Anglican worship services are open to all visitors. Anglican worship originated with the Church of England's, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who aimed to create a liturgy of the Apostolic and Catholic Church, said in English rather than Latin, Greek, etc.  Traditionally the pattern was laid out in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP). Although many Anglican churches now use a wide range of modern service books written in the local language, the structures of the Book of Common Prayer are largely retained. Churches which call themselves Anglican will have identified themselves so because they use some form or variant of the Book of Common Prayer in the shaping of their worship.

     The service is constructed around a sermon focused on Biblical exposition and opened with one or more Bible readings and closed by a series of prayers and hymns or song.  Anglican churches tend to have pews or chairs and it is usual for the congregation to kneel for some prayers but to stand for hymns and other parts of the service such as the Gloria, Collect, Gospel reading, Creed and either the Preface or all of the Eucharistic Prayer.  Anglicans may genuflect or cross themselves.

     Until the mid-twentieth century the main Sunday service was typically morning prayer, but the Eucharist has once again become the standard form of Sunday worship in many Anglican churches; this again is similar to Roman Catholic practice.  Many Anglican churches will also have daily morning and evening prayer and some have midweek or even daily celebration of the Eucharist.

     An Anglican service will include readings from the Bible that are generally taken from a standardised lectionary, which provides for the entire Bible to be read out loud in the church over a three year cycle. The sermon is typically about ten to twenty minutes in length.  There are also set forms for intercessory prayer, and there are generally prayers for the dead.

     Only baptised persons are eligible to receive communion, although in many churches communion is restricted to those who have not only been baptised but also confirmed. In many Anglican provinces, however, all baptised Christians are now often invited to receive communion and some dioceses have regularised a system for admitting baptised young people to communion before they are confirmed.

     The discipline of fasting before communion is practised by some Anglicans. Most Anglican priests require the presence of at least one other person for the celebration of the Eucharist (referring back to Christ's statement in Math 18:20 "When two or more are gathered in my name, I will be in the midst of them"). As in the Roman Catholic Church, it is a canonical requirement to use fermented wine for the Communion.  The consecrated bread and wine are always offered together to the congregation in a Eucharistic service ("Communion in Both Kinds"). In some churches the sacrament is reserved in a tabernacle or aumbry with a lighted candle or lamp nearby. Only a priest or a bishop may be the celebrant at the Eucharist.

     All Anglican prayer books contain offices for Morning Prayer (Matins) and Evening Prayer (Evensong). In the original Book of Common Prayer these were derived from combinations of the ancient monastic offices of Matins and Lauds; and Vespers and Compline respectively. The prayer offices have an important place in Anglican history.

     Morning and Evening Prayer can be said using a Book of Common Prayer, or it can be followed on an internet site, such as the one provided by the Mission St. Clare, by clicking on the Icon to the left.

     First, click on the "Click for Today's Prayer Service"  button.
     Next, click on the prayers or readings at the left hand side, such as "Opening Sentence."

     Notice that the Holy Scripture readings are available in the NRSV or the KJV.  The KJV is recommended.  You can choose a long or short version of Morning Prayer.  The shortest version would include: 
Confession, Psalm, Gospel Reading, Apostles Creed, The Lord's Prayer, Suffrages A or B, the Collect for the Day, Petitions and Intercessions and the General Thanksgiving.