PDF files of Common Worship

For the conditions under which local editions of Common Worship services may be produced without application to the Archbishops' Council for copyright permission, see A Brief Guide to Liturgical Copyright, which can be downloaded from this web site. Please note that the Common Worship cross motif is the distinguishing mark of official editions of Common Worship texts. Its use on local editions is not permitted.

Which format should I use?

This web site now carries the Common Worship texts in two different formats - pdf or html. In the near future, a third format will be added - rtf. Confused? Need advice on which format you need? Follow this link to find out more.

Tips for copying and pasting

PDF files are not as easy to copy and paste from as you might hope. The nature of their presentation, with two facing pages on each 'page' of the PDF file, means that if you highlight text by just clicking and dragging from top to bottom, you will get words from both pages of the spread, and not just the page that you want. In addition, when you paste it into another application, the order of the two pages may swap around! This is a limitation of the PDF format when used for purposes other than simply displaying and printing the texts.

In order to get around the problems, follow these instructions. If using a PC, hold down CTRL and ALT while using the text select tool. This will allow you to draw a box around the text and get exactly the material you need. If you are using a Mac, hold down Option and Command to achieve the same effect. However, you will still not be able to copy from more than one double page spread at a time.

Using PDF files

To view or print these files you will need the latest version (v. 4.0) of Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded free of charge. Follow this link to download Adobe Acrobat Reader or click on the image. If you have a previous version of Adobe Reader on your machine, we recommend that you uninstall it before you begin to install version 4.0.

To get the best quality when using these PDF files, save them to your hard disk. In order to save the files to your hard drive (on a PC), right-click on the download link and choose 'save target as' (if using Internet Explorer) or 'save link as' (if using Netscape).

Even the largest of the downloads should take less than five minutes to complete on an average 56kbps modem. Please note that the exception to this rule is the file containing the music from the Presidents Edition. This is a very large file that will take some time to download (30 minutes or more).

Download the Common Worship texts

The main volume

• Calendar (.pdf file, 68kb)
  The frontmatter of the book including the preface and the Calendar.
• A Service of the Word, Morning and Evening Prayer, Night Prayer (.pdf file, 206kb)
  (This section also includes the Litany.)
• Holy Communion (.pdf file, 243kb)
  All four Holy Communion services and the Eucharistic Prayers.
• Initiation material (.pdf file, 73kb)
  Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child and Holy Baptism.
• Collects and Post Communions (.pdf file, 182kb)
  For Sundays, Principal Holy Days and Festivals, in both Contemporary and Traditional Language.
• Rules and Lectionary (.pdf file, 139kb)
  The Rules and the Lectionary tables.
• The Psalter (.pdf file, 294kb)
  The Common Worship Psalter.
• Canticles (.pdf file, 221kb)
  The Canticles and endmatter, including authorization details, acknowledgements and indexes.

Pastoral Services

• Wholeness and Healing and Marriage (.pdf file, 272kb)
  The frontmatter of the book, all of the Wholeness and Healing material and the Marriage service material.
• Funeral (.pdf file, 421kb)
  All of the funeral material and endmatter, including authorization details, acknowledgements and index.

The President's Edition

• Calendar and Holy Baptism (.pdf file, 108kb)
  The frontmatter of the book, the Calendar and the Baptism material.
• Collects and Post Communions (.pdf file, 358kb)
  The Collects and Post Communions in both contemporary and traditional language.
• Holy Communion (.pdf file, 145kb)
  All four Holy Communion services and the Eucharistic Prayers.
• Supplementary Texts (.pdf file, 148kb)
  Supplementary Texts and Seasonal Provisions.
• Music and Endmatter (.pdf file, 3.205Mb)
  Provisions for Pastoral Services, Notes to Holy Communion, Music for the Eucharistic Prayers and endmatter, including authorization details, acknowledgements and index. Please note: This file is very large and will take some time to download.

© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000
All of the official Common Worship publications are being published by Church House Publishing.