The 2014 publication of the Episcopal Church’s resource for daily prayer, Daily Prayer for All Seasons, invites reflection on recent developments in provision for everyday services around the Anglican Communion. Not only is the new resource considerably different from the material it complements in the Book of Common Prayer 1979, it also represents a departure from a certain commonality that has emerged in material from around the Communion since 1979. While this article does not map those developments in detail, it does chart some of the shifts occurring in various provinces and relates that survey to current discussions about ‘Anglican identity and liturgical diversity’. The article serves both as an introduction to Daily Prayer for All Seasons and as a wider reflection on Anglican forms of everyday services in the period from 1979–2014.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a formal liturgy as against extemporized worship? After the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660, it was clear that some form of national ‘Church of England’ would be reconstructed – but would it have a set liturgy, and if so what would it be like? This paper considers over a hundred books published in the following three years, debating whether the Book of Common Prayer should be imposed, reformed or abandoned, with arguments based on biblical precepts, the practice of the early Church and reformed Churches, the duties of ministers and the needs of congregations. The debate shows how the views of both conformists and nonconformists had developed in response to the religious free-for-all of the 1640s and 1650s, though it had little influence on political decisions.