An Anglican Prayer Book – Church of the Province of Southern Africa 1989

Bishop Steve gave us a lovely gift of a copy of this Prayer Book which I have come to appreciate and enjoy during this visit. The General Preface begins: ‘The creation of this Prayer Book has been a joyful and inspiring task during a period of 20 years of liturgical experimentation and renewal. The same period has been a crucial one for human relations in our sub-continent, with the church, in spite of its own inadequacies and sinfulness, lifted into a prophetic and pastoral witness to both the perpetrators and victims of ideologies, conflict and violence’. It asks: ‘Is liturgical revision an offensive luxury at such a time as this? The answer is an emphatic ‘no’ because the Church’s worship of God in prayer and sacrament is a priority in every circumstance, and very particularly in times of crisis and change’. A little later we read ‘Liturgy in Africa should be African. We hope that this Prayer Book will serve as a stimulus to the continuing development of indigenous liturgy...’ and reference is made to Form C of the Intercessory Prayers at the Eucharist. I certainly echo this hope........