Solitude and the city
From a night club dance floor to Morning Prayer in a church
Steven Young on building communities through Daily Prayer
and the search for identity within the patterns of city life
C
ity life gives you the camouflage good news of the Christian gospel can Daily Prayer crosses the boundaries of
you need to be a cultural cha- be made accessible to those who are not churchmanship and tradition. Corporate
meleon. You can exist in many aware of its existence or have been hurt prayer keeps church buildings alive, open
different environments but be known by false projections of it in the past. and, most importantly, prayed in on a
intimately in none of them. Within five The various activities in which people daily basis – a visible witness in the com-
minutes of leaving the dance-floor of an were engaged that Saturday morning munities of which they are part.
after-hours club one morning, I was sit- were all indicative of a greater search for
ting in the back row of a central London authenticity. The daily office is a means Communities of faith
church waiting for Morning Prayer to by which the Church can promote the A second objection concerns acces-
begin. Although seemingly contradic- inherent attractiveness of Christian sibility. Whilst many would argue that
tory, both the church and the club scene authenticity and community. All too although Daily Prayer is fine for literate
constitute communities that are alive often, the Church tries to make Christian congregations, confidence is required to
and kicking in our cities. Their existence authenticity accessible to others by trying handle the variety of texts included in
is indicative of our human need for fel- the service, and so it would be of little
lowship and communion. Both are filled use to those with limited literacy or those
with those who thirst for love and truth the Church may be approaching the church for the first time.
in profoundly relational ways.
ignoring one of the most
Such objections are surmountable. One
only has to look at how the Jerusalem
A challenge to society
valuable resources it has
Community in Paris has created litur-
In the thousand capacity nightclub, the gies of Morning and Evening Prayer in
packed dance-floor disguised the lone- a format that is beautiful yet accessible
liness of the place. The anonymity was to make expressions of our faith and our to all. That over 200 people attend the
alluring. The physical closeness gave the liturgy ‘entertaining’. This has led to con- Jerusalem Community’s daily service
impression of intimacy without the risky fused notions about what the Church is of evening prayer at St Gervais is testa-
realities involved with building lasting about. We are perceived to have lost our ment to the fact that there is a real call
relationships. The sense of community trust in the distinctiveness of the message for such communities in our cities. The
lasted as long as the drugs worked and we offer – to have lost our confidence in rising attendance at cathedral evensongs
the music played. No one wanted to go the continued relevance of the Christian reflects a similar trend. What we need are
home, if home meant being alone. message to the world today. It is not by not hidden huddles meeting in ghettos
Over the river on Oxford Street, the coincidence that the favourite activity of resistant to the contemporary world, but
shops were just opening. The captivating the primary school children with whom accessible, visible communities of faith.
advertisements told the same old lie that I worked in Camden Town and King’s Such groups will not only strengthen the
freedom could be sold. ‘Belonging’ was a Cross was maypole dancing. It was one bond of fellowship between one another,
bargain away. The only voice that offered of the few things in their lives that didn’t but they will also witness to the ongoing
an alternative was that of a street evange- pretend to be something it wasn’t. intercession of Christ to the Father.
list. He abused passers-by and screamed Part of the reason Daily Prayer remains As yet no such community of Daily
into a megaphone about hell, sin and both an underused and undervalued Prayer currently exists in London. There
demons. Until he got an ASBO, and had resource in the Anglican Church is may be many complex reasons for this.
to move to Piccadilly Circus! because it is considered to be outdated Recently, much energy and emphasis
That same morning, people gathered in and irrelevant. In many parishes, the has been placed on forming community
the church to say the office together. They various forms of Daily Prayer are neither through partnership and social action.
sat pews apart, but their corporate recita- used nor known to exist by anyone other However, by overlooking the importance
tion of the psalms bound them together than the clergy – who keep the offices of corporate Daily Prayer, the Church
in a spiritual unity of tangible strength. privately, apart from their congregations. may be ignoring one of the most valuable
They witnessed to the unconditional love This helps to further the myth that the resources it has for building commu-
of Christ, in a city where love is often offices are designed for the clergy alone nity. Are there any religious communi-
bound with many conditions. Such com- rather than for the nourishment of all. A ties that would be willing to answer the
munities of prayer are distinctive. They commitment to keeping regular offices call for such work in London? Or should
are rooted in that which cannot be known deepens faith and love in God. Daily the work be led by the laity, operating
fully – and yet this is precisely why they Prayer provides stability, structure and in individual parishes? There are many
are rooted. This paradox is expressed in meaning to daily life, reducing loneliness, questions that will need to be asked.
their liturgy and psalmody. Communities anxiety and other problems exacerbated What is certain is that when such com-
of prayer challenge an increasingly indi- by them, such as depression, depend- munities are grounded in faith, they will
vidualistic society in which the apparent ency and spiritual/physical exhaustion. provide a witness to a God who taught
freedom of self-reliance and of consum- Every church would benefit from allo- his disciples that when ‘two or three are
erism has lead to disillusionment and cating regular times each day at which gathered together in my name there I am
captivity. Through such communities the its people would meet to pray together. in the midst of them.’
ND
April 2007
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newdirections
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