this wonderful book. It contains all of the Church’s liturgical prayers, including two rites of the Holy Eucharist, the Daily Office, and prayers for many special occasions. It also contains the complete Book of Psalms, and a list of Bible readings for every day of the year. I use my BCP primarily for my morning and evening prayers.My BCP measures about 7¾” x 5½ “x 1¾,” so it is a perfect size for me. It has a durable cloth-over-board hard cover that feels very solid in my hands. The binding appears to be sewn rather than glued, which makes it more durable and allows me to lay it flat when opened. The paper is smooth but not glossy, and of sufficient weight to make it reasonably wrinkle- and tear-resistant. The text is set in a font that’s very crisp, clear, and easy to read. The book’s page edges are not gilded, and there are no marker ribbons.I am very pleased with my new Book of Common Prayer. Although it is not a substitute for the Bible, which is the cornerstone of my Christian faith, it is a very useful guide for me in my daily prayer and meditation. Highly recommended.

Good service. Product was as described.

Can the Book of Common Prayer be reviewed on Amazon? From what perspective would one review it? It is kinda' like writing a review of cave paintings from 15000 BCE. With such matters, we can't review from a "good" or "bad" point of view.The cave paintings reference a place in human history that speaks to us. The cave paintings tell us: they hunted, they had families, they lived in community, they had domestic animals :-), etc., etc. And the cave paintings inspire us. They tell us about our humanity and how we behaved and still behave today. The cave folks are us. What they did back then, matters, as it speaks to us, inspires us, and helps us move forward. (I'm still drawing things on the wall of my cave that I want to hunt - my wall is my tasks list on my smart phone and the animals I'm hunting are my professional goals I seek to accomplish each day.)So, what does all this have to do with the Book of Common Prayer? Well, it is a writing in a book that sets out human prayer toward God throughout the centuries. At its heart is the Psalms...Hebrew prayers of pain, hurt, anger, love, violence, raw aspiration, nationalism, racism, faith, belief, goodness, grief, lament, etc., etc. I can go to the Psalms in the BCP (great translation for prayer!) and see how Israel lived, prayed, breathed, and had faith. How they prayed back then maters, as it speaks to us, inspires us, and helps us move forward. I am an Israelite praying my anger, hate, love, grief, and all of my humanity to God.And the rest of the BCP, gathering up prayers from the 3rd century onward into modern day liturgies in English. It does the same thing as the Psalms - picks up human response prayers through ages. The BCP picks up and offers a collection of human prayer going from the Hebrew People all the way down to today (well, 1979). It offers us these prayers and says, "pick these up...you are Hebrew, Christian, English Speaking ...come, pray with all humanity through this tradition!"Buy one today...pick up and pray, and even if you pray with it alone, you are with a community larger than you can imagine...pray with the BCP, it might just change (and keep changing) your life!

I'm hoping the book cover color does not change the page numbers. Book is in good condition

I have perused this book from the catechism to the prayers and back to the ordination rites. It provides a good perspective on the liturgical nature and ethos (practice) of the Episcopal Church. It has a breadth of prayers from: being stewards of creation to the human family, for peace to those in the Armed Forces, for different professions from health care workers to political leaders. It also includes Articles of Religion and the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, which are historical documents of the Episcopal Church. Though, I might not agree with everything in this prayer book and I am not fond of "King James" English usage (often romanticized as more reverential, which I do not think is necessarily so). I do appreciate how there is room in this prayer book that directs us to be as holistic in our prayers and not shy away from praying for ourselves.

I wanted the Anglican version. This wasn't it.

The various editions of the Book of Common Prayer may be bewildering to online shoppers; for those looking for a good, readable, reasonably-priced current edition this is a good choice. It is the 1979 version. One reviewer seemed confused about this, but the only 2016 "update" that it includes is the Revised Common Lectionary amended by action of the 2015 General Convention. In other words, this is the same book that is in the pew when you attend services at an Episcopal Church. Same size, same normal size font, same paper.There is no ribbon - I use a small bookmark. There is a label on the back cover with an ISBN number, which I believe Amazon requires. If the label really bothers you, it can be safely removed with a product called Goo Gone. (I was once an antiquarian bookseller and can vouch for the product's efficacy.)The copy that I received was not red, but closer to maroon. That was, for me, no issue. All in all I am very happy with my purchase.

I love my Book of Common Prayer which is the main prayer book for the Episcopal Church. I will be Episcopalian soon and wanted to have this book for my chair-side table. It is smaller than the one I use at church but I realized one day that the page numbers on my book match the one in church. Cool! It feels comfortable in the hand and stays nicely open to the page I'm on. It's a beautiful show piece on my table also. A much-loved purchase!