Worship

Morning Prayer

Daily Morning Prayer is said at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Monday through Friday, at 8:10. Coffee and fellowship follow the service. All are welcome.

A word about the Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer:

Praying the Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer has long been considered by many to form the basis of Anglican spirituality. In the sixteenth century, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, set the pattern of prayer we now observe, when he reduced the eight daily monastic services of prayer to two and put them in a book to be used by clergy and laity alike (The Book of Common Prayer).

Morning Prayer is also known as "Matins," and Evening Prayer is also known as "Vespers." The Offices are recited daily throughout the world, and our praying them has the effect of immersing ourselves in the Holy Scriptures and joining our voices in the world-wide community of Christians who set aside and consecrate set times of the day for prayer.

The psalms that are appointed to be read at Morning and Evening Prayer are arranged in a seven-week cycle, and the other readings from the Bible are arranged in a two-year cycle. Thus, if one prays the Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer daily, one will read all of the psalms in the Bible every seven weeks, and one will read most of the Old and New Testaments every two years.