The Prayer Book Society is a

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

that "is established for the advancement of the

Christian religion Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popul ...

as set forth in the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

; and, in furtherance of this Object, for the promotion of the worship and doctrine enshrined in the Book of Common Prayer and its use for services, teaching and training throughout the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

and other Churches in the Anglican tradition".

Activity

The Prayer Book Society was founded in 1972, largely through the efforts of Anthony Kilmister, as a conservative reaction to the Church's experiments with liturgical reform in the

Alternative Services Series 1 The ''Alternative Service Book 1980'' (''ASB'') was the first complete prayer book produced by the Church of England since 1662. Its name derives from the fact that it was proposed not as a replacement for the 1662 ''Book of Common Prayer'' (B ...

, and Series 2, and just prior to the publication of Series 3. In 2012 the Charity Commission for England and Wales permitted the society to simplify its objects in order to allow it to undertake a number of new activities closely related to its previous work. The society is a sister society of the

Prayer Book Society of the USA The Prayer Book Society of the USA (PBS USA), officially the Society for the Preservation of the Book of Common Prayer, seeks to maintain the Anglican tradition of liturgical common prayer and promote the use and understanding of traditional versio ...

, the

Prayer Book Society of Canada The Prayer Book Society of Canada or PBSC, founded in 1986, is an organization of Canadian Anglicans encompassing members who are affiliated with both the Anglican Church of Canada and other jurisdictions such as the Anglican Network in Canada and ...

, the

Scottish Prayer Book Society Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English * Scottish national identity, the Scottish id ...

and the Prayer Book Society in Australia. As Prince of Wales,

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

served as patron of the PBS from the year 2000 and the ecclesiastical patron is

Richard Chartres Richard John Carew Chartres, Baron Chartres , FBS (; born 11 July 1947) is a retired bishop of the Church of England. He was area Bishop of Stepney from 1992 to 1995 and Bishop of London from 1995 to 2017. He was sworn of the Privy Council in t ...

, the former

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Membership

According to the Society it has over 4,500 members, and 51 branches throughout England. More than 80 Church of England churches are corporate members of the society. These include: *

All Saints' Church, Lullington All Saints’ Church, Lullington is a Grade II* listed parish church in the Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion ...

* St Andrew's Church, Covehithe *

Christ Church with St Ewen Christ Church with St Ewen () is a Church of England parish church in Broad Street, Bristol, England. Christ Church was built between 1786 and 1791. The tower appears to have been designed by Thomas Paty who was architect to the vestry, and th ...

* St Laurence's Church, Winslow *

St Michael, Cornhill St Michael, Cornhill, is a medieval parish church in the City of London with pre-Norman Conquest parochial foundation. It lies in the ward of Cornhill. The medieval structure was lost in the Great Fire of London, and replaced by the present bui ...

St Mary's Church, Hull The Church of St Mary, also known as Lowgate St Mary, is a Church of England parish church in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. The church is a grade II* listed building. History The church dates to the 15th-century. A tower was add ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

The Prayer Book Society website
Anglicanism in the United Kingdom Charities based in Berkshire