Forming Disciples in the Circle
Forming Disciples in the Circle
I don't know if there is a complete history of St. Anne's Evening Prayer service. I recently came across advertisements for the 5:30 service under the Reverend Edward D. D. Johnson from 1922, in the newspaper and Annapolis City directory. Certainly, this would have been a clergy-led service from the 1898 Book of Common Prayer, and there were certainly services before this. The lay-led office we have today began in 1987 under the associate rector at that time, the Reverend Janice Gordon. For many years, the service was held every night of the week except Saturdays. Since 2022, we gather in person three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and worship online on weeknights, where Janice joins from her home in Florida. What a wonderful way to continue the tradition of this service.
People are called to Evening Prayer for many reasons. Most of us at St. Anne's find ourselves most often participating in the Eucharist, either Rite I or Rite II. The other Daily Offices--especially, Evening Prayer, have beautiful prayers we don't find ourselves using if we are attending only on Sunday. There are also the lessons; you read many more, working your way through the church year, at the Evening Prayer service. We commemorate the saints for that day, the ones listed on the church calendar, by reading about their lives, devotion, and sacrifices in the Lesser Feasts and Fasts. Finally, we pray for all those who have requested our prayers, those on the Prayer List, or those who have stopped by St. Anne's during the day and left them for us. Best of all are the visitors who come in for the service and worship with us. Most are Episcopalians --or Anglicans-- from elsewhere.
Worshiping and participating in the service together in a small setting, we get to know each other a little bit and form a connection--however brief--in our shared faith. Some leave vowing to begin a service in their own parish. Evening Prayer is a great way to practice praying together, reading the lessons, the confession, and the creed strongly, out loud! I think people are called to this ministry for all these reasons and others. Going without the service for more than a few days, and you may feel something missing that you need to get back to. In these small ways, at Evening Prayer, we try to reflect the love of Christ that He gives to us.
Daniel Sams, Evening Prayer Ministry Leader