Contemplative practices
Sunday 5:30 p.m. Celtic service
At 5:30 p.m. each Sunday evening, St. Stephen's offers a service of Celtic Evensong with Holy Communion. Our Celtic worship is drawn from the liturgical traditions of Iona and Northumbria, with instrumental music drawn from the Celtic, folk, and classical traditions. This service has been well received not only by St. Stephen's parishioners, but includes worshipers from other churches in the area, as well as those with little or no religious background. Read more (and watch a video) here.
Sunday 8 p.m. Compline service
From the ancient monastic practice of ending the day in prayer and praise of God, a weekly Compline service is held every Sunday at 8:00 p.m. This stunningly lit beautiful candlelit service features a small group of singers, "Sanctuary," offering Gregorian Chant and Renaissance polyphony. This service was inaugurated in September 2010 to mark our Centennial Year, but proved so popular that we have continued to offer it. Read more (and watch a video) here.
Contemplative Prayer
Year-round offering
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. in the Lounge and on Zoom
No prior experience is necessary; read more about this weekly offering here.
Third Saturdays Centering Prayer
Year-round offering
Third Saturday of each month, 9 a.m.-11 a.m. in Room 14
No prior experience is necessary; read more here.
Icon writing: weekly guild and annual workshop
St. Stephen's offers an icon guild whose members meet each Friday to "write" (paint) icons together. Many who participate are former students in our annual icon writing workshop (you may read about this week-long summer workshop here). The process of writing an icon can be a form of contemplative prayer. Icon writers use techniques developed at the end of the Iconoclast period (before the year 1000 A.D.), in which, through a gradual, step-by-step process, each will sees a face gradually emerge from the darkness, a face glowing with an internal light. Artistic experience and painting skills are not prerequisites. The willingness to let go and trust are much more important for this practice.