How We Webcast

Every morning Monday through Friday, we offer two live webcasts of Morning Prayer at 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. Eastern, and we invite you to participate.

Please come early so we can help you get familiar with the technology. If you’ll come early and type the host a message in the Chat area in the lower right of your screen, you won’t have to memorize all the information on this page, you can just read it as an overview.

Don’t get discouraged if you can’t figure it all out at first. We all had to learn how to do this. Don’t feel embarrassed, don’t worry that you ruined everything, because you didn’t. This page is designed to prevent the problems we’ve all had in learning how to join the service.

Here’s how our webcasts work.

If you’re on a mobile device, you’ll need an app, free from Zoom and available here.

At the top of our page, dailyoffice.wordpress.com, you will see a place to click either to join us live or if the service has already happened a recorded link.

Don’t click on the graphic; instead, a line or two below that, find the link to our live services. (Each service gets its own daily web address.) Click the link and you’ll be taken to a sign-in page. Sign in as a Guest and choose a screenname. You need not give your full name, but your name and location is a great sign-in.

From there, our webhost Zoom will install a new, temporary window (no additional software required), taking you to a “room” where the worship leader and congregation have gathered. You’ll see the faces of other participants in the upper right corner and a list of our names including a chat box.  The main portion of your screen will show an image of the day’s printed liturgy. You are immediately able to watch and listen.

In most cases you must use an external headset (available at many retailers for $10 and up) to speak and hear, instead of your computer speakers and mic, which may cause an intolerable echo or feedback. A stand-alone external microphone may also be acceptable; please arrive early so we can help you test your hookup. Be sure to adjust your System Preferences (Mac) or Control Panel (Windows) to select your external headset or mic before you enter the room.

Once the Service Starts

At few minutes before the service begins the officiant will welcome everyone and give an announcement such as “We have 2 minutes to go”, after which we observe a few minutes in silence before the service begins. Please mute your mic.

At the top of the hour, the webcast Officiant will begin recording the service for others to play back at their convenience. The Officiant will introduce the service, then begin the liturgy.

As it progresses, we will scroll through the service so everyone can follow along.

The Officiant will call on participants to read various portions of the liturgy. If you don’t have a mic or don’t want to read, put “zzzz” in front of your name. After you log in you will need to change your zoom name so we don’t call on you to read. It will look like this “zz Tom”.

You must have a name or we will bounce you from the webcast.

Again, we never read in unison; it sounds terrible online.

If the Officiant calls on you, unmute your microphone by clicking on the mic icon. (The Officiant also has the ability to mute/unmute most participants.) Begin to read aloud, and don’t worry about pronouncing all the Bible words correctly.

At the end of your selection, mute your mic again and the service will proceed.

Towards the end the Officiant will invite individual prayers; if you’d like to offer one, click the reactions tab on your zoom page and select Raise Hand. The leader will then call on each person in order.  You can also put your prayer in the chat box and the Officiant, or a person appointed will read the prayer aloud.

During the intercessions, please use the chat box for prayers only and not conversations. At the end of the intercessions those appointed participants will give voice to any prayers you’ve entered into chat.

When the video is over, if clergy are present, they pronounce the final blessing. Many of us like to watch them do it on their webcams.

Immediately after the final blessing, we watch a video. All participants, including the Ministers, must mute their mics to avoid feedback.

The service officially ends at that point, and we adjourn to a zoom coffee hour. All are welcome to attend and get to know one another.

Those who can stay usually visit with each other for 15 minutes or so.

A Few Last Notes

We began webcasting in December 2013. Webcasting has made a real difference for many of us; we know each other now, and reading the Daily Office together is a lot more fun than doing it individually. We have become a virtual parish, while always encouraging our members to be active in their local church.

While most of us are Episcopalians/Anglicans, the Daily Office is non-sectarian, and we have always had members from other Churches. All are welcome; we are a friendly and helpful group who don’t put up barriers to new people. Most of us are laypeople and a few are clergy. Some of us belong to religious orders; some of us may feel alienated from the institutional church, while others may be prevented from attending regular services. We are all God’s children!

We try to keep Morning Prayer to 30 minutes, however often it runs 35 minutes or so. Feel free to attend just a portion of the service as suits your schedule.

We webcast live every morning, Monday through Friday, including major holidays and excluding Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday mornings we will post only the text of Morning Prayer for your reference. Evening Prayer is read and recorded every night. Our live streams are recorded for immediate playback, generally available a few minutes after the service. (If not, please notify the Vicar.)

Our video/music selections tend to be traditional as well as contemporary. We also run short educational videos at times.

Our webcasts are made possible by contributions from our members. The prayers are free, but after you’ve been with us for a while, please consider making a donation. All donations are tax-deductible as we are a 501 c 3. Our Tax ID number is 84-4384028.

If you choose to donate there are two ways to do so:

You may write a check to:

Daily Office Network, P.O. Box 165, Sartell, Minnesota 56377-0165

or

You may transfer funds electronically via ChurchTrac by clicking here:

• We exist because of your donations and support.

Revised: 04.01.2024

(dailyoffice.org)