Abstract
This chapter begins by noting the key place of liturgical worship in Anglican identity and reflects on the effect of inculturated and multiple-choice liturgical forms in weakening a common global identity for Anglicans. It then makes a case for the profound ecclesiological significance of the Prayer Book tradition in the absence of either extensive confessions or a living magisterium: the principle that the rule of prayer is the rule of belief. The chapter then outlines the development of the Book of Common Prayer from Thomas Cranmer to the definitive form of 1662 and its derivatives and alternatives in modern Anglicanism. The following section outlines how the Lambeth Conference, as the highest teaching forum of the Anglican Communion, has understood the Prayer Book since its first meeting in 1867. In conclusion, the chapter discusses what, if anything, makes Anglican worship distinctive among Christian practices.
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