At 6:55 p.m. on Sunday nights, the nave at Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Little Rock is nearly silent. The lights are dimmed and about 15 people sit silently in the pews. There is the occasional rustle of the paper pamphlets printed with the order of the service given to attendees, and the light footsteps of last-minute arrivals.
At 7 p.m., a 10-person choir enters the south transept, dressed in robes, and Compline begins.
The singers' voices float through the church in a simple hymn, followed by the sound of the pitch pipe. The cantor chants, "The Lord almighty, grant us a peaceful night, and a perfect end." The choir responds with a two-note sung "Amen."
This is the traditional beginning of Compline, the night prayer and the last of the prayers that make up the Daily Office in the Episcopalian and Anglican churches, part of an ancient Christian monastic tradition of prayers for specified hours throughout the day.
"We've always thought of Compline as a really great service for anyone to drop in and enjoy because you don't have to know anything about the Episcopal Church, or what you're supposed to do in a service. The way we have it structured, it's designed for people just to come and enjoy it and to listen," said the Rev. Kate Alexander, the rector at Christ Church. "We do print an order of service, but you don't even have to follow along if you don't want to, so it's really user-friendly and we think of it as a really peaceful way for folks to start their week."
Compline is a simple service with standard elements: a confession of sins, one or more psalms, a short Scripture reading, short verses and responses, the Lord's Prayer, collects asking for protection throughout the night and the Nunc dimittis, also called the Song of Simeon. An optional evening hymn or anthem is sometimes added.
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It was added to the 1979 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. Sung services usually last about 15 minutes, while a spoken Compline can be said in just five minutes.
HOW IT STARTED
Christ Church began offering its weekly Compline services about 15 years ago, when the rector at the time wanted a Sunday night service with Communion and music. After some trial and error, the church's organist and choirmaster Steve Bullock suggested a sung Compline.
The rector approved, and they put together a trial service. They tested it with the church's young adults, having them stay for Compline followed by pizza and feedback, Bullock said. However, the young adults said beforehand that they didn't want anything contemplative, and they wanted something upbeat and joyful with all the lights on.
"So we took them in there and turned the lights off and sang Compline," Bullock said. "When we came out, we went back into the fellowship hall where they were eating pizza, and every single one of them said 'Don't change a thing. That's exactly what we need.' Compline was born."
While Christ Church has run Compline for years, it took a pandemic for other churches to offer consistent services. St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in west Little Rock, and St. Mark's Episcopal Church began offering virtual Compline when their congregations could no longer gather in person.
Compline provided a way for congregants to experience worship together, with help from the Zoom screen or Facebook Live. The simple service doesn't have the same trappings that accompany many larger services, and is meant to be contemplative, so it's easy to take in at the kitchen table, or while lying in bed at night.
A WAY TO RELAX
For the Rev. Joanna Seibert, a deacon at St. Mark's, Compline is a way to relax during a stressful time or after a long day.
"It's something I can always go back to at the close of the day when I need to get my mind off of all the things that are going on. It's a very calming service to get you ready for bed," she said. "I know that if I need that I can always go back to it."
St. Mark's ministers to people struggling with addictions and offered a 12 Step Eucharist on the first Wednesday of each month, incorporating the 12 Steps of recovery into the liturgy. When the church had to stop in-person services due to covid-19, they began offering a 12-Step Compline on Wednesdays to take its place.
"It allows people who are in recovery to know that the people in the church care about their recovery," Seibert said. "And it also is good for people who are not in recovery to realize the spirituality of the 12 Steps."
Now that in-person services have returned and Eucharist is allowed, Compline is no longer a scheduled service. However, Seibert said the church is considering adding Compline via Facebook Live to its regular offerings.
MAINTAINING FELLOWSHIP
Because Compline is intended to be used at the end of the day just before bedtime, and the church community is usually not together at that time, St. Margaret's primarily used the service on retreats, at the end of nighttime meetings or during youth group lock-ins, said the Rev. Mary Vano, the church's rector.
When the pandemic hit, rhythms changed. People no longer gathered at standard Sunday services, so the church worked to find ways to maintain fellowship and community. A weekly Compline service began on Facebook, but a staffing change meant it couldn't be offered any longer.
There was a sign-up for anyone who wanted to continue Compline on Zoom, and about five people who liked it now have their own group that gathers virtually every week to experience the service together.
Vano said Compline "allowed people a very simple and easily accessible way to gather briefly for prayer together. And people tend to be on Facebook late at night, or they're willing to. [They] sit in their pajamas, maybe, in front of a Zoom screen and have a few minutes of prayer with their companions."
While Christ Church livestreamed the service during most of the pandemic with a much smaller choir, all of the singers are back and anyone is welcome to attend Compline on Sunday nights as long as they wear a mask. For those who don't feel comfortable inside but still want to listen, the service is recorded each week and added to the church's podcast.
Before the pandemic, about 20 people would come each week, Alexander said. Some would attend the service every week, while others just dropped in to listen before going out for dinner or a show.
Those in attendance, she said, often comment on how beautiful the service is and that it is a peaceful respite from the stress of everyday life, regardless of their religious identity.
"I think when you come and hear Compline, you feel that you're tapping into something so old, and it just has that really transcendent, prayerful sound that people recognize whether or not they're part of a church tradition."