Hannah Felsbourg
3 September 2024
A new take on traditional evensong services is giving young city workers an ancient way to connect with their faith in modern times.
Scots’ Church has been running a modern twist on traditional vespers services on the first Thursday of each month since June 2024.
Featuring choral singing, a brief sermon, and prayer, the services have given Christians a space to come after work and connect with God and fellow believers.
Scots’ Church senior minister the Reverend Phil Campbell said he hoped attendees would take away a tangible sense of connection with Jesus and find value in fellowshipping after the service.
He said the goal was to use the ancient traditional paradigm of evensong but lighten it up with contemporary touches like speaking about a current issue.
He wanted vespers to be a still point in attendees’ weeks, a time to decompress and connect.
Mr Campbell said research suggested the younger generation was seeking deeper connections and a faith rooted in tradition.
He said the vespers services offered this in a digital age where people often became overstimulated and engrossed in continuous negative scrolling on social media.
“When you pause and take stock you think, ‘There’s got to be more than this,’ and ‘There’s got to be something that goes back further than my social media feed’,” he said.
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Rachel Bailey, who was visiting Melbourne from the United States, said attending a vespers service for the first time felt like coming home at the end of the day.
She said her first thought was about how peaceful it was. The church had a coffee machine going and it felt cosy.
Ms Bailey said the smaller service size allowed everyone to sit near the front, creating an intimate atmosphere. It made the service feel like spending time with friends and family.
She said meeting up after the event with other attendees at a nearby restaurant, it was easy to open up, ask questions, and go deeper. It was like a family dinner.
Ms Bailey said her favourite part of the vespers service was the way the sermon connected the scripture or topic to real-life scenarios.
She said she appreciated how this brought the message full circle, helping believers see how they could apply it in their everyday conversations and activities.
The practical examples used in the service made it easier to relate to and understand where God was working in her life.
The next vespers service at Scots’ Church will be held on Thursday 5 September at 5:30pm for a 5:45pm start. More information can be found here.
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