Introduction to Anglican Prayer Book History

"A Prayer Book for Australia"

Anglican worship is typically ordered by the use of a prayer book. In fact, Anglicanism may be said to be recognisably Anglican because of its use of set forms of worship based on a prayer book usually found in the pew for worshippers to use.

In Australia, Anglicans used the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) (1662) until 1978 when the first modernised An Australian Prayer Book (AAPB) was produced.  The Prayer Book was again revised in 1995 to make its language more inclusive; hence A Prayer Book for Australia (APBA) is now commonly used in most parishes using a prayer book today. (The BCP is still in use in some Australian parishes and is still part of Church practice by church law in the Anglican Church of Australia.)


Though some still call the Anglican Church of Australia 'The Church of England', the Anglican Church of Australia was constituted in 1981. However, the history of the English church is relevant to Australia because of the fact that the Anglican Church of Australia is derived from The Church of England.

Church of England in the 16th Century

Catherine of Aragon

All this emphasis on the use of a prayer book will seem strange to those who are Non-Conformists (Pentecostal, Baptist, Church of Christ, Salvation Army, etc.) but the Anglican use of a prayer book arises from its birth in the Reformation period of the middle of the 16th century just as many regular practices thought odd in other churches arise out of their past tradition too.

Henry VIII

Some allege that the Church of England arose simply because King Henry VIII wanted an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and was denied by Pope Clement VII.

Anne Boleyn

Certainly this political event did hasten the formation of a Protestant, non-Catholic wing in the English church but the winds of the Protestant Reformation which were blowing on the continent were also being felt in England.

The Pope's refusal to grant the annulment to Henry led the king to undertake one of the boldest moves in English history. Henry assumed supremacy over the English Church which allowed him to separate from Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn hoping for a male heir.

Again we don't realise the raw courage of Henry in taking this action because many monarchs trembled at the word of the Pope because of his powers to excommunicate. (To be excommunicated from the Church of Rome meant you would be lost forever in the fires of Hell.) It was no small thing to challenge a Bishop of Rome and Henry was duly excommunicated for his defiance along with other Reformers in the Church of England.

Thomas Cranmer(1490-1556)

Thomas Cranmer was a pivotal figure in the Church of England and for Anglicanism worldwide. He had been appointed as an ambassador for the King and while abroad came into contact with continental reformers such a Ulrich Zwingli (Swiss Reformer) and others. However, he got a surprise call to become Archbishop of Canterbury in 1532 at the instigation of the Boleyn family. (He had formerly been the chaplain of this family.)

He became responsible for reform of the Church in Henry's time and then more so in Edward VI's short reign. Cranmer also played a large part in arguing for the validity of Henry as the Supreme Head of the Church in England which led effectively to the annulling of his marriage to Catherine. 

Cranmer was responsible for Church services being conducted in English. We can hardly appreciate this change in our time but imagine walking into church--and everyone went to church; it was mandatory--and hearing for the first time the Liturgy spoken by priest and people together in English!

We might wonder about the slowness of reform but the Protestant movement was a Reformation not a Revolution! (Luther in particular was not interested in starting the Church off from scratch after 1500 years. That's why Luther retained many aspects of catholic practice--as opposed to Roman Catholic practices--at which evangelicals today might baulk. Luther wanted to reform the catholic tradition not obliterate it.)

A Christian Church had been in existence in England by AD 208. It became part of the Roman Church in the AD 664. However, the Church of England as a reforming church wanting to remove doctrines and practices that were forbidden in scripture (indulgences, masses for the dead, prayers to the saints, veneration of the sacrament) but not necessarily removing practices that were not forbidden. 

Edward VI (reigned 1547-1553)

From Henry and Anne's union came Elizabeth (later to be Elizabeth I). Anne was later executed on trumped up charges which left the King able to marry his latest interest, Jane Seymour; she died 11 days after bearing a son, Edward who became Edward VI, a Protestant king guided by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. (Be aware that Henry VIII was not protestant or Lutheran. He regarded himself as 'catholic' but it was a form of personal Catholicism.)

With Henry's death in AD 1547, Edward assumed the throne at 9 years of age and only lived until he was 15 but during those six years the move away from Catholicism became pronounced. For example, in 1549 the first English prayer book was produced through the work of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Clerical celibacy was ended as was the Roman Mass with its view of transubstantiation (which had led to adoration of the host and other superstitions).

The newer English Church did not abandon the whole liturgy it had inherited from the papal church however but Cranmer reformed it extensively. It did not abandon the past because it believed that God had preserved some good things within the old church's liturgical practice even if it had become corrupted by faulty doctrine and practice over centuries. (Rome itself sought to respond to the Reformation by calling the Council of Trent [1545-1563].)

After Edward's short but significant reign, his half-sister Mary became Queen (1553-1558) even though Edward tried to prevent her ascension to the throne. Mary was a fanatical 'Romanist' and persecuted the Reformers by seeking to destroy the English Reformation through martyring Protestants and Reformers. She had 400-500 Protestants executed mostly by fire including Bishops Ridley and Latimer and also Cranmer (who first recanted his Protestant faith and then dramatically changed back again on the day of his execution). These executions made her very unpopular but she didn't relent. Indeed, her subjects disliked even more for her marrying King Philip I of Spain (a fierce opponent of all things Reformed and Protestant).

Elizabeth I (1533-1603)

Elizabeth I

Elizabeth Tudor had waited quietly enough in the wings of a 12-month stay in the Tower for her opportunity to reign which came in 1558. She was a Tudor with all the vigour and determination of her father and as the daughter of Anne Boleyn she was a Protestant. (She never married and so Henry's worst nightmares were realised in the discontinuance of the Tudor dynasty.)

She was wise enough to know that she had many enemies at home and overseas in France and more especially in Spain. (Remember the Spanish Armada in 1588?) She sought a more conciliatory approach to Catholics even while presiding over a Protestant Church of England. She adopted the title Supreme Governor of the Church (rather than the 'Supreme Head' title her father and half-brother had used). Elizabeth II holds this same title to this day.

Her great importance is that she brought the Church of England back to its Protestant form under Edward but she was also stubborn. She had a fear of civil war which inclined her towards conservativism, and according to Zahl, her bishops wondered throughout her reign, 'How Protestant is she?' (p. 21).