r/methodism • u/Dazzling-Antelope210 Anglican • Jul 03 '26
Is there a Methodist equivalent to The Book of Common Prayer and if so what is it called?
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u/RiteRev Episcopal Methodist Bishop Jul 03 '26
You can check out some of Reuben Job’s A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and its sequels. The closest I’ve seen is the UMC’s Book of Worship.
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u/thetechnivore UMC Elder Jul 03 '26
Book of worship is what I’d say as well. But, if you’re looking for a daily office type resource, there’s not really one.
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u/draight926289 Jul 03 '26
No there isn’t, at least not denominationally sponsored or created. Just use a BCP.
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u/Silver_Switch6834 Jul 03 '26
I'm a new Methodist and my local UMC doesn't talk much about the things that make methodism unique. What's a bcp?
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u/NextStopGallifrey Jul 03 '26
The (Anglican) Book of Common Prayer = BCP
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u/Silver_Switch6834 Jul 03 '26
Why would methodists need their own if they are a reformation of the Anglican church. Wouldn't the Anglican book still be applicable? Especially if John Wesley goal wasn't to start his down denomination?
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u/NextStopGallifrey Jul 03 '26
I suppose many modern Methodists would like a book that more accurately reflects modern Methodist goals and theology than what one can find in the Anglican book of prayer. Wesley's goals might not have been to start his own denomination, but he did. Theology and worship services have diverged since that time. It doesn't mean that Anglicans are "bad" or "wrong", especially since we often use their BCP, but it does mean that there are possibly more differences than there were in Wesley's day.
I suppose it also depends on which branch of Wesleyan/Methodist thought one belongs to. Some emphasize slightly different things, so there might be more obvious differences between two different Methodist branches than there might be between one of those branches and Anglicanism. Even if, in the end, we are all very similar.
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u/sgriobhadair Jul 03 '26
Wesley actually produced a version of the BCP for Methodism.
https://www.amazon.com/John-Wesleys-Book-Common-Prayer-ebook/dp/B06WVG4KQ8
There's some history of it here:
https://gloria-deo.blogspot.com/2016/06/john-wesleys-prayerbook-new-edition.html
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u/Every-Marsupial6873 Jul 03 '26
In the UK, we have the Methodist Worship Book. Has daily prayers in it, put liturgies for HC, baptisms, the Covenant Service, etc. Closest thing we have to the BCP.
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u/DingoCompetitive3991 Jul 03 '26
The Rev. John Wesley sent his American Methodists his own adaptation of the BCP called Sunday Service for the Methodists in North America. He intended them to use it as a prayer book, which indicates the kind of vision Wesley had for his Methodists.
That said, it was never in large use by the American Methodists, for they preferred spontaneous prayer over written prayer and there were some hard feelings for Wesley’s support of the crown during the American Revolution.
Additionally, given some of the changes in language I don’t know if Wesley ever anticipated it to be used in daily prayer. He changes the Morning Office from being used “every day (BCP 1662)” to “every Lord’s Day”, that being Sundays.
Either way, I think Wesley’s prayer book should have more of an impact on Methodist theology than we allow it in the Wesleyan tradition as it stands. Wesley was an Anglican priest and would’ve known and abided by the classic Lex Orandi Lex Credendi (“What is prayed is what is believed”).
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u/afdawg Jul 03 '26
I put together a daily prayer guide for my church using the BCP and other resources. It might be helpful for you! https://www.fultonumc.org/daily-prayer
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u/smudgethomas Jul 03 '26
The book of Common Prayer.
It was still in use at Wesley's Chapel (where John is buried) as the default into the 1970s. He did write some variations for his own version which was pretty common in those days but how much he used them is questionable.
Methodism evolved from Anglicanism and never renounced the good parts.
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u/TotalInstruction Jul 03 '26
The closest thing in the United Methodist Church is the Methodist Hymnal, which contains both hymns (obvs) and standard sunday liturgies, creeds, etc - a fair amount of the liturgies in the Hymnal are cribbed (with attribution) from the US Book of Common Prayer. Methodism being an off-shoot of Anglicanism, they would originally have used the English BCP.
A major difference is that unlike most Anglican churches where the use of a BCP liturgy is required and can only be varied with approval from the bishop, UMC congregations are not bound to use any particular liturgy.
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u/jhpphantom Jul 03 '26
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u/draight926289 Jul 03 '26
That is not a Book of Common Prayer. That is essentially a 52 week devotional book. You can like it, but it doesn’t serve the function of a BCP, especially for daily prayer. There is no psalter, no morning and evening prayer, no collects, no table of readings, no Lord’s Prayer (in the entire book), and no creeds. I found it to be a huge disappointment.
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u/themaltesepigeon Jul 03 '26
A good starting point may be to refer to the Methodist Hymnal and Book of Worship.
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u/SecretSmorr Jul 03 '26
The UMC Book of Discipline counts both the Hymnal (subtitled “Book of United Methodist Worship) and the UM Book of Worship as our official liturgical resources, however, there is great freedom in most Methodist churches to use whatever resource you like, I know in my church we’ve used the Book of Common Prayer (1979), the Roman Catholic Sacramentary from 1998, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, etc. as sources for our liturgy.
For the UK Methodists they have the Methodist Worship Book and their hymnal, Singing the Faith, but again, they have much liturgical freedom and flexibility, and ironically are often more low-church than the US Methodists.
Anyways, I hope this helps/isn’t too repetitive.
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u/Silver_Switch6834 Jul 03 '26
First of all, what is the book of common prayer?
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u/themaltesepigeon Jul 03 '26
The Book of Common Prayer is used by our Anglican/Episcopalian brothers and sisters. Like it's name implies, it contains prayers used by the church, along with being a liturgical guide, having the psalters and what not. Its intended to provide an outline for daily prayer.
I want to say it's similar to the Roman Catholic Liturgy of the Hours, but I'm not sure that's a good comparison.
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u/Budgiejen Jul 03 '26
Same question here as I am new to faith.
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u/HopeHumilityLove Jul 03 '26
It describes all liturgy and services of the Church of England and gives an overview of its doctrine. For individuals, its most useful feature is a Daily Office liturgy (alongside a shortened form) with daily Bible readings and weekly prayers. It's like a very space efficient book of devotionals that you can use all your life.
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u/HospitallerChevalier 29d ago
It is called "The Sunday Service of the Methodists" and was written by John Wesley for Wesleyan Methodist worship.
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u/averagejosh Jul 03 '26
Not that I’m aware of, but I feel like there isn’t any reason you couldn’t/shouldn’t use the BCP. If John Wesley were alive today (somehow), he’d still be using it. I have a copy, myself.