Comments on: NZ Prayer Book 20 years on

By: Bosco Peters

Bosco Peters — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:31:34 +0000

I am no expert in that part of its history, Colin. My understanding is that the original digital file was lost, and also the film used for printing. The original Colins editions were not printed in New Zealand. Then when a reprint was required, the Harper Collins edition of 1997 was produced, as I said, essentially photocopying the Colins edition. The artwork by our Archbishop on the cover was lost in that edition, as was the two-toned coloured artwork etc. That book is significantly thicker also. Currently the book is produced and printed in New Zealand and it has never looked so good or so slim! That involved the production of a new digital file. I think the Harper Collins edition was focused on USA and meant there was some negotiation with that company in terms of copyright. I am sorry I do not know or understand the fine details – and would be happy for a reader to correct or expand on any of this history. If you acknowledge my authorship, you can have anything on this site, including my book Celebrating Eucharist, for free – I think that gives you the idea where I stand on copyright of liturgical texts

By: Bright Wings

Bright Wings — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:02:58 +0000

The NZ Prayer Book is a great treasure trove of worship resources for both collective and individual worship. No matter how many times I dip into it, I find something new and interesting.

In its attempt to be comprehensive, however, it has ended up overly large and complex and can be very confusing to follow.

It is also a large, heavy volume that is too heavy for elderly people to hold for any length of time.

There seems to be an increasing trend towards parishes either printing booklets for the different liturgies or incorporating them into Powerpoint presentations for data projection. This allows all the confusing rubrics and alternatives to be removed and makes the service easier to follow, particularly for newcomers.

By: Colin

Colin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:40:30 +0000

Why was copyright lost, Bosco?

By: Bruce W. Cory

Bruce W. Cory — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:26:13 +0000

I purchased a copy of the New Zealand Prayerbook as a reference/resource. I have not used it much, but have paged through it and been very inspired by the wording of the some of the prayers. Hmmm… Maybe in honor of its “birthday” I will pull it out tonight and use it for evening prayer!

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:18:05 +0000

I’ve got one of the early copies of the NZPB and have used it often and for many things, although not recently. Our Education for Ministry seminar group loved the Compline rite in the book.

One of the best representatives for the book is the Rev. David Guthrie; his podcasts of the Daily Office are excellent:
http://david.guthrie.net.nz/prayerpage/