Words for the Way – Continuing on the Way

We have come to the end of Words for the Way – an online Lent course of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney. We hope it has been useful, thought-provoking and given chances for reflection through Lent, Holy Week and Eastertide. There will be a series of online reflections for Advent 2023, beginning on Sunday 3^rd December and hosted on the Diocesan website.

You may already have a daily practice of prayer, scripture reading and reflection. However, if you would like to try something different or continue a daily practice some suggestions are below. If you have others that you think others may find useful, please get in touch with Revd Dr Jenny Holden (the Diocese’s Advisor for Christian Life) with the relevant details: .

Daily Prayer from the Scottish Episcopal Church (paper, pdf, webpage) offers Morning and Evening Prayer and Compline for each day. There are a longer version (blue book) and a shorter version (green book). Each set of prayers (offices) contains verses from scripture, Psalms, canticles, set Bible readings and prayers. The prayers change through the Christian year’s seasons and there is a rotating four-week cycle in Ordinary Time. There may be a church near you which has Morning or Evening Prayer or Compline at certain times during the week and other Episcopal churches around Scotland stream Daily Prayer services on Facebook and other online platforms. Paper Copies of books for Daily Prayer & Psalter and Daily Prayer – Shorter Form can be ordered from the General Synod Office in Edinburgh (your church may have one you can borrow), the specifics prayers for Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Compline are available changing through the day on the Scottish Episcopal Church’s website [https://www.scotland.anglican.org/spirituality/prayer/daily-offices/]. The electronic texts, along with a guide to the lectionary (cycle of Bible readings) for the year can be found at https://www.scotland.anglican.org/who-we-are/publications/liturgies/.

Pray As You Go (app or webpage access) is a free daily resource with a guided meditation and prayer on a piece of scripture. The reflections are 10-13 minutes long, using Ignatian Spirituality [https://pray-as-you-go.org/]

 Lectio365 is an app (iPhone or Android, from 24/7 Prayer) is a free daily resource that offers a short piece of scripture, a reflection and aids to prayers each day [https://www.24-7prayer.com/resource/lectio-365/]

Reading the Bible in a Year is an option, there are various books and websites with reading plans that allow you to read the whole of the Bible in a year.

Spiritual Books – you might choose to work through a period of time with a book with reflections by a particular author. There is a series called “40-day journey with…”, which includes authors such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Julian of Norwich.

Daily Emails are available from authors and ministries online.  You sign up to an email list and receive a devotional, reflection or pause for thought each day. Popular options include Richard Rohr and the Upper Room Ministries.

Daily Reflections in the Media – there are reflections from different faiths, including Christians (lay and ordained) on BBC Radio 2 (Pauses for Thought, overnight, early breakfast, breakfast show), BBC Radio 4 (Prayer for the Day 5.43am Mon-Sat; Thought for the Day 7.45am weekdays), BBC Radio Scotland (Thought for the Day, c 7.20am). There are Daily Services of Christian Worship on Radio 4 Long Wave (9.45am weekdays) and Choral Evensong on Radio 3 (Wednesdays 4pm repeated Sundays 3pm).

This information is available in a pdf: Words for the Way_Final.