Ordinariate Evensong in Shenandoah Valley Returns for Laetare Sunday

STAUNTON, Virginia – A second Ordinariate Evensong is planned for Laetare Sunday in the college-town of Staunton, following up on an earlier event that showed strong Catholic support and Anglican-interest in the Ordinariate within Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.

This latest Evensong held March 27 at 5:30 p.m. in St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church is prayed according to the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter’s Divine Worship: Daily Office, and will feature the church’s St. Francis Schola.

The event is spearheaded by Jeffrey and Karen Adams, both Catholics and former Anglicans who had served as missionaries at Uganda Christian University. Jeffrey Adams is a former Anglican priest who had served also as a university chaplain.

In this interview with the ACS, Jeffrey and Karen share the success of the first Evensong, and how they hope this upcoming Evensong can both raise greater awareness about the Ordinariate and evangelize.


So tell us about your first Evensong in Staunton? How did it go, and how was it received?
The turnout exceeded our exceptions. Nearly 80 people attended, including both parishioners at St. Francis and Anglicans who are not (yet) in communion with the Holy Father. It was very well received, and people immediately asked when the next evensong would take place.

You are having another Evensong in Staunton for Laetare Sunday. Are you planning anything special or different with this one?
We will follow the same format, but obviously the Lenten season will inform the choice of hymns and anthems, and dictate a penitential tone.

You mentioned many Anglicans joined your previous Evensong, and expressed interest in the Catholic Church. What were those conversations like, and what have they told you?
People are a varying stages of curiosity about the Church. We’re hopeful that for some who follow the worldwide Anglican communion, recent conversions and ordinations in England, including of Michael Nazir-Ali, may help impel them toward Rome.

Did many of them know about the Ordinariate? How was an event like Evensong important for raising awareness about the Ordinariate?
Most of the cradle Anglicans were aware of the Ordinariate. Those who had come to Anglicanism from broader Evangelicalism were less likely to be aware of the Pastoral Provision or the Ordinariate. Some of the folks whom we most wanted to attend are in exactly that position.

What do you think is the evangelizing potential of the Ordinariate in the Shenandoah Valley? 
We think there is much potential, particularly among those who have come to Anglicanism seeking the beauty of liturgy, either from no faith at all or from a Christologically-sound but non-sacramental Evangelicalism. The strengths of the Ordinariate are the reverent and beautiful vernacular liturgy. 

What do you hope comes out of this next Evensong? If you see sustained and growing interest, what do you see as the next step? 
We hope that this next Evensong continues to expose non-Catholics and Catholics alike to the beauty of the Divine Worship: Daily Office. We do not have any fixed plans beyond that, although we would be very happy if folks started regularly worshiping together using the Divine Worship: Daily Office. We continue to pray and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.


Editor’s note: The Sunday Evensong for Laetare Sunday is March 27, 2022 at 5:30 p.m. in St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 118 N. New Street, Staunton, Virginia. Visit here for more information about St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.

Peter Jesserer Smith is vice-president of the Anglicanorum Coetibus Society. He is a veteran Catholic journalist and a staff writer at EWTN's National Catholic Register. 

Related ACS articles:
Ordinariate Evensong Evangelizes Shenandoah Valley's Staunton this Sunday in Advent