In 1997 the General Synod of the Church of Ireland, after careful consideration, requested the Church's Liturgical Advisory Committee to prepare a new edition of The Book of Common Prayer. Since disestablishment, two previous editions of The Book of Common Prayer had been produced (in 1878 and in 1926). The introduction of the Alternative Prayer Book in 1984 authorised services in modern language as alternatives to those contained in The Book of Common Prayer. The 2004 edition of the book includes both services of the Church handed down through the centuries and services in contemporary language.A time-honoured vision of Common Prayer informs the contents and presentation of this book. It seeks to unify the worship of God's people, while allowing reasonable scope for diversity within the essential unity of the Church's prayer. It is also intended to be a book which has equal capacity to enrich private devotion as well as public worship. There are minimal changes to the traditional language services – some changes in layout which are intended to make the book more user-friendly. The contemporary language services have been revised in the light of the experience of their use over the past twenty years and in the light of newer insights developed in association with other provinces of the Anglican Communion through the International Anglican Liturgical Consultations.
