Harrowing Of Hell

Choral Evensong in Seattle

Evensong Live Stream

You can participate and refresh your soul every Sunday at 5:30 pm at our Evensong service in the main church building and via our Evensong live stream on YouTube. We encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive alerts of upcoming broadcasts. Our Evensong live streams remain on our YouTube channel, where you can enjoy Evening Prayer online at anytime.

 

Click here for the full Choral Evensong playlist on YouTube.

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Choral Evensong: an opportunity for rest in the midst of a busy week

What is Evensong?
Sung at the close of day in Cathedrals and churches throughout the world, Choral Evensong is a service of Evening Prayer, derived from the ancient offices of Vespers and Compline. The choir sings the traditional evening prayers of the church that have been offered for centuries, while the congregation listens, joins in the hymns, and adds their own prayers to those of the choir. Choral Evensong is an opportunity for peaceful meditation in the midst of a busy week.

Evensong Meaning at Epiphany—A Tradition that Transcends Time, Place, and Religious Affiliation:

Evensong is part of the worship which is offered to God by people in every part of the world throughout the day and night. When you come to a Choral Evensong service at Epiphany, it is as if you were dropping in on an evening prayer that acts as a conversation already in progress—a conversation between God and his people, which began long before you were born and will continue long after you are dead.

Evensong is drawn almost entirely from the Bible. The primary purpose of an Evensong service is to proclaim the wonderful works of God in history and in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Its second purpose is to evoke from the worshipper a response of praise, penitence, evening prayer, and obedience. Much of the English of an Evensong service is the language spoken and written by our ancestors more than four hundred years ago; it may sound old-fashioned but Evensong’s meaning is not out of date. It is our hope that your prayers may join with ours in our offering of evening prayer and worship.

Choral Evensong at Epiphany: A Sacred Music Podcast

Our Sunday Choral Evensong services are currently available as an audio podcast on these platforms:

Excerpts of Evensong and How Evensong Music Came to Be

Evensong is a timeless service built around an ancient practice of evening prayer first developed in the patterned life of monastic communities. The liturgy we now know as Evensong was crafted and refined over centuries in cathedrals, which was once the center of life for many. This balance between rigor and creativity has bequeathed us with a treasure of sacred Evensong music that affords us the opportunity to pray the same words the faithful have prayed for hundreds of years, while hearing them in ever-fresh and varied ways through the many musical settings in our repertoire. Choral Evensong is where art meets faith in service of worshiping the Lord.

 


Join our Evensong team

Many people contribute to Epiphany Seattle’s cycle of daily prayer, and it takes a team to make our Choral Evensong service happen each week. While the choir may sing most of the service, we rely on the help of volunteers to continue our evening prayer offering. Contact Zach Hemenway, our Director of Music, at zhemenway@epiphanyseattle.org if you would like to help grow Choral Evensong at Epiphany.