t is wonderful that the Compline service is so well attended each Sunday night. Such attendance is a justification for the continued existence of the choir and its ministry of prayer, praise and music. It is our hope you can come to St. Mark’s to be part of the congregation and worship with us.
When the choir began singing the service, attendance was extremely minimal: just the spouses and friends of the choir members. As you might imagine, it was very quiet in the sanctuary (remember: this was before the construction of Interstate 5!). This silence before, during, and after the service added to its reverent quality. It was a silence that nourished one’s heart, soul, and mind. It was an active silence, where one’s yearnings could be felt, in which reflection of the world and of one’s actions in it could take shape, and in which God has room to enter in and speak. (For a scriptural reference regarding silence, read I Kings 19: 11 - 13, in which the prophet Elijah encounters the LORD at Horeb. Also, the New Testament gospels often mention how Jesus would go to a quiet place at night to pray.)
Over the years, it has been difficult to experience quiet and silence in a modern city. Within St. Mark’s one can hear the continuous roar of traffic on Interstate 5; the occasional drone of seaplanes taking off from, or landing on, Lake Union or that from commercial jet aircraft higher overhead; the piercing sirens from ambulences, police cars, and emergency fire department vehicles; and the racket caused by a sensitive auto-theft alarm. In spite of all these outside noises, the Compline Choir has conducted its service in reverence and has embraced the quiet when it comes.
In the last few years, modern cacophony has entered into, and originated within, the sanctuary itself. Beepers, various rings of cell phones, and regular conversation can be heard frequently. It is as if people are afraid of silence and have to fill the void with some kind of noise. Such rude interferences of noise disturb the atmosphere of the Compline service.
The Compline Choir invites everyone to come to St. Mark’s and worship, to experience an active silence where God may come in. The choir invites you to turn off all your personal electronic devices prior to entering the sanctuary, and to hold all your conversations outside the sanctuary. As with the darkness in the cathedral, there is nothing to be afraid of in this silence.