The Society of St. Nicholas Ferrar is an association of Episcopalians who are dedicated to practicing and promoting the Daily Office. They commit to praying Morning and Evening Prayer daily, receiving Holy Eucharist weekly, and helping others understand and share in these classic forms of Anglican worship.
The Story
In January of 2019, Jayan Koshy began leading daily Morning Prayer at St. John the Evangelist in St. Paul, Minnesota. He wanted to invite people to experience and be formed by spiritual practice that had grounded so much of his spiritual development. Morning Prayer has continued to be held there every weekday since. Whether five people come or none, Jayan has maintained the practice out of his dedication to the worship of the Episcopal Church.
Tony Hunt is a postulant for Holy Orders in Minnesota and had gotten to know Jayan through social media. He had been praying the Office by himself on and off for years, and daily for two. As their friendship grew, they saw more and more that they had shared convictions about the purpose of the Office, and a mutual joy in the practice of it.
They decided to form the Society of St. Nicholas Farrar in an effort to inspire more Episcopalians to adopt the practice of the Daily Office. They knew many people who already prayed it, and had other friends who want to do it but feel discouraged by the difficulty of maintaining a regular practice. What if we could connect people for encouragement rather than make people feel like “failures” for “not doing the Office right?”
The SSNF is for any and every Episcopalian – lay or ordained, religious or secular, low-church or Anglo-catholic. For those who already pray the Office and for those who have always wanted to but felt discouraged by “not measuring up” for whatever reason. Please look around the website, read the charter, and pray about whether this is something you feel God might be calling you to participate in.