A lovely coincidence today. The church is celebrating Thomas Cranmer (who wrote the 1552 Prayer Book, from which the 1662 Book of Common Prayer that we use today originated) and this morning a letter arrived in the post with details about my new membership of The Prayer Book Society.
In all the uncertainty and change at the moment, one certainty is that parish clergy up and down the country will be praying for everyone in their parish at morning and evening prayer - not just for those who ever attend church, but for everyone, of all faiths and none.
The different daily prayer services are called 'offices'. The pattern of the offices - once a day or all the way up to the traditional nine monastic offices - give an amazing rhythm to life, and a bedrock that can support everything else. I think it's no surprise that churches have started recording and live-streaming morning and evening prayer and compline (night prayer); some of these can be found in the links on the right, or by clicking here and scrolling down to the list of churches streaming services in this diocese: Worcester Diocese online services.
Perhaps you might find them a useful way to bring structure in where other structures have suddenly fallen away?
In terms of music... If we're thinking about the Book of Common Prayer today, what about Sarah MacDonald's wonderful setting of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis from evensong?
Evensong canticles
Finding ways of being together, apart.
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