Evensong
The service most visitors mean when they say they like the old words.
Evensong is Evening Prayer, usually sung, usually in the traditional language of the Book of Common Prayer. It is the service that draws people who would not come to a eucharist, and the one whose printed order most often has to serve a congregation unfamiliar with it.
The shape (BCP)
- Opening sentences, exhortation, general confession and absolution
- The Lord’s Prayer, and the preces — O Lord, open thou our lips
- Psalms appointed for the day, ending with the Gloria Patri
- First lesson, Old Testament
- Magnificat — the Song of Mary
- Second lesson, New Testament
- Nunc Dimittis — the Song of Simeon
- The Apostles’ Creed
- The responses, the Collect of the day, and the collects for peace and for aid against all perils
- Anthem, where there is a choir
- Prayers, and the Grace
Common Worship Evening Prayer
Common Worship provides Evening Prayer in both contemporary and traditional language, structured like Morning Prayer — Preparation, the Word of God, Prayers, Conclusion — with the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in place of the Benedictus. It is more flexible than the BCP order and less familiar to a congregation that comes for Evensong specifically.
| BCP Evensong | CW Evening Prayer | |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Traditional | Either |
| Structure | Fixed | Four sections, flexible within |
| Canticles | Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, always | Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, with alternatives |
| Creed | Apostles’ | Apostles’, or omitted |
| Copyright | BCP is Crown copyright, administered by Cambridge University Press | Common Worship — see the local-use permission |
What the booklet has to do
More than at a eucharist. An Evensong congregation frequently contains people who have not been to church in years, or ever, and who have come for the music. Two things earn their keep on the page:
- Mark clearly what is sung by the choir and what is said by all. The single most common cause of visible discomfort at Evensong is a visitor not knowing whether to join in.
- Print the standing and sitting. Rubrics in italic, small, in the margin — not instructions barked from the front.
Print the psalms in full with the pointing — see printing the psalm. At Evensong the psalmody is often the longest single item.
Questions
What is the order of service for Evensong?
Opening sentences and confession; the preces; the psalms; the first lesson; the Magnificat; the second lesson; the Nunc Dimittis; the Apostles' Creed; the responses and three collects; an anthem; then prayers and the Grace.
What is the difference between Evensong and Evening Prayer?
Evensong usually means the Book of Common Prayer's Evening Prayer, traditional language and generally sung. Common Worship Evening Prayer is a more flexible modern order in four sections, available in both contemporary and traditional language.
Which canticles are sung at Evensong?
The Magnificat, the Song of Mary, after the first lesson; and the Nunc Dimittis, the Song of Simeon, after the second.