Evening Prayer (Anglican)

Evening Prayer is a liturgy in use in the Anglican Communion (and other churches in the Anglican tradition, such as the Continuing Anglican Movement and the Anglican Use of the Roman Catholic Church) and celebrated in the late afternoon or evening. It is also commonly known as Evensong, especially (but not exclusively) when the office is rendered chorally (that is, when most of the service is sung). It is roughly the equivalent of Vespers in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran churches, although it was originally formed by combining the monastic offices of Vespers and Compline. Although many churches now take their services from Common Worship or other modern prayer books, if a church has a choir, Choral Evensong from the Book of Common Prayer often remains in use because of the greater musical provision. Evening Prayer, like Morning Prayer (Matins) and in contrast to the Eucharist, may be led by a layperson, and is recited by some devout Anglicans daily in private (clergy in many Anglican jurisdictions are required to do so).

The service of Evening Prayer, according to traditional prayer books such as the 1662 English or 1959 Canadian Book of Common Prayer, is similar in structure to the equivalent Morning Prayer (or matins), but with different canticles and with evening-specific collects. It is made up of the following elements:

If the service is accompanied, the organ will normally be played before and after the service. Many institutions have regular unaccompanied evensongs: at Durham Cathedral, Southwell Minster, Exeter Cathedral and Ripon Cathedral, as well as the Chapels of New College, Oxford and King's College, Cambridge, for example, Evensong on Fridays is usually sung to a cappella settings of the liturgy.

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