Tamil Prayer book

The Prayer book used for liturgy in the Church of South India (CSI) Tamil services is based on the English Book of Common Prayer. As CSI is an United and Uniting Church, it has in its liturgy both the Anglican and Puritan traditions.

The Tamil liturgy is not as elaborate as the English version used in other Anglican provinces. It is a condensed version of the English liturgy and is divided into two parts: one dealing with the general services (Morning and Evening prayers), the other dealing with the Holy Communion (Eucharistic) services.

The regular Morning and Evening prayer consists of three orders of worship. One is same as the Communion service, except that calling for Communion is omitted. Second is the regular worship type practised in most churches. It starts with Praise (including the different ones for various Church functions), Praise of Trinity, Confession of sins and singing of Psalms 95 or 100. After this the Old Testament scripture lesson is read, continued by any of the three songs of Zachariah, Three men, and Virgin Mary. After this the New Testament / Gospel lesson is read, followed by either the song of the Church or the song of Simeon. The Apostles Creed is read by everyone, and there are various specific prayers such as for peace and God's grace. This is a more Anglican version, in which the worship practises of traditional Protestant churches in the Tamil land is preserved.

The third method of worship starts with a different Praise (does not include separate ones for Church functions), and goes on to the Confession of sins. After this the Bible lessons are read, and the Apostles Creed is read by everyone. There are a few other prayers in this order. This is a more Puritan version, where liturgy is given little importance.