Historical Worship Services at The Fort at No. 4

Click here to see the Summer Service Schedule

Services according to mid-eighteenth century Church of England usage will be held Sundays at the Fort at No. 4 in Charlestown, New Hampshire, during the summer and fall. Morning Prayer will be read at 11:00 A.M. using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. Sermons will be drawn from the Great Homilies of the Elizabethan period, which were preached throughout the 17th and 18th centuries and occasionally later. Clergy from the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd in Charlestown will be conducting the services.

In the 17th and 18th centuries before the American Revolution, the Church of England prospered in the colonies as it enjoyed the advantage of being the established, state-supported church. In the northeast, churches of note were Trinity Church in New York, Old North Church and King's Chapel in Boston, and St. John's Church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The Church of England was founded when Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church because the pope refused to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The king merely intended to supplant the pope as head of the English Church—not to remodel it along the lines wanted by Protestant reformers. Some reforms did take place under Henry's successors but not to the extent that the Puritans would have liked. In many ways the Church of England continued to bear a close resemblance to the Church of Rome. In the 18th century, theology was also strongly influenced by Eastern Orthodoxy. Like Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy, Anglicanism has a liturgical religious tradition. Public worship follows a formal devotional regimen as well as observation of saints' days and other holy days. In modern Anglican churches, worship services range from a simple Protestant style to elaborate Catholic ceremonial.

Schedule of Morning Prayer Services at The Fort at No. 4 for 2011
Sundays at 11:00 a.m.

Sunday services have resumed at the Fort at No. 4 in Charlestown, N. H. This is the 8th year that the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd has collaborated with the Fort at No. 4 to hold Morning Prayer following the order of workshop used during the 17th and 18th centuries. using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. Sermons will be drawn from the Great Homilies of the Elizabethan period. Special weekends are noted below. For more information about the schedule of activities at the fort see The Fort at No. 4 .

May 29 – Memorial Day Weekend

June 5 – French & Indian War Weekend

June12, 19, and 26

July 3 – John Maynard Weekend (4th of July Weekend)

July 10, 17, 24, and 31

August 7 – Demonstration Weekend

Contact: David W. Moody or Jeanne C Moody
Beaver Wood Associates
P.O. Box 717
Alstead, NH 03602
603-835-7900, dwmoody@beaverwood.com

http://www.goodshepherdanglican.org