Cranmer Prize Rules and Guidelines

Episcopalians for Traditional Faith to Award $2,000
For Top Essays on the 1928 Book of Common Prayer

Deadline:  Monday, November 1, 2010 — no exceptions.

First Prize, $1,000

Prizes for two finalists, $500 each

Publication and recognition

Additional awards for outstanding essays

Essay:  Send your essay in pdf format to tcranmer@etf1928.org or mail it to the ETF address below.

Entry form: Print out the Cranmer Prize Entry Form, complete it, scan it, and email it with your essay. If you send your essay by U.S. mail, include your completed entry form in the envelope, mark the outside of the envelope CRANMER PRIZE,  and send to

Episcopalians for Traditional Faith
Cranmer Prize
P.O. Box 361
Mill Neck, NY 11765

There is no entry fee.

This information must appear in upper left-hand corner of first page of your essay:

• Title of essay
• Date
• Name
• Address
• Email address
• Home parish and diocese, and email addresses of each
  
• Name, address, and email address, of diocese and seminary in which you’re enrolled
• Exact word count (if this is not supplied, your entry will be disqualified.)

Essays must be in English. Each must be the original work of the entrant, and must not have appeared in published form.

Essays must be 2,500-3,000 words.

ETF retains one-time publication rights for the First Prize Essay and the two Finalist Essays, which will be published on the ETF website, in the ETF e-newsletter, and in print newsletter ETF Update.

Judges will read and evaluate every entry. Judges’ decisions are final.

The Cranmer Prizes will be presented on March 20, 2011, the Sunday before March 21, the date in 1556 of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer’s martyrdom by burning at the stake. Winners will be notified by mail before the awards ceremony so that they can make plans to attend.

Guidelines for Writing an Essay

First Section

Strong beginning statement, aka “lede,” that will state your thesis and engage the reader’s interest.

Topic sentence and specific points supporting your thesis. This section should illustrate your most important observation. You will follow it with sections organized in declining importance (inverted pyramid style).

Body of essay

Expand on your thesis. If your subject focuses on how prayer book revisions have changed the religion, compare and contrast the 1928 Book of Common Prayer with the 1979 Prayer Book and all subsequent rites and liturgies published by The Episcopal Church.

Two or three more sections should follow the same form.

Conclusion

Reword thesis and conclude with a strong statement.

Writing Tips

Use specific examples to illustrate general statements.

Original quotes will enliven your essay. If you use quotes from your own interviews or conversations, include the name and title or occupation of the person who is quoted.

Secondary quotes should cite sources in parentheses after the quotes, rather than in footnotes.

In evaluating your essay, judges will consider content, organization, tone, sentence structure, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and overall mastery of your subject. Read and reread your work until you are completely satisfied that it meets these criteria.

The book Elements of Style by Strunk and White is an excellent guide to grammar and syntax.

Acquaint yourself with the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and other liturgies. You can find these books in your seminary library and online. To read a digital copy of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, click on the red Prayer Book icon at the upper left of this website’s Home Page.

You can find source publications online by googling subjects such as “Prayer Book,” “Episcopal Church,” “Anglican,” “Thomas Cranmer,” and related topics on the Internet and at online bookstores.  You can find various prayers and rites in Worship Well and other sources on the Episcopal Church site, and Rite Series on the Church Publishing site. These are but a few suggestions. You can find commentary from ancient times to today’s blogs, and liturgies ranging from Cranmer’s 1549 Book of Common Prayer to the Hip Hop Prayer Book.

In addition to your text, you may use illustrations, photos, charts, and graphs to help illustrate a point, although these are not necessary.

Sample Topics

Choose your own essay topic analyzing one or more aspects of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and how it has influenced and continues to influence our culture and our Church. Or use one of the topics below. There’s a wealth of subject matter within the 1928 liturgy from which to choose. Some examples are:

• The 39 Articles (Analyze one or more.)
  
• Is Christ the Son of God? How this is evidenced (or not) in the 1928 BCP and some other Episcopal liturgies
• The 1928 BCP lectionary and later lectionaries
  
• The Creeds: Has changing them changed the religion?
• The Decalogue as a standard for human behavior; its use in Sunday worship
  
• Repentance and Redemption in Holy Communion
• The Nature of Marriage
• Infant and Adult Baptism
• Catechism and Confirmation
• Constancy in Worship vs Accommodation to Societal Change
• Comparison of changes in one or various services, passages, and collects

ETF’s Mission Statement

Episcopalians for Traditional Faith is dedicated to preserving and promoting use of the classic, traditional 1928 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) within the Episcopal Church.

We are strongly opposed to leaving the Episcopal Church to join another denomination or none at all. All our directors and advisors are Episcopalians and attend Episcopal parishes that use the 1928 BCP.

Cranmer Prize Entry Form