{"id":11,"date":"2009-05-13T10:43:42","date_gmt":"2009-05-13T10:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?p=11"},"modified":"2025-12-19T21:39:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T21:39:21","slug":"learning-from-the-prayer-book","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11","title":{"rendered":"Learning from the Prayer Book"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If we have the Bible to guide us, why use prayers written by someone else? Why not pray spontaneously and compose a fresh form of service each week? \u00a0What is the value of set prayers? \u00a0Why repeat creeds and other forms of confession together? \u00a0These are just some of the questions addressed in this section of the website.<\/p>\n<p>Anglicans have\u00a0<em>The Book of Common Prayer<\/em> (1662) and <em>The Thirty-nine Articles <\/em> (1562) as part of their heritage. These have continuing authority and relevance in Australia as &#8216;the authorized standard of worship and doctrine of this Church&#8217; (<em>Constitution of the Anglican Church of Australia<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p>But many of those who plan and lead services today know little about the content, meaning and purpose of the Prayer Book or its modern counterparts.\u00a0How could these resources help us provide contemporary services that are authentic and relevant?<\/p>\n<p>As you read what follows, consider the Prayer Book&#8217;s biblical and Reformed approach to liturgy, and appreciate some of the richness of the material available to us.\u00a0Reflecting on this heritage should help us do church better, pursuing what is excellent rather than what is familiar and convenient. Modern versions of the Prayer Book provide considerable variety and a greater range of resources that can help us edify the church and glorify God.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=12\">Why liturgy?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=13\">Anglican liturgy in perspective<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=14\">Reading the Bible together<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=15\">Mixing the old with the new<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=16\">Learning to pray together<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?cat=13\">Learning from the Communion Service<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=22\">Learning from the Baptismal Services<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If we have the Bible to guide us, why use prayers written by someone else? Why not pray spontaneously and compose a fresh form of service each week? \u00a0What is the value of set prayers? \u00a0Why repeat creeds and other forms of confession together? \u00a0These are just some of the questions addressed in this section [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Learning from the Prayer Book - Better Gatherings<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Learning from the Prayer Book - Better Gatherings\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If we have the Bible to guide us, why use prayers written by someone else? Why not pray spontaneously and compose a fresh form of service each week? \u00a0What is the value of set prayers? \u00a0Why repeat creeds and other forms of confession together? \u00a0These are just some of the questions addressed in this section [&hellip;]\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Better Gatherings\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-19T21:39:21+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11\",\"name\":\"Learning from the Prayer Book - Better Gatherings\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-05-13T10:43:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-19T21:39:21+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Learning from the Prayer Book\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/\",\"name\":\"Better Gatherings\",\"description\":\"Resources for creating gospel-shaped Christian gatherings\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Learning from the Prayer Book - Better Gatherings","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Learning from the Prayer Book - Better Gatherings","og_description":"If we have the Bible to guide us, why use prayers written by someone else? Why not pray spontaneously and compose a fresh form of service each week? \u00a0What is the value of set prayers? \u00a0Why repeat creeds and other forms of confession together? \u00a0These are just some of the questions addressed in this section [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11","og_site_name":"Better Gatherings","article_modified_time":"2025-12-19T21:39:21+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11","url":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11","name":"Learning from the Prayer Book - Better Gatherings","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-05-13T10:43:42+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-19T21:39:21+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?page_id=11#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Learning from the Prayer Book"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/","name":"Better Gatherings","description":"Resources for creating gospel-shaped Christian gatherings","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":288,"href":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions\/288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bettergatherings.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}