Frequently Asked Questions

Aren’t you the guys from The Black Cow?

That’s us! You can check us out here for a video-cast about Christianity, Bible, history, philosophy… and the Muppets. Lots of Muppets. 

Wait… is the Liturgy Generator free?

Yeah! Dr. Wright and I (Fr. Adam) have donated our time to make this resource available to everyone. That said, we have on-going costs behind-the-scenes. And, some people are interested in donating to make the Liturgy Generator better! You can learn more about those here. 

What source liturgies do you use for the Liturgy Generator?

Here is a list of our source liturgies:

• Holy Eucharist, Anglican Standard Text, Book of Common Prayer 2019 (ACNA)
• Holy Eucharist, Revised Ancient Text, Book of Common Prayer 2019 (ACNA)

How do you select the “allowed dates” for generation?

The generator works for all Sundays of the Church year, every year. Additionally, the generator works for some weekdays:

• Christmas Eve
• Christmas Day
• The Circumcision and Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ (January 1st)
• The Feast of the Epiphany (January 6th)
• The Feast of the Presentation (February 2nd)

I noticed All Saints’ Day isn’t on that list…

We’re so glad you noticed! We love All Saints’ Day! Right now, All Saints is the only feast that transfers to the next Sunday. The transfer happens automatically, so you won’t have to worry about it!

What happens if the day I select isn’t on the “allowed dates” list?

You get an angry error email.

How far in advance can I generate liturgies?

You can generate liturgies for Sundays and allowed weekdays as far as 30 days in advance.

What if I want custom readings?

The output of the “Generate a Liturgy” Form is fully-customizable. If you want different readings, edit the readings! This also works for adding a preacher’s name, or music, or announcements. Maybe you don’t like our font. No sweat. It’s your liturgy, you can customize whatever you want to.

I really want the liturgy to include the psalm text/biblical text…

Us too. But these texts are under copyright. The Book of Common Prayer 2019 explicitly states that, although none of the rest of its contents is under copyright, the New Coverdale Psalter (original to this prayerbook) is. We haven’t gotten permission to use it for the Liturgy Generator, so your liturgies won’t include it. You are, of course, free to insert it yourself after the liturgy is generated.

What curveballs does the Liturgy Generator anticipate?

Major Feasts, the Penitential Order, the inclusion of the Gloria or the Exhortation in certain seasons. The Liturgy Generator handles all those automatically!

What if my church uses a presentation service already, like ProPresentor?

No sweat! You can download our Liturgy Generator file in a PowerPoint format, and import it into any presenting service that supports it. Here’s how it works with ProPresentor.

Anything else we should know?

Yeah. In some places, we needed to prefer a reading. We preferred the longer readings (if only so we couldn’t be accused of disliking Holy Scripture). In a few instances, we actively selected options on your behalf (specifically on the Second Week of Christmas and on Easter Sunday).