Sunday worship & daily prayer liturgies
Every Sunday, a table is set,
and there’s a place for you
Sunday Liturgy
of Word and Table
live online at 5:00pm
(Melbourne time) each Sunday.
Our worship life is shaped by ancient rhythms: a weekly service of Word and Table, a daily cycle of prayer marking morning, evening and night, and the turning of the church year. These rhythms form us — slowly, deeply, and together.
Friends and family are always welcome to join us for any of these liturgies. If you’d like to invite someone, please point them to the public-facing pages rather than this one, because they contain more information relevant to first-time visitors. Here are the links for you to copy and share:
Sunday Worship — https://openicon.church/worship-prayer/
(the page includes the connection link)
Daily Prayer — https://openicon.church/worship-prayer/daily-prayers/
(you’ll also need to give them the connection link)
Sunday Worship
Our Sunday gathering is the heart of our common life. Each week we come together online for a liturgy that moves through spoken and sung prayer, scripture readings, preaching, prayerful silence, and a celebration of the Lord’s Table. It is around 90 minutes long, unhurried, highly participatory, and deeply prayerful.
Part allocations for each Sunday liturgy are sent out through the church email list a few hours before we gather. If you’re not receiving these, get in touch.
A few things worth keeping in mind for the best experience: if you have the option of a large screen and good speakers, use them. Arranging your screen so that you can see the liturgy slides and the whole congregation side-by-side keeps the sense of gathered worship alive — it is “us and God” rather than “me and God.”
We believe that the risen Jesus offers himself freely to everyone at his Table. Please come prepared with bread and a glass of wine or water, or abstain — both are fine.
After the liturgy, we break into small groups for conversation. Some people eat their dinner during this time — a tradition that goes back to our physically gathered days.
A video recording of the most recent Sunday worship service can be found at the bottom of this page, and previous recordings are available on our YouTube channel:
Setting Up Your Screen
Choose Side-by-side Gallery from the options in the View button in the top right of your screen (not available on mobile devices), and drag the dividing line between two sides so you can see all of both.
Display your correct name(s) Click your own video image to find “Rename”.
Turn on your video (or keep it on). Letting us see you builds trust, but if you need to turn it off to save data, or because you’re in the bath(!), we’ll understand.
Daily Prayer Liturgies
One of the unexpected gifts of moving online was the discovery that our geographically scattered congregation could gather for prayer on weekdays too. Anything from three to twelve people gather online three times each day, Monday to Saturday.
Each prayer time (traditionally called a prayer “office”) weaves together shared prayers, psalms, and canticles with space for free prayer. The rhythm of shared prayer, practised together day after day, gradually impresses a deeper pattern of attentiveness into our lives; the free prayers give us somewhere to put what we are actually carrying — for ourselves, for others, and for the world.
The three offices have distinct characters:
Matins (8:00 – 8:30am)
Opens the day with praise, scripture, and intercession that looks outward — for the earth, for those who suffer, for reconciliation wherever it is needed.
Vespers (5:00-5:30pm)
Gathers at the hinge of the day, making space for reflection on what the day has held, and bringing its weight before God.
Compline (9:30 – 9:50am)
Releases the day into God’s keeping — with a reading from one of the saints, brief intercession, and prayers of entrusting that accompany us into sleep.
At the end of each office, there is a chance to check in with one another and share whatever we wish with one another. People can stay and talk as long as they wish. And they do.
Midweek Gathering
The Mid-Week Gathering is a small, physically-gathered, worship service held twice a month at the Earthen Vessels Church at 12 Surrey Road, South Yarra — the building that was home to our congregation for many decades. It is led by John Fowler with the support of a small team that sometimes includes other members of our congregation.
The Gathering originated as a worship community for LGBTIQA+ people and their allies in Melbourne, and it still caters primarily for those who have not experienced welcome elsewhere, though we hope and pray that the need for that is receding. Straight people are warmly welcome and are among its regular participants nowadays.
The service takes place at 6:30pm on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, and is followed by a shared meal. The liturgy draws on our church’s Sunday worship tradition, adapted by John for the Gathering’s particular context and community.
