Commontide
The Consecration and Dedication of a Place of Worship
Blessed be your Name, O Lord God, for it pleases you to have your habitation among your people, and to dwell in the midst of the assembly of the saints upon earth: Bless the service of this day and grant that in this place, now set apart to your glory, your holy Name may be worshiped in truth and purity to all generations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Draft — AI-assisted research under editorial review.
This prayer, said by the bishop right after Communion at the consecration of a church, is nearly four hundred years old. It was written around 1620 by Lancelot Andrewes, the great preacher-bishop of Winchester, for his own personal rite of church-consecration.