Compline
at
Mark Lutheran Church
Anchorage, Alaska
Note:
St Mark's Sunday evening Compline Service is 'taking the summer off'. Services will resume in September, 2003, each Sunday evening.
St Mark Lutheran Church celebrates the Office of Compline each Sunday evening (during the Fall, Winter and Spring months) at 8:00 p.m. in the St Mark Sanctuary.
There will be a Bible Study from 7:00 - 7:55 p.m. immediately preceding Compline.
We hope that the addition of this quiet and contemplative service to other worship ministries at St Mark will prove a blessing to a diverse group of God's people who are searching for alternatives in their worship experience.
The service will primarily be conducted by lay members of God's family - with major participants being a "Compline Choir" and a "Worship Leader".
Conducted in a very dimly lit sanctuary, the chant and scripture readings are intended to bring a quiet calm to those who gather to hear God's word at the end of the day.
Those who are interested in singing in the Compline Choir are asked to assemble at St Mark each Sunday evening at 7:00 p.m. for a one-hour rehearsal prior to celebrating Compline.
We highly recommend visiting William Steven's website at http://www.williamstevens.com for a wealth of wonderful music suitable for Compline.
For more information on St Mark's Compline Service, call St Mark at 276-6231 during normal business hours, or e-mail Bob Schmidt at bob.schmidt@acsalaska.net
As is characteristic of Monastic offices, Compline consists of psalms, short passages from scripture (chapters), an office hymn, a canticle (Nunc Dimittis), a litany, collects and additional prayers. In keeping with the earliest practices of the monastic communities, Compline is offered when the work of the day is completed, and the quietness of evening settles over the hearts and minds of those who have come together in thankfulness for the blessings of the day which has passed and in anticipation of God's gift of a new day.
The Office of Compline originated and developed in southern Europe and the
Middle East during the first six hundred years of Christianity. At first,
Compline was offered primarily by the monastic communities, but as Christian
influence spread throughout Europe and the Mediterranean area, the offices found
a place in local liturgical settings. By the time of the Reformation in the 16th
century, a large number of breviaries - books which contained the texts and
music of the offices - were available for recitation.
Carl Crosier, ©1994
Compline Links:
The Compline Choir (St Mark's Episcopal Cathedral - Seattle)
The Minnesota Compline Choir (Central Lutheran Church - Minneapolis)
Lutheran Church of Honolulu Compline Choir
The Pittsburgh Compline Choir - Heinz Chapel - University of Pittsburgh
St Mark's Lutheran Church - Springfield, VA
New Melleray Abbey, Dubuque, Iowa
(click on 'Liturgy' and then on 'Compline' - this is an outstanding website for anyone interested in learning more about monastic life. Another very interesting website associated with New Melleray is a work of the monks at the abbey - that of making some of the most beautiful, yet simple, caskets. This may be seen at http://www.trappistcaskets.com . Most interesting is the link explaining dying and death in the Cistercian tradition.)