Midday Prayer

“Lord Teach us to pray” Luke 11:1

All students, faculty and ministry partners are welcome to join us for Midday prayer on the following days:

Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:30-1:00pm
Led by the NCSC staff & students in the Library Alcove

Wednesdays 12:30-1:10pm with Communion
Led by Holy Trinity Anglican, Chapel Hill in the Library

What is Midday Prayer?

Since the days of the New Testament and the early Church, Christian families and groups of friends have maintained the practice of regularly gathering in one another’s homes to pray and reflect on Scripture together (e.g. Acts 2:42).

During the medieval period, this custom largely underwent a transformation: from the home to the monastery, from the vernacular to Latin, and from groups of families/friends to clerics.

During the English Reformation of the 16th century, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, drew inspiration from the early church in replacing numerous medieval Latin liturgies with a unified Book of Common Prayer. “The Book of Common Prayer, from the first edition of 1549, became the hallmark of a Christian way of worship and believing that was both catholic and reformed, continuous yet always renewing. According to this pattern, communities of prayer – congregations and families…would be the centers of formation and of Christ-like service to the world” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019, ACNA, pg. 3).

Midday prayer is a short service, wherein we “annually encounter the whole of the Holy Scriptures, daily confess (our) sins and praise Almighty God, and offer timely thanksgivings, petitions, and intercessions” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019, ACNA, pg. 6). It is not intended to replace commitment and participation in a local church. It is our expectation that students are already plugged into a local church. We hope that this will serve to encourage a rhythm of prayer and reflection throughout the week, and to build unity among us as believers as we pursue a Christian education at UNC. 

Though originating within the Anglican tradition, midday prayer is not a particularly Anglican practice. It consists of universal elements of Godly prayer and it has been embraced, practiced, and found to be edifying by Christians of all denominational backgrounds.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with Philipa, philipa@ncstudycenter.org