Language in the Liturgy: Past, Present and Future

Language in the Liturgy is an historically-based, linguistically-focused account of the development of liturgical language in English in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches over the past half-century. It analyses issues of style and expression in a wide range of texts, setting this analysis within larger contexts of ecclesiastical and societal change since the 1970s. The Book of Common Prayer is taken as the benchmark of classical liturgical composition in English, not only because it was the first liturgy to be composed in the language, but also because of the universally acknowledged beauty of it. Professor Spurr makes a detailed comparative and analytical linguistic study of the Prayer Book and the liturgies composed in English in the modern idiom. He argues for a ’renewal of the renewal’ by the restoration of an appropriate solemnity and sacredness of linguistic expression, as exemplified in the traditional Prayer Book rites. The book also includes chapters on the role of music and of silence in worship. This stimulating study will be of interest to all concerned about the future direction of liturgies in English in the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches.