Reader's question: Where to get the 1941 prayerbook?

A reader asked where he might get a copy of the 1941 Universalist prayerbook. This is how I replied:

The 1941 (and lesser known 1943 Harrisville, R.I. prayerbook) were simply abridgments of the 1894 servicebook, with the 1935 Washington Avowal in place — in the appendix — of the Winchester Profession and a new introduction by Emerson Hugh Lalone who noted “The present volume is abridged but in no sense impoverished. Only those parts which are not necessary to the regular services of worship have been omitted.” This includes selections from the Psalter.

What’s left is

  • The Order for Morning Prayer
  • The Order for Evening Prayer
  • The Order for Vespers
  • Litany
  • The Divine Law
  • The Lord’s Supper, or Holy Communion
  • Baptism of Infants
  • Baptism of Such As Are of Riper Years
  • The Order of Confirmation
  • Hymns and Psalms
  • Universalist Profession of Belief and Bond of Fellowship

Don’t get too excited about the “Hymns and Psalms” — these are exactly the tests of the Gloria Tibi and Te Deum Laudamus.

I do welcome reader inquiries and have a couple of other replies to post. (I don’t post identifying information; you may comment and I identify yourself.) Write me through the contact page.

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