In 2018, General Convention established the Task Force on Liturgical and Prayer Book Revision, a new committee with lay and clergy members. In 2022, General Convention transferred the work of this task force to the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music.
Clergy, musicians, artists, educators, and liturgical ministers will find all authorized liturgical resources of the Episcopal Church at this site: https://www.episcopalcommonprayer.org/.
The website includes everything from Expansive Language Eucharistic Prayers of the BCP to the revised Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage to Alternate Psalters to the most recent editions of The Book of Occasional Services and Lesser Feasts and Fasts. For the growing number of parishes in our diocese who use the sixth baptismal vow – “to cherish the wondrous works of God, and protect and restore the beauty and integrity of all creation” – the website also includes liturgical resources for Honoring God in Creation and the Care of Animals.
But wait, there’s more! The Task Force was charged with receiving new liturgical resources – texts and actions – for consideration in the expansion of ritual practice around the Book of Common Prayer. Should you have a liturgy, a set of liturgical prayers, blessings, or other rituals, you are welcome to send them to the Bishop’s Commission for Liturgy and the Arts. In turn, the Commission will forward them to the bishop for review and approval or the request for revision. With the bishop’s approval, you are then welcome to submit your new liturgical resource to the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music: the website contains the submission form.
For those who seek to use all authorized liturgical and musical resources in preparing worship through the feasts and seasons of the year: a subscription to Rite Planning includes the easily downloadable Book of Common Prayer, all authorized hymnals and liturgies, as well as The Book of Occasional Services, Lesser Feasts and Fasts, and the NRSV Bible: https://www.churchpublishing.org/riteplanning
Not every liturgical minister or lector is aware of this: the liturgical calendar with the Episcopal version of the Revised Common Lectionary is available at: https://www.lectionarypage.net/CalndrsIndexes/Calendar2024.html
This announcement is intended to present the great array of liturgical resources available for the parishes of the diocese. May they enrich and enliven our worship: what is for many our most public face to the world.
