[Nashotah House] As part of a five-part series of sermons and events commemorating the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, Nashotah House Theological Seminary is pleased to welcome the Rt. Rev. Michael Eric Marshall as the second preacher in the series. Bishop Marshall will preach Thursday, 26 July 2012 at 5:00 p.m. at St. Joan of Arc in Nashotah, Wisconsin.

[Marshall is the former bishop of Woolwich in the Church of England’s Diocese of Southwark. He currently serves as interim rector of Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York.]

All events are open to the public, free of charge and include displays of original manuscripts of the Book of Common Prayer (1549, 1559 and 1662) and other historic Anglican texts from the Walter S. Underwood Prayer Book Collection, the centerpiece of the Frances Donaldson Library’s rare manuscript collection.

The direct influence of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer upon global Anglicanism can hardly be overstated. Even today, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer remains the official prayer book of the Church of England and is the authoritative standard for most provinces of the Anglican Communion. Its most unforgettable cadences have sustained and guided countless generations of Christians in their pilgrimages, particularly at life’s most memorable moments – at baptisms, marriages, and at life’s end. It is currently available in more than 150 languages and is in use in at least 50 countries.

“Its enduring richness and vitality remains fundamental to our Anglican identity,” comments the Rt. Rev. Edward L. Salmon, Jr., dean and president of Nashotah House, “because its prose is thoroughly biblical, its structure gives glory to God and its theological splendor lies in its affirmation that only through the acknowledgment that God was in Christ reconciling the world can we come to know the grace and peace of God that passes all understanding.” It is with a spirit of thanksgiving that Nashotah House commemorates the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.