Questions about publications and copyright can be directed to the General Synod’s publications email account.
Prayer books
Common worship in the Anglican Church is rooted through the Book of Common Prayer, unifying liturgical practices since the 16th century. Over the centuries, the prayer book has evolved and been adapted to reflect local contexts and theological developments, maintaining its foundational role while embracing diversity across the Anglican Communion.
The Book of Common Prayer (BCP)
The BCP (1962) is a revision of the 1918 Canadian Book of Common Prayer.
Moveable feast dates from 2021‑40 can be found here.
A Disciple’s Prayer Book
What began as a pastoral adaptation of the Book of Common Prayer is now a well-known, well-established resource in the Anglican Communion. A Disciple’s Prayer Book is popular among Indigenous Anglicans and commended for use by the Anglican Council of Indigenous Peoples.
Pray Without Ceasing
Pray Without Ceasing provides a guide for Morning and Evening Prayer. It is designed to support personal devotion, small group prayer and parish worship, helping Anglicans engage meaningfully with daily prayer.
Inclusive Language Liturgical Psalter
The Inclusive Language Liturgical Psalter presents the psalms in clear, contemporary English while honouring their traditional beauty. An inclusive language pointed edition is also available. Explore all psalters available for use across the Anglican Church of Canada.
The Book of Alternative Services (BAS)
Introduced in 1985, the BAS offers modernized liturgies and contemporary language, compared to the 1962 Book of Common Prayer.
Despite its name “alternative,” the BAS has become the primary worship text of the Anglican Church of Canada. Portions of the BAS are also available in other languages on this page.
Hymnals
While hymnody from any source is welcome in Anglican worship, the following resources are texts which have been compiled, published, authorized or translated by the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada.
Sing A New Creation (2022)
A collection of 174 hymns and songs and 50 service music items, this resource is a supplement to Common Praise (1998). In addition to many traditional-looking hymns, Sing a New Creation includes: short songs, songs that can be taught and sung “paperlessly,” lead sheets, and songs from around the globe.
Common Praise (1998)
Currently the most popular hymnal in the Anglican Church of Canada, this resource contains 769 hymns and pieces of service music.
Common Praise (1938)
Now out of print with only a few copies remaining for purchase, this hymnal is commonly known as the “Blue Book” or the 1938 Anglican Hymn Book.
Psalms and Hymns in Cree
Download PDFs of the following resources by clicking their title.
- Psalms and Hymns (John Horden)
- Psalms and Hymns in the Language of Cree of the Diocese of Saskatchewan (J. A. Mackay)
- Hymns in the Cree Language (R. Faries) for Western Hudson’s Bay, Northern Manitoba, and Saskatchewan
Additional resources
A number of liturgical resources are supplemental to the BAS and BCP.
In other languages
The following resources are available as excerpts from the BAS, from BAS supplementary resources and other publications.
Chinese liturgical texts were translated by Bishop Patrick Yu for use in the Anglican Church of Canada. Suggestions to help improve the flow of the prayers are welcome.
- Ash Wednesday to Easter Vigil services (Traditional and Simplified)
- Burial Office (Traditional and Simplified)
- Holy Baptism (Traditional and Simplified)
- Holy Eucharist (Traditional)
- Holy Eucharist (Simplified)
- The Proper of the Church Year (Chinese and Simplified)
A number of resources have been translated to different Cree dialects and are available in PDF format.
The Diocese of Montreal has additional liturgical resources available in English and French.
- Le baptême (Holy Baptism)
- La sainte eucharistie (Holy Eucharist)
- Le mariage dans le cadre d’une eucharistie (Marriage with the Holy Eucharist)
- Les funérailles Première forme (Funeral Liturgy Form 1)
- Le propre des dimanches et des jours saints de l’année liturgique (The Proper of the Church Year)
- Prières universelles (Litanies)
- L’ordination d’un évêque ou une évêque (The ordination of a bishop)
- L’ordination des prêtres (The ordination of a priest)
- L’ordination des diacres (The ordination of a deacon)
- Le service de la Parole II (A Service of the Word, from Eucharistic Prayers, Services of the Word and Night Prayer)