Thursday Complines (Fortnightly* during Term, 8-9pm)

Once a fortnight* during Term we gather - often at Revd Beth's house sometimes around a campfire (weather permitting), to weave extended periods of silence (using the Northstowe Sandtimers) into the ancient poetic "service of Completion" - Compline, also known as Night Prayer. Message us to confirm the venue. or join the Compline Broadcast List on WhatsApp (not a group-chat - just GDPR secure updates)
  • Please arrive from 8pm (not before)
  • Prayer start at 8.15pm,
  • Concludes by 9pm, at which point we leave in silence - giving the option for the last words of the day being addressed to God.
Download the Church of England's Time to Pray app to get the words to Night Prayer back-lit on your phone, or visit the website: Join us in a service of Daily Prayer | The Church of England

🕯️ Epiphany and Ordinary Time in Jan and Feb

  • 9th January
  • 23rd January
  • 6th February (Church Meeting at 7:30 pm)
  • 13th February (Communion Meal)
  • 27th February

✝️Lent: "you mark out my journeys and my resting place” -  Ps 139

We start Lent with a journey – on Ash Wednesday, we’re going to visit Pembrook College to take part in communion and enjoy the beautiful music of the combined college choirs, with an invitation to receive the imposition of Ashes. (plans being confirmed – let us know if you want to travel from Northstowe, or meet us at the college just after 6pm)

Night Prayer during Lent invites us to reflect on Psalm 139, with a reminder that God marks out our journeys and our resting places, and knows us through and through. This complements our reading of “The Rest is Worship”  - and we’ll be inviting discussion of the book at the start of our gatherings.

On Maundy Thursday, the Compline Community will host a special evening Communion Meal for the whole Network. Booking to open soon.
 
  • 5th March (trip to Pembroke College for Ash Wednesday Choral Eucharist)
  • 13th March
  • 27th March
  • 10th April
  • 17th April (Maundy Thursday Communion Meal)
“Walking Towards Easter” with the Northstowe Church Network
This Lent and Easter, you are welcome and invited to join in with Little Explorers, Pathfinder Church, and the Compline Community as we explore the events of Holy Week in the life of Jesus, and think about how we can live well today with a focus on resting in the presence of the God who knows and loves us both in our regular worshipping communities and additional midweek discussion groups, through a lent book, and at special events
 
Visit the Easter Page

Communion

During a Communion Meal, we share in the familiar opening prayers from a communion service as we gather around the table. We then "break open" scripture - reading the biblical account of the day, and then discussing it while we eat our main course (often jacket potatoes, with each person bringing and sharing a topping). Afterwards, we reset the table with bread, grapes, and wine... and turn to the Great Thanksgiving Prayer. We retell the story of the Last Supper, and share in bread and wine. This service is filled with beautiful poetry, and a deep sense of encounter with God and each other.

We hold a Communion Meal loosely once a term, sometimes replacing a regular Compline. We love to  invite those from across the whole Northstowe Church Network.  We normally mark both  Maundy Thursday and Ascension in this way.

SAVE THE DATE: We will hold a Communion Meal on 13th Feb 2025. Express your interest here - we'll confirm final details nearer the time 
 

What is compline?

“Compline” is the ancient monastic service of “Completion”.  

In the 8th century, Benedictine monks began a pattern of praying 8 eight times a day: Matins (before dawn), Lauds (at sunrise), then Prime, Terce, Sext, None, and Vespers throughout the day (each about three hours apart). Finally, at bedtime, Compline. Today, Anglican prayer books offer four such ‘offices’ – morning, midday, evening, and night. Like most prayer offices, Compline includes a confession, a reading from the Psalms and other Scriptures, written and responsive prayers, and a time for silence or extemporaneous prayer. 

This final service of the day is an opportunity to reflect on the day that has passed, to peak through a small window of Scripture into the Big Story of God’s ongoing encounter with his people, and to  draw on words hallowed by tradition as “a way to wade into the ongoing stream of the church’s communion with [God],”* as  Tish Harrison Warren expresses it. She goes on to explain “Scripted prayers—the prayers of Compline, the Psalms, or any other received prayers—are not static. As we pray them, we read our own lives back into the words we pray. Our own biographies shape our understanding of these prayers as much as these prayers shape us and our own stories.” 

* Warren, Tish Harrison. Prayer in the Night (pp. 7, 125). 

 

Want to find out more? A good place to start is Tish Harrison Warren’s excellent book “Prayer in the Night; for those who work or watch or weep”. An American Anglican priest, she combines her own personal experiences of prayer in a time of suffering [trigger warning: miscarriage and bereavement] with a rooted and thoughtful unpacking of the wonderful ancient tradition of Prayer in the Night.  

Where next for the Compline Community?

As this community matures, it is likely to become the "home community" in the Chapel By The Lake. So we look forward to seeing what might develop!

Network events with the Northstowe Church Network

We delight to be part of the wider Northstowe Church Network, and join in with termly Afternoon Teas, membership meetings, and joint special events at Festivals.
  • Read more about the Network on the About Us page
  • Find out about upcoming Afternoon Teas and other special events on the Events page

 

 

🌟 Key Dates for Your Calendar! 🌟
❌ NO NORTHSTOWE GATHERING on Sunday 23rd Feb (end of half term) ❌

📅 Pathfinder Vision Morning
Details are in the works—chat with Will if you’d like to get involved!
📅 Building Project Focused Church Meeting
📍 Thursday, 6th Feb – 7:30 PM, THE CABIN
A chance to catch up and focus on our exciting plans.
🥞 Pancake Party
📍 Sunday, 2nd March, Pathfinder Primary School
Bring your appetite and celebrate together—pancakes for everyone!

✝️Ash Wednesday Choral Eucharist with Ashing
📍Wednesday, 5th March, Pembroke College Chapel
We're travelling into town to enjoy the beauty of this traditional service led by the combined college choirs. 🎵

✨ Special Events During Holy Week ✨
See the Easter page for full details, but here’s a quick preview:
🌿 Palm Sunday – 13th April, 10am OUTSIDE
🍷 Maundy Thursday – 17th April, evening
✝️ Good Friday – 18th April, 10am, Pathfinder Primary
🌅 Easter Sunday – 20th April, dawn at the Lake, and 10am, Pathfinder Primary (around the campfire, weather permitting)
🔥 AGM & BBQ
📍 Sunday, 27th April (after the Northstowe Half Marathon)
A perfect combo of church family time and a tasty BBQ to wrap up the day.
❌ NO NORTHSTOWE GATHERING on Sunday 4th May (Early May Bank Holiday) ❌
Mark your calendars—we’d love to see you there! 💒✨
 

Mark your calendars—we’d love to see you there! 💒✨


last updated  18th Jan 2024

Useful Prayer Resources

Ten Minutes of Silence with our Northstowe Sand Timer

*|END:WEB_VIDEO|*

Centering Prayer (one way to pray with Silence)

‘Choose a sacred word as a symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within – e.g. Lord, Jesus, Father, Kyrie, Abba, Love, Peace, Mercy. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word. When you become aware of thoughts, return ever so gently to the sacred word. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a couple of minutes.’ [adapted from Thomas Keating, Intimacy with God: An Introduction to Centering Prayer, Crossroad Publishing, 1996].

Useful Prayer Apps and Prayer Podcasts

Lectio 365 - Lectio 365 is a free daily devotional resource that helps you pray the Bible every day. There is also an excellent Families edition

Church of England Daily Prayer - Access web-based  full-text versions of CofE Services of Daily Prayer, which are available in both Contemporary (Common Worship) and Traditional (Book of Common Prayer) forms and for all times of the day. Audio files are also available. With links to Time to Pray and Daily Prayer Apps.
Celtic Daily Prayer - online resources from the Northumbria Community (abbreviated from their excellent published books with a cycle of prayers and readings)

Pray as you go - Pray As You Go is a daily, audio prayer app that helps you to encounter God wherever you are. This will help you to pray whenever you find the time, but particularly whilst travelling to and from work or study.
 

Want to know more or stay in touch?

See our Contact and Mailing List details on the homepage
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