Book of Common Order
The Book of Common Order is a liturgical manual used by the Church of Scotland, designed to guide prayer and public worship while replacing the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. Originating in the 16th century, it reflects the traditions of the Scottish Reformation, which saw the majority of Scots break away from Roman Catholicism. The book encompasses a variety of services, including those for daily prayers, sacraments, and specific occasions, while incorporating Biblical excerpts from both the Old and New Testaments.
The initial version, attributed to John Knox, was published in 1556 for the Marian exiles in Geneva. Subsequent versions have been adapted and revised over the years to keep pace with changing language and cultural contexts, emphasizing inclusivity and accessibility. Notably, the book has played a significant role in shaping the Presbyterian form of governance, which relies on a council of elders from within the congregation. Throughout its history, the Book of Common Order has also contributed to broader educational advancements in Scotland and the promotion of congregational singing. Major revisions occurred in 1940, 1979, and 1994, reflecting ongoing efforts to engage contemporary worship practices and language.
Book of Common Order
The Book of Common Order is a manual of prayer and other public worship practices for use by members of the Church of Scotland. It originated to replace the Book of Common Prayer that serves that same purpose for the Church of England. In both cases, the Book is not a sacred scripture like the Bible, but it does contain Biblical excerpts from both the Old and New Testaments. Prayers, readings, and canticles (sung prayers) are provided and arranged according to type: morning and evening prayers, the Christian Litany, and services for specific occasions and sacraments, such as baptism, Holy Communion, marriage, funerals, specific holy days, and prayers to be read for the sick.
Like the Book of Common Prayer, the Book of Common Order does not refer to a specific static text. At any given time, there is an accepted text in use by the Church, but that text has been revised in minor ways many times and in substantial ways several times.
Background
The Church of Scotland was formed in 1560 as a result of the Scottish Reformation, when the Christians of Scotland (or at least their majority) broke away from the Roman Catholic Church. The Scottish Reformation was part of the ongoing Protestant Reformation that had begun with Martin Luther’s Ninety Five Theses in 1517. The Church of England had separated from Catholicism in 1537 for largely political reasons; however, because Anglicanism developed more slowly than Lutheranism, and because Catholicism was temporarily restored under the reign of Queen Mary, it did not develop into a distinctive Protestant faith until the 1560s.
The assembler of the Book of Order, and in essence founder of the new Church of Scotland, was John Knox (1513–72), a Scottish clergyman who had already been one of the voices of reform in producing the Book of Common Prayer, which was originally produced in 1549 in order to clarify the liturgy of the new Anglican church. Like many other committed Protestants who had the means, Knox left England when Mary became queen and restored Catholicism, joining the Protestant community in Geneva, Switzerland. Such expatriates came to be known as the "Marian exiles," and Geneva was home to the most politically engaged and theologically reform-driven of the Marian exiles, who made up about 2% of the city’s population before they were able to return.
Knox quickly became a leader in the community and met the French reformer John Calvin (for whom Calvinism is named). Calvin was an influential theologian whose ideas trickled down into many of the Protestant churches forming at the time. He is remembered principally for his doctrine of predestination and his theology of salvation, but he was also a staunch supporter of democracy. It was Calvinist political thought that influenced the Presbyterian branch of Protestantism, which Knox brought back to Scotland when Mary was succeeded by Elizabeth. In Presbyterian churches, church government is conducted by an assembly of elders who are members of the congregation they govern.
Overview
The first version of the Book of Common Order was also called the Genevan Book of Order, the Order of Geneva, or Knox’s Liturgy, and was published in 1556 in Geneva for use by the Marian exiles, who held services in the building where John Calvin gave his lectures. (The building was later named the Calvin Auditory, and it continues to host English-language worship services under the auspices of the Church of Scotland). When Knox and other exiles returned, the Church of Scotland swiftly came together. The Church itself was established in 1560, and it adopted the Book of Common Order officially in 1562. In 1579, all gentlemen and yeomen of sufficient net worth were required by law to own a copy of the Book.
Although the exact order, arrangement, and title of the sections has varied, the Book has generally included a calendar denoting holy days and other important occasions; the confession of faith; the rules concerning the Church of Scotland regarding the election and duties of ministers, elders, and deacons, ecclesiastical discipline, and excommunication; instructions for funerals and burials, communion, marriages, baptisms, fasting, and praying for the sick; prayers for public worship; the complete book of Psalms; canticles and hymns; assorted important Christian texts, such as the Apostles’ Creed; and Calvin’s Catechism.
The Marian exile community in Geneva also produced the Geneva Bible, an English language translation, which became the version used by sixteenth-century English-speaking Protestants (it preceded the King James Version by fifty-one years) and remained popular into the eighteenth century. Perhaps the most significant thing about the Geneva Bible is that it was issued in both quarto and octavo (pocket-sized) editions, making it more affordable than other Bibles of the day, in English or otherwise. It was the first Bible the working class could afford to buy and keep in their homes, and they were encouraged to do so.
This Presbyterian, egalitarian strain of thinking colored other aspects of the Scottish Reformation, which encouraged significant expansion of Scotland’s schools and better educational access for women. On the other hand, part of redefining the character of the Scottish church also meant getting rid of church organs and choirs, relying instead on congregations to sing psalms, hymns, and canticles—a more democratic approach, but one that slowed the development of devotional music. Furthermore, in the following century Protestants’ pride in their church led to campaigns against other sources of entertainment, including dancing, bonfires, and "guising," the Scottish term for trick or treating at Halloween.
In 1567, the prayers in the Book of Common Order were translated into Gaelic. For a time, the Book was joined by the Westminster Directory, a book of public worship that originated in 1644 as an attempt to introduce Scottish Protestant-style worship to England (after repeated failed efforts by the English and their supporters to impose Anglican-style worship on Scotland). The law mandating the Directory was annulled by the end of the century, but some Scottish churches still recommend its use.
Major revisions of the Book of Common Order were published by the Church of Scotland in 1940, 1979, and 1994, followed by a Gaelic supplement (Leahar Sheirbheisean) in 1996. The modern revisions have been marked by their efforts to use more gender-inclusive language, to uphold the egalitarian legacy of Scottish Presbyterianism, and to modernize word choices in order to make the Book accessible to a wider audience.
Bibliography
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---. The Church of Scotland Year-Book. Edinburgh: Andesite, 2015. Print.
Dawson, Jane. John Knox. New Haven: Yale UP, 2015. Print.
MacLeod, A. Donald. A Kirk Disrupted: Charles Cowan MP and The Free Church of Scotland. Edinburgh: Mentor, 2014. Print.
Muirhead, Andrew T. N. Reformation, Dissent, and Diversity: The Story of Scotland's Churches, 1560-1960. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. Print.
Ryrie, Alec. The Origins of the Scottish Reformation. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2006. Print.
Shukman, Ann. Bishops and Covenanters: The Church in Scotland 1688-1691. Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2013. Print.
Todd, Margo. The Culture of Protestantism in Early Modern Scotland. New Haven: Yale UP, 2002. Print.