Bring them Back

It is my understanding that technically all parish clergy in the Church of England are required to read Morning Prayer in their parish churches every morning. Whether they do so or not is something all together different, but again I understand they are supposed to.
Being at The General Theological Seminary, that offers Morning Prayer and Evensong every day, I became spoiled that these ancient monastic offices – the prayers of the hours – where so readily available. I truly came to appreciate them and the slow but deliberate effect they have on us, if we yield ourselves to their transformative power that is.
I do think we in The Episcopal Church need to bring back the Daily Offices! I know that many parish churches and many clergy, as well as lay people, do say the Daily Offices but there is no coordination, it seems. It is my intent when ever and if ever I am able to move closer to St. Paul’s Carroll St. in Brooklyn to begin the practice of reading Morning Prayer in the church once again. It is an Anglo-Catholic parish, after all, and the former home of the Cowley Fathers. Money, like always, keeps things from happening. Whether anyone else wants to participate is irrelevant, although I do hope some will. It is a wonderful way to begin the day.
It is my understanding that technically all parish clergy in the Church of England are required to read Morning Prayer in their parish churches every morning. Whether they do so or not is something all together different, but again I understand they are supposed to.
Being at The General Theological Seminary, that offers Morning Prayer and Evensong every day, I became spoiled that these ancient monastic offices – the prayers of the hours – where so readily available. I truly came to appreciate them and the slow but deliberate effect they have on us, if we yield ourselves to their transformative power that is.
I do think we in The Episcopal Church need to bring back the Daily Offices! I know that many parish churches and many clergy, as well as lay people, do say the Daily Offices but there is no coordination, it seems. It is my intent when ever and if ever I am able to move closer to St. Paul’s Carroll St. in Brooklyn to begin the practice of reading Morning Prayer in the church once again. It is an Anglo-Catholic parish, after all, and the former home of the Cowley Fathers. Money, like always, keeps things from happening. Whether anyone else wants to participate is irrelevant, although I do hope some will. It is a wonderful way to begin the day.
Oh, we now have a new priest in Christ’s Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church – The Rev. Sonia Waters. I attended her ordination to the Holy Order of Priests at Grace Church in Brooklyn Heights this morning. A wonderful service – and I got to see a lot of my former classmates, too. What a deal!