Prayer and Worship Resources

This page collects links to resources that you might find helpful whilst our regular services in church are put on hold. Many of the pages are updated frequently, so please check for the latest information.

Service booklets

Church of England Daily Eucharistic Lectionary (see Table 6 in the document; 2025/2026 follows the Year 2 pattern from Advent 1)

The Order of Mass, Thursdays at 12.30 pm

(Ordinary Time) Short text suitable for printing or downloading to a mobile device.

For other service booklets, please see below.

Resources accessible by telephone

For those unable to access a church service online, please use the Church of England's Daily Hope freephone number, dial 0800 804 8044, for daily hymns, reflections and prayers

On-line resources

Live-stream services The A Church Near You web site can be used to find churches across the country that are advertising live-streamed services.
Oxford Cathedral Livestream events will appear on the cathedral's YouTube channel.
A Candle in the Window, news and views from the parish of Abingdon-on-Thames.
The monthly (except December) Silent Reflections will be in church on the last Tuesday of the month starting at 7.30 pm. Silent Relections materials are available to download:
Faith Forum The latest series of Faith Forum started in January 2026 and ended in June. This series looked at different aspects of liturgy. Recordings of these talks and talks from previous series are available on the parish web site. Summaries of the talks have also appeared in the monthly parish magazine, A Candle in the Window.
Church of England Daily Prayer
Daily prayer for the current day that page also has links to the CoE Daily Prayer app.
A simple form of Daily Prayer St Peter's Church, Earley, Reading
Walsingham
- Mass will be live-streamed from the Holy House at 7.30 am every Sunday, through Facebook, Vimeo and YouTube. Links to Holy Week and Easter services can be found through that link. There is a daily live stream of Shrine Prayers at 6.00 pm. A guide to Shrine Prayers is available there together with recordings of previous instances.
- See here for details of current services and times.
The Community of the Resurrection in Mirfield, live-stream their daily services on YouTube. See the Worship and Live-streaming page on their website for further details, times of services, and service booklets. There is a pattern and rhythm to their worship that some readers might find helpful.

Learning resources

From 30 July to 8 August
- Church of England liturgical texts for Trinity Sunday to All Saints
- A pastoral letter from the Archbishop of Jerusalem & the Middle East in light of escalating conflict, issued on Saturday 28 February.
- A prayer for Iran written by The Rt Revd Dr Guli Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford.
- Thursday 30 July William Wilberforce, social reformer, Olaudah Equiano and Thomas Clarkson, anti-slavery campaigners, 1933, 1797 and 1846
  - Wilberforce (Britannia entry)
  - Olaudah Equiano
    - The Equiano Family Project at St Andrew's Church, Chesterton, Cambridge
    - The Equiano Bridge in Cambridge
    - The Equiano Society
    - The Interesting Narrative by Olaudah Equiano
    - The Equiano Project
  - Thomas Clarkson
  - Modern Slavery, The Clewer Iniative
- Sunday 2 August: Ethelwold, 984, Abbot of Abingdon, Bishop of Winchester Some background references.
  - The Story of Abingdon part one, Mieneke Cox, 1986
  - The Monastic Agreement of the Monks and Nuns of the English Nation (Regularis Concordia), Latin text with English translation by Dom Thomas Symons, 1953
  - Rebecca Browett, The Cult of St Ethelwold and its Context, c. 984 – c. 1400, Doctoral Thesis, University of London, 2016
  - Abingdon Abbey - Its Buildings and History, The Friends of Abingdon, 1993
  - Parish church of St. Helen, Abingdon : Millenium of St. Ethelwold, evening prayer, monastic vespers July 8th, 1984. Church of England services. special (1984). (Abingdon). Source of reference: A Bibliography of Local History for Abingdon, Abingdon Area Archaeological and Historical Society
  - The life of St. Aethelwold / Wulfstan of Winchester ; edited by Michael Lapidge and Michael Winterbottom. Oxford University Press, 1991
- Tuesday 4 August Jean-Baptiste Vianney, curé d'Ars Wikipedia entry, Britannica entry
- Wednesday 5 August Oswald, king of Northumbria Wikipedia entry, Britannica entry
- Thursday 6 August The Transfiguration of Our Lord Collects and other liturgical material
  - The Transfiguration in the medieval York Mystery Plays
  - The Icon of the Transfiguration, Classical Iconography Institute (USA)
- Friday 7 August John Mason Neale, priest, hymn writer, 1866
  - Hymns of the Eastern Church (1862)
  - The Hymnal Noted, includes a hymn (with 5 verses) based on the O antiphons, Draw near, draw near, Emmanuel; the basis for the advent hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The New English Hymnal version (11), attributed to T.A. Lacey (1853 - 1931) and editors, contains two extra verses, thou Wisdom, ... and Desire of nations, ...
  - Neale was instrumental in the founding of the religious community, The Society of St Margaret, East Grinstead
- Tuesday 11 August: St John Henry Newman, Doctor of the Church During a Mass at the Vatican on 1 November 2025, Pope Leo XIV formally declared St John Henry Newman, the 38th Doctor of the Church. Newman was Vicar of the University Church in Oxford, 1828-1843 before becoming a Roman Catholic in 1845.
- Thursday 13 August: Florence Nightingale, nurse, social reformer, 1910
  - She was born into a wealthy family in 1820. In the face of their fierce opposition she insisted that she wished to train in nursing. She opened the Nightingale Training School for Nurses at St Thomas’ Hospital in 1860 and was influential in the design of the new building opened in 1872. During and after the Crimean War, working with the epidemiologist and medical statistician William Farr, she developed pioneering statistical and data visualization techniques to convince people that widespread reform in medical care was essential. She was the first women to be elected to what is now The Royal Statistical Society. Links: Royal Statistical Society, Florence Nightingale, The Pioneer Statistician.
- Thursday 13 August Octavia Hill, social reformer, 1912
  - Octavia Hill, her life and legacy (National Trust)
  - Octavia Hill Birthplace House
  - Octavia Hill Wikipedia
Retreats at the Community of St Mary the Virgin, Wantage Details of retreats for 2026 are now available on the Community’s web site.
Oxford Diocese
- New Eco Podcast The Diocese has launched a new podcast, Common Ground, hosted by Bishop Mary. This short series, will explore the connection between faith, the environment and the world we share. This web page has links to both Spotify and Apple Podcasts both of which have lists of the episodes in the series and recordings. In the sixth and final episode, Changing the Narrative, Bishop Mary is joined by Rachel Orr, CEO of Climate Outreach. They explore how we can have conversations that inspire hope rather than division, drawing on research into how people across Britain think and feel about climate and nature.
- Vacancy in See For updates on the process see this web page. This page now includes links to the Statement of Needs, a Summary of the Consultation and other documents. Prayer resources are available here.
- Diocesan Synod met on Saturday 13 June 2026. The Agenda and papers are available to download. A report of the meeting is available here.
- Research and insight Statistical resources and commentary contains a variety of resources analysing data collected from the Annual Statistics for Mission and Parish Finance Returns, plus commentary on emerging themes such as attendance at Christmas services. There is also a link to Parish Dashboards which present returns data for each parish in the diocese.
- Diocesan Finance resources. The Parish Finance area of the diocesan web site contains some very useful resources including:
  - Parish Share: allocations to churches and monthly statements of receipts (excluding 1% rebate for payments by direct debit)
  - The Diocesan finance - On the Money web page contains a lot of useful information about diocesan finances, where the money comes from and where it goes to.
General Synod
- General Synod metn York from 10 to 14 July. The Agenda and papers for the meeting and reports of Business done along with links to recordings of the sessions.
CSMV Our Life Sr Lizzie Ruth CSMV has posted three videos on the Community’s YouTube channel, about the life and work of the community, entitled A Week in Our Life, Our Spirituality and Prayer Life, and Our Ministry. The third video “follows on from the previous one about the Sisters’ spirituality and prayer life, and seeks to give an overview of the CSMV Sisters’ ministry past and present. It includes a tour of St Mary’s Convent and interviews with the Sisters.”
Videos from the Community of the Resurrection
- Community of the Resurrection YouTube channel
- Fr Nicolas and Fr Charlie held an online zoom seminar, which covered monastic life, and the rule of St Benedict. They were joined online by a group of students in Australia. The video is now available on the Community's You Tube channel.
- National Libraries Week 2 - 8 October 2023 For the Community of the Resurrection (Mirfield) this is an opportunity to focus on the Community’s own unique library (60,000 volumes). They have made a new series of videos that feature ‘Brethren’s Books’ that will be posted every Wednesday over the next few weeks on their YouTube channel.
  - Fr Nicolas and Fr Charlie, in conversation Fr Nicolas is currently Library Brother and Fr Charlie assists in the library.
  - Fr George on Dante's Divine Commedy Fr George is precentor and sacristan and a former Library Brother.
  - Br Marc takes us back to Ancient Greece.
  - Fr George with another favourite read.
  - Fr Oswin chooses Robert Louis Stevenson. Fr Oswin is the Superior of the Community.
  - Br Marc reading from the epic ballad, ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner ’.
  - Br Jude chooses a passage from the timeless ‘Chronicles of Narnia’.
Visual Commentary on Scripture (VCS) is a resource provided by Kings College London “that provides theological commentary on the Bible in dialogue with works of art. It helps its users to (re)discover the Bible in new ways through the illuminating interaction of artworks, scriptural texts, and commissioned commentaries.”
The Church of England published Statistics for Mission 2021 on 7 December 2022.
Environment and Climate Change The House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee, of which Bishop Steven is a member, published a report last week (In our hands: behaviour change for climate and environmental goals) which warns that the Government's current approach to enabling behaviour change is seriously inadequate and will result in the UK failing to meet its net zero and environment targets. The report is available to download.
The Lambeth Conference ran from 26 July to 8 August 2022.
- Reflections on Lambeth Bishops Steven, Gavin and Olivia share their experiences of the 2022 Lambeth Conference. Bishop Steven summarises the science and faith thread, Bishop Olivia focuses on the environmental conversations, and Bishop Gavin considers the joys and challenges of the diverse global Anglican family.
- The conference web site
- The official Prayer Guide
- Live Stream Programme
- Today at the Lambeth Conference, highlights of each day of the conference, see the pull-down menu at the conference web site
- (Revised) Lambeth Calls Study Document (note the statement about the draft Call on Human Dignity and the voting procedure released )
- Talking about Faith and Science and The Anglican Communion Science Commission
Mirfield Talks - Festival Day 2022 Festival day this year was on Saturday 9 July. An introductory talk by Frs Charlie nCR and Nicolas CR, is available on the Community's YouTube channel.
- A series of talks given by brethren of the Community of the Resurrection for the last year's Festival Day, 11 July 2021, which focus on the environment and our response to it, is also available on YouTube.
COP 26
- Reflections on COP 26 by Claire Spooner UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) lead for Stakeholder Engagement at COP26
- A Candle in the Window (Parish Magazine) The December issue contains a series of articles reflecting on the outcome of COP 26.
- United Nations Climate Change the UN web site containing links to the conference documents
- Resources from some scientific societies:
  - COP26, climate change and the Royal Society
  - Royal Meterological Society Resources include daily video briefings, briefing papers and podcasts
  - The Royal Society of Chemistry Chemistry and COP26
- Bishop Olivia at COP26 Bishop Olivia, Bishop of Reading, is attending the conference and joining a range of events. Recordings of interviews she has given to local radio stations can be found on the Diocese of Oxford Soundcloud site.
- From the Anglican Communion - Anglican Consultative Council:
  - Voluntary submission to the COP26
  - Climate Resilience and Just Financing - Anglican Leadership for Climate Action and Climate Justice COP26 Policy Position
- Facing up to the spiritual challenge of the environmental crisis, 23 November. The Kellogg College annual Vincent Strudwick lecture on Religion in Public Life will be given by the Rt Revd Olivia Graham, Bishop of Reading, at 5.30pm. This lecture will be online. To receive the link to the event, please book thorough Eventbrite.
- Diocese of Oxford COP26 Engagement Opportunities these include writing to or emailing your MP (for Abingdon this is layla.moran.mp@parliament.uk), or the COP co-president alok.sharma.mp@parliament.uk or the Prime Minister boris.johnson.mp@parliament.uk. The COP26 Engagement Opportunities web site has a link to a document produced by the Quakers which is a general guide for contacting MPs. It is important to include your name and address in your email or letter so that your MP knows you live in their constituency.
- A moment of opportunity and truth The powerful and historic joint statement on the environment issued by Archbishop Justin, Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew as part of the preparations for COP 26 was followed on 4 October by a gathering of faith leaders from across the world in the Vatican and the release of a new joint statement by all the world's religions: Faith and Science: an appeal for COP 26. The appeal was presented to COP26 President-Designate, the Rt Hon Alok Sharma, and the Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Luigi Di Maio.
- Before and during COP26 there was a series of events, both face-to-face and virtual, open to the public.
- The Office for National Statistics Carbon dioxide emissions and woodland coverage where you live (21 October). The levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and woodland coverage vary across the UK.The ONS interactive maps let you see how your area looks, and how it compares with other areas.
- The text of a letter from the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury, A Joint Message for the Protection of Creation that was published on 7 September 2021
- Responding to the Climate Crisis includes links to recent publications by members of the Anglican Society of St Francis
- Churches Together in Britain and Ireland offer a range of resources to support Climate Sunday.
- Olivia, Bishop of Reading, gave a talk on Climate Sunday in St Mary's Church Greenham. A video of her talk is available on YouTube. Links are provided below to some of the resources Bishop Olivia mentions in her talk.
  - A Christian Guide to Environmental Issues by Martin Hodson and Margot Hodson, published by BRF
  - The Eco Church scheme
  - The Diocese of Oxford's EcoHub which is organised as a collection of zones: the Knowledge Zone for facts on climate change, the Action Zone for advice on making practical change and the Reflection Zone offering theological resources. The specialist Net Zero Zone offers information on the path to net zero.
- Readers might like to read the transcript of Canon Ward's sermon, Service and Sacrifice, preached in Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday 25 July 2021.
Mirfield Talks. The Community's YouTube channel includes talks by Fr Nicolas CR and other members of the community.
- Recent talks include:
  1. St Luke's Gospel
  2. Bike ride for Tariro (a fund-raising ride by Fr George CR and companions)
- Older talks include:
  1. The first video in the series is on John Bradburne, who is currently on his way to being beatified and onwards to saint hood with the Catholic Church. Please click here to watch the video. From 1969 to being shot in 1979 John was warden at Mutemwa Leprosy Settlement, in Zimbabwe. See also The John Bradburne Memorial Society
  2. Praying in a technological world
  3. Pope Francis And The Poor
  4. CR Growing in Christ
  5. The Promise of Eternal Life
  6. Fr Nicolas in conversation with Claire Gilbert, talking about her recent experience of cancer and her work as Director of the Westminster Abbey Institute Her recent publications include Letters from Lockdown: Sustaining public service values during the Covid-19 pandemic
  7. Sayings of the Desert Fathers Fr Charlie, novice CR
An on-line labyrinth.
Some Cathedrals offering a range of live-streamed and recorded worship.
- Norwich Our former Team Vicar, Peter Doll, is Canon Librarian of the Cathedral.
- Oxford
- Portsmouth Our former Team Vicar, Fr Paul, was a priest in Portsmouth Diocese before moving to Abingdon
- Winchester
The History of Stations of the Cross A very interesting talk by an American Roman Catholic Franciscan brother. For information about Franciscan brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion see the web site.
Alone Together Reflections from monks and nuns on isolation and distancing, led by Fr Christopher Jamison, OSB.

Service Booklets

Lightly modified versions of the service booklet for the liturgies that would traditionally be used at St Michael's are available to download.