Daily said service of psalms, canticles, readings and prayers at Chester Cathedral, held at 5.30pm on weekdays.
Chester Cathedral holds its Said Evening Prayer on Saturday 31 October, one of the daily services that keep the place running. It's a short, said service of psalms, canticles, readings and prayers, usually held in the Quire. If you've never been, the Quire is the enclosed area where the choir sits, so it's a bit more tucked away and intimate than the main nave.
Daily worship is the heart of life here, and the pattern follows a long tradition: every day begins with morning prayer and ends with evening prayer. The cathedral's daily rhythm draws on that of its Benedictine predecessors at St Werburgh's Abbey, with the Liturgy of the Word at its core, interwoven with canticles of praise and followed by intercessory prayer. It's a steady, predictable cycle that's been going for centuries, and this particular service is the one that closes the day.
Beyond the services, the cathedral is an ancient abbey, an archaeological treasure and a centre of musical excellence, a unique blend of medieval and modern history. The Very Revd Dr Tim Stratford is the Dean of Chester. There's also a practical side to how it's run: the cathedral aims to be carbon neutral by 2030 and stopped printing documents for one-time use back in 2019.
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Said Evening Prayer runs daily at 5.30pm from Monday to Friday, and also on Wednesdays and during school holidays. On Saturday 31 October, it's the same short, said format of psalms, canticles, readings and prayers, usually in the Quire.
