Status: last updated: March 21, 2016.
Currently this project is in development. The print version is in the proof stage. We estimate it will be ready for production at the end of April. The eBook will follow later this year.
Read on below for further description and check back here for more details about this upcoming publication.
Synopsis:
“I BELIEVE there is no LITURGY in the World, either in ancient or modern language, which breathes more of a solid, scriptural, rational Piety, than the COMMON PRAYER of the CHURCH of ENGLAND…”
John Wesley
Despite those words, Wesley realized that in its entirety the BCP needed to be modified to fit the practices of the Methodists society, especially for those congregants living abroad in the new frontier.
In 1784 he published this version to be considered for use in the parishes of the Continental US.
This book is a Methodist Book of Common Prayer, integrated for modern use, yet allegiant to the original Anglican-Wesleyan text.
Description:
This book is a Methodist Book of Common Prayer, integrated for modern use, yet allegiant to the original Anglican-Wesleyan text.
This is the original work by John and Charles Wesley published by them in 1784. This was their version of the English 1662 The Book of Common Prayer. It was intended to be a Minister’s Manual useful to the itinerant paster. In the back of the book is a collection of Psalms and Hymns that they found inspiring and useful for Methodist’s services. It appears that these Hymns are from a variety of authors such as Issac Watts though no credits are referenced in the original.
The entire original work including scriptures has been transposed from the 18th Century original publication to the 21st Century digital age keeping all the original language and spellings so that students and researchers may make complete comparative studies of early Methodism and early Christian services and liturgies.
Prior works have been done producing a partial facsimile of the original book.⁜ This new publication is the first complete reproduction of the original book within it’s own volume and in modern text-type. The entire book has been prepared for print and eBook.
FAQs:
Is this a scan or a facsimile of the original?
This is neither a complete scan of the original book nor a facsimile. This is the entire original work (including scripture passages) produced by John and Charles Wesley along with their selection of Psalms and Hymns of their day, painstakingly transcribed retaining all the original material (including spellings) into modern text-type. Graphics of the original Tables (Calendar of Lessons) and the original vignettes are the only exceptions.
Intended Reader:
This book is primarily essential to Professors and Students researching the Wesleyan tradition. It may also be a prayer-devotional companion for those who cherish Wesley’s writings. It contains 30 select Psalms for daily reading. This work is a Minister’s Manual, though impractical for modern use, it may be helpful for ministers to enrich their own ministerial practices.
Editor’s Biographical sketch:
Jonathan H. Johnson currently serves as Pastor of English Ministries at Han Mee Korean American Church in Battle Creek Michigan. In 2015 he received his Certificate of License and Ordination from Our Father’s House Christian Community Church in Chili Wisconsin. In 2014 he received a Certificate in Christian Apologetics through Biola University in La Mirada California. In 2012 he received his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from Asbury University in Wilmore Kentucky. He serves as a studio artist for Furocious Studios.
He was raised and became a full member in the United Methodist Church; in later years he joined the Wesleyan Church and served there for 12 years. He is a lifetime aficionado of John and Charles Wesley and took course credit in Wesleyan doctrine. In college he found inspiration from early revivals and the Holiness Movement sparked by the Wesleys and Sir Francis Asbury. In his time of service in the ministry he has rekindled his appreciation for John Wesley in his study of Wesleyan sermons, liturgy and hymnology.
Comparative study:
Part of the reason for the publication of this resource was to facilitate and satisfy academic curiosity. Computer screens are hard on the eyes over long hours of work. There’s nothing like the simplicity of a book and a highlighter.
In the Reference Scan of the BCP§ compared to the Wesley version the omissions are clear; In this instance it is discovered that Wesley deviated considerably from the BCP concerning Absolution or Remission of sins.
eBook:
The eBook is under development. The priority will be to release the eBook on Amazon Kindle for the convenience of students and common educational programs that make use of Amazon’s services. The primary intention of this project was to get John Wesley’s The Book of Common Prayer into a digital format so that it would be in a clear text, resizable, searchable, fully indexed, and readable by the text-to-speach application.
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⁜White, James F. John Wesley’s Prayer Book. Akron, OH: OSL Publications,
§1995.James Wood, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church According to the Use of the Church of England: Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David, Pointed as They Are to Be Sun, penguin classics deluxe ed. (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2012), 68-69.