Since the 18th century, there have been several editions of the Book of Common Prayer produced and revised for use by Unitarians. Several versions descend from an unpublished manuscript of alterations to the Church of England's 1662 Book of Common Prayer originally produced by English philosopher and clergyman Samuel Clarke in 1724, with descendant liturgical books remaining in use today.
Clarke, a Semi-Arian and Subordinationist, viewed the doctrine of the Trinity as theologically unsound and saw the 1662 prayer book's inclusion of elements like the Athanasian Creed as perpetuating these errors. Clarke's manuscript alterations emphasized the excision of Trinitarian references in favor of prayers directed toward God the Father. Theophilus Lindsey would build upon Clarke's work after receiving a copy of the changes, publishing his own series of Unitarian prayer books from 1774 onward. Lindsey's Essex Street Chapel in London, the first Unitarian church in England, utilized these prayer books for worship. When an Essex Street Chapel congregant introduced James Freeman of King's Chapel in Boston to Lindsey's prayer book, Freeman further edited its liturgies and convinced his congregation to adopt his revision in 1785.
These Unitarian forms were among a trend of Nonconformist efforts to revise the 1662 prayer book through the 18th and 19th centuries; the Anglican prayer book remained the primary basis for English Unitarian worship literature until 1861. The Unitarian revisions influenced other prayer book revision efforts, including John Wesley's The Sunday Service of the Methodists and the American Episcopal Church's first prayer book revision effort. The King's Chapel prayer book, currently in its ninth edition as first published in 1986, remains that congregation's standard liturgical text.
History
Samuel Clarke, the Church of England rector of St James's Church, Piccadilly, privately created an altered version of the church's legally mandated liturgy, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, in 1724. He was a Semi-Arian and, like early Unitarians in Transylvania and what was then the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a subordinationist who held that God the Father was supreme and, unlike God the Son, alone worthy of worship. Clarke had previously written a study of 1,250 Bible verses, The Scriptural Doctrine of the Trinity, which contained his theology and prescribed a new rule for prayer based on the notion Jesus Christ derives his powers as savior from the Father. According to Clarke, the theology of the Trinity had developed as a result of poor metaphysics and the inclusion of the Athanasian Creed in the 1662 prayer book perpetuated this inaccurate theology.
In his 1724 manuscript of alterations to the 1662 prayer book, Clarke rewrote prayers to redirect them exclusively towards God the Father. Clarke was a friend of Caroline, who later became queen consort of King George II. After Caroline became queen in 1727, Clarke intended to request she push his nomination as a bishop, a position that would allow him to formally revise the prayer book. Had he not declined to sign the Thirty-nine Articles and encountered protests from William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury, over this heterodoxy, historian A. Elliot Peaston believed Clarke might have become the Archbishop of Canterbury. Unable to secure official support for his views, Clarke's altered prayer book went unpublished. However, copies were made and the original manuscript alterations were given to the British Library following his death.