Exploring Australia's Prayer Books (DL9001T)

Content

This unit will introduce students to the official liturgical rites of the Anglican Church of Australia. It will feature an in-depth study of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) 1662, An Australian Prayer Book (AAPB) (1978), and A Prayer Book for Australia (APBA) (1995), and how each of these reflect theological and ecclesiological developments in the Anglican Communion more broadly. Students will be able to describe the relationship between liturgy and Anglican identity and think critically about the principles of liturgical revision in the Australian context. The unit will feature particular discussion of Baptism, Eucharist, the Daily Office, the Ordinal and the Pastoral Offices, and students will be given insight on the practicalities of how these rites can be conducted in various pastoral settings.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

Prerequisite: an introductory unit in theology or liturgy

Pedagogy

Lectures and tutorials over a one-week intensive, with pre-reading and post-intensive assignments

Indicative Bibliography

• Burns, S. and R. Gribben, eds, The Future of Common Prayer. Coventry Press, 2019 (recommended for purchase)
• Burns S., ed. Liturgical Spirituality. Seabury Press, 2013
• Holeton, D., ed. Growing in Newness of Life. ABC, 1993
• Holeton, D, ed. Our Thanks and Praise. ABC, 1998
• Meyers, R, L.C. Coelo, and P. Bradshaw, eds, The Oxford handbook of the Book of Common Prayer. Oxford University Press, 2026.
• Platten, S. and Christopher Woods, eds, Comfortable Words. SCM Press, 2012
• Ramshaw G. Pray, Praise, and Give Thanks. Augsburg Fortress Press, 2017
• Sherlock, C. Australian Anglicans Worship: Performing APBA. Broughton Books, 2020
• Varcoe, G., ed. APBA: A Practical Commentary. Broughton Books, 1997
• Weil, L.. Liturgical Sense. Seabury Press, 2013

Assessment