Variety in the 1928 BCP Offices

The Continuing Anglican Churchman ^ | 4/13/2005 | St. James the Average

[sionnsar]

One of the major limitations of the 1928 BCP is that it does not offer much in the way of variation in the various liturgies it contains. This is one of the reasons why, I think, people began borrowing elements from the Roman Catholic liturgy, such as use of the missal and breviary. The 1979 American BCP was a big step in the right direction in terms of variety, but what are those of us who use the 1928 supposed to do? Clergy encourage us to read Morning and Evening Prayer, but it can become dry very easily. Is there some way to "soup up" the Offices, for instance, without using the 1979 BCP or the Anglican Breviary?

I am trying to teach myself to pray the Anglican Breviary, but in the meantime I add variety to the 1928 BCP Offices in the following ways:

[sionnsar]

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[tellw]

I've learned to sing the entire office that can be sung (opening responses, psalms, lessons, canticles and collects) from a plainchant psalter. There's an excellent one out using the 1928 BCP called the St. Dustan's Psalter. See http://www.andrewespress.com/dunstan.html

It includes some gems like a chanted version of the Athanasian Creed.

[RonF]

You might want to check out the Hymnals. There are both chant and song settings for the Morning, Evening, and Eucharistic offices. Looking in the 1982 Hymnal I didn't find the Athanasian Creed, but I did find the Nicene Creed in about 3 settings. This is all in the front of the Hymnal; the numbers begin with "S". I have a 1940 Hymnal at Church that I'll look in (it was my mother's from when she sang in the Choir) on Sunday; I'm quite sure there are service settings in there as well (and even a 2-page guide to chanting that I copied out for our choirmaster to give to the choir).

[sionnsar]

They are in the 1940 hymnal, all at the back.

[tellw]

A number of the hymns are metrical versions of the psalms and canticles. For example, "Tell Out My Soul" is the Magnificat for Evening Prayer. http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/t/t036.html