April 2019
Prince of Wales Presents Prayer Book Prize
The national final of the Prayer Book Society’s Cranmer Awards competition was held at Lambeth Palace with pupils from Kent Church schools among those who took part.
Prince Charles, who is Patron of the Society, presented the prizes and met the finalists who had qualified at Diocesan Branch heats around the country.
The Rochester competitor in the senior section was Caleb Lee, a pupil at St Olave’s Grammar School.
Having done very well in his section he was presented to Prince Charles and received a certificate..
Owen Marshall, a pupil at Judd Grammar School, won the junior section at this year’s He received his prize of £200 and a leather-bound Prayer Book from HRH The Prince of Wales.
The Prayer Book Society promotes the understanding and use of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, the only liturgy permanently authorized for use in the Church of England. I
ts Cranmer Awards competition, now in its thirtieth year, aims to introduce young people to the Prayer Book who might otherwise not be familiar with it.
The Book of Common Prayer is, in the words of Prince Charles, “a crucial part of our heritage.”
At these heats, secondary school children read their chosen passages from the Book of Common Prayer but, at the national final, the winners of the branch heats are required to recite from memory.
As well as Judd and St Olave’s schools, pupils from Bennett Memorial and Trinity School Sevenoaks have regularly taken part in the competition.
The next branch heat of the Cranmer Awards will be held at The Judd School Brook Street, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 2PN on the evening of Wednesday, 13th November 2019.
If any other school or church would like information about taking part, contact the Rochester Branch Secretaries on 01732 461 462 or e-mail pbs.admin@pbs.org.uk.