Francesca Ward, aged 14 was highly commended in the junior section of the Prayer Book Society’s annual competition. Entrants read or recite a passage of their choice of between three and five minutes in length from the Book of Common Prayer. Fran recited the Collect, Epistle and Gospel for 4th Sunday in Lent and really impressed the entire school when she gave a rehearsal of her recitation at Prayers a few days before the competition! She also mentioned then how much she appreciated the time her friend Courtney Dover had given up to help her in her practice sessions.
Judges said the standard of entries this year was better than ever. The prizes were presented by the Very Rev Canon John Hall, Dean of Westminster Abbey, who said “What a wonderfully rich source of spiritual inspiration the Book of Common Prayer is, and how fortunate the young people present are to have learned their passages as they will doubtless find them of comfort at future points in their lives.”
The Awards are designed to introduce young people to the Book of Common Prayer – the bedrock of the Church of England. They offer the opportunity for 11 - 18 year-olds to get to grips with the unsurpassed language of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer's most enduring work, which dates back to 1662 and is still in use today. The Society has branches in each of the Church of England dioceses, and Fran had been selected at the regional heat in November, where Anne Robinson was one of the judges, to go forward to these national Finals. Well done, Fran!