In the winter and spring of 1971 some members of the University of the South at Sewanee in Tennessee were concerned about the direction being taken by the Standing Liturgical Commission of the Episcopal Church in the proposed revision of The Book of Common Prayer (1928). There was a lot of distressed conversation and "weeping and gnashing of teeth."

A recent graduate, Jimmy Sullivan, had gone on to medical school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He had found one church in the city which steadily maintained a traditional order of service and was not caught up in the constant, fashionable experiments with "worship experiences." He was also familiar with three members of the English Department at Vanderbilt whom he had come to know around Andrew Lytle's fireplace in Monteagle, near Sewanee. They were as unhappy with the revisionist drift of the Episcopal Church as were his friends and former teachers on the Mountain at Sewanee.

Jimmy telephoned William Ralston one day to say that he was tired of all the complaints and talk, and that it was time to do something. So the next weekend the Vanderbilt group and the Sewanee group met in the living room of Dr. Ralston at Sewanee. From Vanderbilt were John Aiden, Walter Sullivan and Hal Weatherby with Jimmy Sullivan. From Sewanee were Howard Rhys (professor of New Testament at St Luke's School of Theology), Charles Harrison (chairman of the English Department), Andrew Lytle (the distinguished Southern writer), Edward McCrady (vice-chancellor of the University), the Rev'd James Law (Mr. Lytle's son-in-law and rector of a parish in Chattanooga) and William Ralston.

After an afternoon of passionate but meandering conversation it was agreed to meet again the next week. Dr. Weatherby and Dr. Ralston were commissioned to prepare a statement for what they decided to call, "The Society for the Preservation of The Book of Common Prayer." All present agreed that the title was unwieldy but that the term "Society" was the key word of description for what they were attempting to do.

The next week most of the original group met again, hammered out an agreed statement, and wondered what to do next. How should they proceed to let the people of the Church know of their existence, and secure their response? They need not have worried. Jimmy Sullivan had already rented a Post Office box in Nashville to which all replies and inquiries could be directed.

From this very small and somewhat diffuse beginning the Society began its work of dissemination of opinion and argument. By the time of the 1979 General Convention, eight years later, the membership approached 100,000 churchmen, who in that year contributed (there were never any membership "dues") about one million dollars. The Society had become the largest voluntary association of laypersons in the history of the Episcopal Church. Support from the Bishops and clergy was minimal, with some honorable and powerful exceptions.

The later activities of the Society are another story, but the eight years from 1971 to 1979 are a chronicle of faith and fervent labor. It all developed from one layman who had the sense to rent a mailbox.

The Rev'd Dr. William H Ralston Jr., Savannah, April 4, 2001.

[Editorial Note: The Prayer Book Society is still recognized by the Internal Revenue Service by its original and full name of "The Society for the Preservation of The Book of Common Prayer." However, the Society has existed under the general names of "The Prayer Book Society" (for virtually all of its existence) and "The Prayer Book Society of the Episcopal Church" ( from circa 1980 to 2000) and "The Prayer Book Society of the U.S.A." (from 2000 onwards).]