The Minster Church of

BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER SERVICES

My abiding loyalty to and affection for, the services in which I became well grounded when I joined the Anglican church, as I have referred to very often, are those contained in the Book of Common Prayer. When I first started to attend the Sung Eucharist (the main services were still, then, Matins and Evensong) the service, though not quite in the form and order shown in the Book of Common Prayer, used the text from that volume.

The enlightened church continues to offer its praise in presenting the glorious music that has been written, especially for the Anglican (and British) rite over the centuries and until the present day, but even modern anthems benefit by the music being set to old texts. I am not alone in feeling that the Minster, as the leading church in the ever-expanding city, should be carrying this torch of excellence through this century and into the next.

Having said this, a church serving the whole community should indeed be a broad church (always Anglican of course) and there should be room for all modes of Anglican service and music, but including provision for the established, traditional services, including Matins, as a part of the main services on at least one Sunday per month. The main churches in our capital city and elsewhere in the country can manage to achieve this, so is Sunderland Minster really incapable of such !!?

CHORAL EVENSONG & MATINS

There remains one element yet to be tackled however, and that is a Choral Matins. This wonderful service disappeared from our lists some years ago and I hope that this will be remedied in the not-too-distant future. As my wife and I travel through the leading towns of this country and see the main churches there offering the full range of services, (one of the most recent one was Old Church, Chelsea) I feel extremely envious.

It is sadly the case that rarely does the church seek to cater for all tastes adequately: what appears to be outdated, old-fashioned or basically "past its sell-by date " is discarded. This is so with the BCP services: were it otherwise, a BCP Holy Communion (I still prefer this title) or even a Matins service would appear from time to time as the"Ten o'clock fixture". Who knows, people who do not know those services may find them a thought-provoking change - worth a try?

Below, a couple of quotes worth considering which apply equally to the Mattins service, but there is also room for contemplation in the BCP Communion, once one has become familiar with those glorious prayers etc contained in it:-

I was interested in the articles below, found on the Internet :-

Christ Church Cathedral, Cincinnati, Ohio :-

"Evensong, one of the official services of the Anglican Communion, has a centuries old tradition. The very controversial Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, is credited with publishing the first order of Evensong in 1549. It was revised and included as an official service in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.

Evensong is often referred to as a combination of two Roman Catholic offices, Vespers and Compline, blended into one inspiring service. There are two types of the service, one with a choir and one without. The services at Christ Church Cathedral include the choir.

In the choral service, sections of the liturgy are strategically set to music. For the most part, the music is traditional Anglican dating back to the sixteenth century. However, compositions by contemporary composers such as Herbert Howells and John Rutter are gaining standing in choral evensong services.

Proponents of choral evensong believe singing adds a valuable dimension to the spiritual experience of worship. As St. Augustine said, “Anyone who sings, prays twice.”

The tradition of choral evensong at Christ Church Cathedral is well established. The standard of singing is very high, as the Cathedral choir continues a worship service nearly 500 years old."

"CHORAL EVENSONG

Cathedral Choral Evensong is essentially a service of reflection - of leaving oneself open that God may speak to us through the psalms and readings and canticles which are the core of the service.

We welcome you to share with us in worship that has been offered here for nearly a thousand years. Cathedrals with a great choral tradition draw upon a rich inheritance of music, much of it sung by the choir alone. In the Anglican tradition this music finds its natural setting in the ancient office of Evensong, a combination of the medieval offices of Vespers and Compline found in the Book of Common Prayer. Here beauty in language and music can speak to us of God in a rich and diverse way. Within this hallowed space you may forget the ceaseless activity of daily life and be still.

(The music is the traditional Anglican repertoire from the sixteenth century to the present day.
The service usually lasts about 45 minutes.)"

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Page updated by David Herring 21/09/2008