Introduction to Common Worship

Common Worship is not just another prayer book, but a series of volumes which aims to provide a wide variety of prayers and liturgical resources for use within a common framework and common structures. This allows individual churches to tailor services to their own setting and culture and the needs of their particular congregations.

Click here to learn a little about the process of liturgical revision

A family of volumes

Common Worship is published in a family of volumes by Church House Publishing under the oversight of the Liturgical Commission. Here are the volumes:

  • Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England.
    This is the main volume. It contains services and resources for use on Sundays, Principal Feasts and Holy Days, and Festivals, in both contemporary and traditional language, together with the Common Worship Psalter. It also includes services from The Book of Common Prayer in the forms in which they are customarily used today, as well as a service of Night Prayer using the texts from The 1928 Prayer Book
  • Common Worship: The President's Edition
    This volume is specifically for the clergy who lead worship in the Church of England. It contains the Holy Communion and Baptism services, the Collects and Post Communions that appear in the main volume, as well as:
    • Collects and Post Communions for Lesser Festivals and Special Occasions
    • additional Proper Prefaces and Blessings
    • music for the Eucharistic Prayers
  • Common Worship: Pastoral Services
    The services and resources for Wholeness and Healing, Marriage, and Funerals are contained in this volume.
  • Pastoral Ministry Companion
    This easy to use collection presents services, prayer and readings for the most frequently encountered pastoral occasions in a durable and portable format.
  • Common Worship: Christian Initiation
     Published in 2005, Christian Initiation is a complete volume containing all the liturgies of Baptism and Confirmation as well as 'Rites on the Way: Approaching Baptism', 'Rites of Affirmation: Appropriating Baptism' as well liturgies of Reconciliation and Wholeness and Healing
  • Common Worship: Daily Prayer
    This volume contains orders of service for morning, evening and night prayer for each day of the week, and each season of the Church's year. There is also a wealth of seasonal variants, collects, psalms and other devotional materials.
  • Common Worship: Collects and Post Communions
    This volume contains all of the Common Worship Collects and Post Communions, including the Additional Collects authorized in 2004
  • New Patterns for Worship
    This volume contains guidance on planning worship, resources for use on a variety of occasions and sample services.
  • Times and Seasons
    Times and Seasons provides liturgical material for the major seasons of the Christian year. For each season, it offers a wide range of prayers and blessings, as well as fully worked out services and creative outlines for key events, such as Christingle and crib services, Easter Vigils and Dawn Services.
  • Common Worship: Festivals
    This volume contains everything you need to celebrate the Saints' days, principal holy days and special occasions in the Church of England calendar. It brings together all the prayers ('propers') and Collects needed for these days with Eucharistic material and music.
  • Common Worship: Ordination Services (study edition)
     This special hybrid volume of Common Worship provides the ordination liturgies of the Church of England from The Book of Common Prayer and Common Worship alongside a study guide for these services.
  • Times and Seasons: Preisdent's Edition
    This revised, expanded edition of Times and Seasons provides a wealth of seasonal material for the celebration of Holy Communion Order One throughout the church year.
  • Holy Week and Easter
    This president's volume contains all that is required for the differing services that are held in this 'week of weeks'.
  • Additional Eucharistic Prayers
    These additional Eucharistic prayers for Common Worship are designed for use where significant numbers of children are present, particularly in school worship. This booklet includes the full texts and responses of both prayers, and helpful guidance on celebrating the Eucharist with children.

The contents of these volumes are available in a variety of editions and formats. For details, look at the range of official products.

The Weekday Lectionary is available in worked-out form in the annual Common Worship Lectionary.