The Prayer Book Society of Canada or PBSC, founded in 1986, is an organization of Canadian Anglicans encompassing members who are affiliated with both the Anglican Church of Canada and other jurisdictions such as the Anglican Network in Canada and the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada. The Society promotes “the understanding and use of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) as a spiritual system of nurture for life in Christ” and upholds it as the standard of doctrine and worship for Canadian Anglicans. It primarily supports the use of the 1962 Canadian edition of the BCP, and aims to encourage greater awareness and wider use of it through the publication of liturgical resources in print and online, advocacy to and collaboration with like-minded organizations and the broader church, and the provision of financial aid to theological students and parishes. History The Canadian Book of Alternative Services (BAS) was introduced within the Anglican Church of Canada in 1985. The explanatory essays which preface the liturgies contained in it consistently presented them as a departure from the tradition of the Book of Common Prayer, which caused friction between those who valued the spiritual and doctrinal tradition of the Prayer Book, and clergy who introduced the BAS into parish worship, sometimes to the point of entirely replacing the BCP. In response, a fledgling Prayer Book Society of Canada was organized in Toronto early in 1986. It placed advertisements in diocesan and national church newspapers, outlining the issues at hand and inviting readers to join the organization. A regular newsletter was established to enable networking among like-minded people, to assist them with making their concerns known, to provide resources about the history and theology of the BCP, and to share information on the Society’s efforts to engage with church officials. Membership in the Society grew steadily, and branches began to be founded across the country to hold events for local members and to represent the Society at the diocesan level. By 1992 the number of branches had grown to 26, and by 1993 the Society’s membership stood at over 11,000, making it the second largest lay organization in the Anglican Church of Canada (after the Anglican Church Women). In 1994 the PBSC partnered with Barnabas Anglican Ministries and Anglican Renewal Ministries to form the Essentials Coalition, whose stated mission was “to call the Anglican Church of Canada to embrace and live by its orthodox