Westminster John Knox Press

Simply one of the most valuable liturgical resources of the late 20th century. There is a wealth of material here. My only "gripe" is that too many of the prayers have something of a late 20th century timbre to them. Also, the contents of the prayers often betray late 20th century theological/political agendas from within American Protestantism - especially the PCUSA. For example, one gets the clear impression that the prayers go out of their way to avoid addressing God as "Father."

This is a very servicable prayer book for private worship and devotions. For too many Christians, "quiet time" consists in a disorganized time of reading with extempranious prayers. Certainly this is better than nothing, but giving oneself over to the discipline of being "led" by prayers crafted by gifted pastors with a view to the care of souls has benefits of which far too few people take advantage. This prayer book is excellent for these purposes.

While some of the prayers may be too modernist for my taste, others are very beautiful, especially the morning prayer service, which I have rarely seen used.

a valuable compendium of liturgical language for consultation by those interested in the development of liturgy