The Scottish Prayer Book (1637)

Historical background

Charles I sought greater conformity between the Church of Scotland, which had bishops but largely Reformed worship, and the Church of England. Rather than simply impose the English book, the king had Scottish bishops prepare a version for Scotland, revised in consultation with Archbishop Laud. It was imposed by royal proclamation, without consultation with the General Assembly.

What changed

The book generally followed the English book but moved in a more “catholic” direction in its Communion service, drawing on the 1549 rite. The prayer of consecration included an invocation of the Holy Spirit on the bread and wine, and the consecration was followed by a prayer of oblation, restoring the order of 1549. Scottish usages also appeared, such as the use of “presbyter” for “priest” in places and the King James Version for scripture readings.

Notable and controversial

At its first use in St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, on 23 July 1637, a riot broke out; tradition credits a market-woman, Jenny Geddes, with throwing her stool at the dean. Opposition spread rapidly and led to the National Covenant (1638), the abolition of episcopacy in Scotland and the Bishops’ Wars, which in turn helped bring on the English Civil War. The book was never effectively used. Its eucharistic prayer, however, influenced the later Scottish Communion Office of 1764, which Samuel Seabury, the first American bishop (consecrated by Scottish bishops in 1784), agreed to commend; through that route it shaped the 1789 American Prayer Book.