Online Compline (Night Prayer)
on Sundays and Wednesdays at 9pm. Just click this link for all the Compline services:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/72674436320?pwd=EuOaQzdbMjWBh1JKQXt8a8HEoB2WFz.1
Meeting ID: 726 7443 6320 Passcode: dUCV81
The text is available to read beforehand at https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/join-us-in-daily-prayer/night-prayer-traditional-wednesday-22-february-2023
The service will last about 15 minutes and you are very welcome to join us.
BACKGROUND
During Covid and lockdown we had online services and videos. These helped us to feel part of parish worship, though separated from each other. Some watched online without any experience of church attendance.
Now parish life is normal again, some people might still appreciate the opportunity to pray and worship without attending church, or in addition to going to church.
At the start of lockdown, a group based in the Richmond deanery organised an online Compline or Night Prayer at 9pm, 7 days a week. The service lasts about 15 minutes and you can see the text for 31 January at https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/join-us-in-daily-prayer/night-prayer-contemporary-tuesday-31-january-2023#na.
The Richmond group is looking to expand and would welcome your joining them occasionally or regularly. The Zoom link is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87887871612?pwd=UVVCZmpRWk5Vako1dkgwbHMyL291UT09#success
With their kind permission I recorded the service on 2 February and put it on YouTube so you could see what happens without actually taking the plunge!
The YouTube link is https://youtu.be/CLTli4YWoyg
You will see that there is one leader and another person saying all the responses (bold print). Zoom does not cope well with many voices at once so everyone else is muted for the service. The leader will have prepared but the responder volunteers on the night. Leaders, responders and a silent majority are all very welcome. Numbers range from 4 to 12 roughly, including one person who joined from Switzerland!
Why Compline? It's a simple, short, reflective text-based service of prayer. And if you're like me, full of good intentions to pray but often failing, you might welcome the opportunity made for you at the close of the day.
The ancient office of Compline derives its name from a Latin word meaning 'completion' (completorium). It is above all a service of quietness and reflection before rest at the end of the day. It is most effective when the ending is indeed an ending, without additions, conversation or noise. If there is an address, or business to be done, it should come first. If the service is in church, those present depart in silence; if at home, they go quietly to bed.
The YouTube video uses contemporary language from Common Worship. There's also a version in traditional language from the Book of Common Prayer at https://www.churchofengland.org/prayer-and-worship/join-us-in-daily-prayer/night-prayer-traditional-thursday-2-february-2023.
So, we are warmly invited to join Richmond Deanery's nightly online Compline (Option 1).
Option 2 is starting a group of our own, but they are not mutually exclusive - you could take advantage of both. I know we could find some leaders from our churches. We have Revd Garry's blessing and a Zoom account. We'd be able to tweak details to suit ourselves, such as the start time, number of services per week (Garry suggests Wednesdays and Sundays), Contemporary or Traditional language and so on. We might even incorporate some simple music once established.
I've written here on Nidd Church's website for easy access and working links, but the venture would be a KTM parish-wide one, drawing on experience and expertise from lockdown.
Please, do let me know what you think.
Best wishes
David
Reader at Nidd
23 Feb 2023