So, I'm not dunking on the OP here, but I think maybe it'll be illuminating for people in This Discourse to see what learning how to pray the Daily Office *actually* looked like to learn from the perspective of an adult Episcopalian convert not from a liturgical tradition. https://twitter.com/KaraNSlade/status/1314247887912665089

A few disclaimers and context: I grew up Mormon. I'm *not* interested in the "are Mormons Christian" ~thing, but Mormons *do* do prayer, bible, and Jesus, so. I'm pretty well-read, and can work out complex, dense texts (I'm a bureaucrat lol). My church uses the US '79 BCP.

But when I got the guidance of "just read the BCP," I did. I had worked out that Rite 1 was like KJV language from services I attended, so I went there.

So, immediately, you have the instructions. It tells you what "officiant" means (which you need to know right away), but

doesn't tell you that you can do it alone (maybe that's obvious to you, but if you don't grow up with this stuff, and no one tells you ... you don't know), or that you don't need other people. There are "additional directions" on page 141, so I go there.

The first line: "Any of the opening sentences of Scripture, including those listed for specific seasons or days, may be used at any time according to the discretion of the officiant." Huh? Which opening sentences? "Specific seasons or days?" Am *I* the officiant?

Remember I don't know really anything about the various seasons of the church year yet. We continue, and there's vocab in seemingly each sentence I don't know e.g. antiphon and canticle. Which psalms are Invitatory Psalms? Is Gloria Patri the same as "the Gloria?"

Then there's the capitalized words I know, but are they different in context and/or capitalized (e.g. Readings, Litany, Intercessions, Minister)? If I'm the officiant, I have lots of discretion to omit, add, or change things, but should I? I just decide to kind of ignore this.

Back I am at the directions for the Office (page 37). What's a versicle? Oh jeez, I guess I should figure out all these seasons, and then there are these Saints days? When are they? NB: Mormons do Easter Sunday, Christmas, and ... that is it.

So, I google "Episcopal church year" or something, and do a few minutes of reading to work out which time of year it is. Once figured out, I am finally ready to say *the opening sentence*. From there (assuming I know I can be the officiant), this proceeds fairly smoothly

through the Confession of Sin. I'm picking up speed!

But then we get to The Invitatory and Psalter. I don't know what either of these words mean. I still don't know which psalms are Invitatory, and what's "Venite" (besides a word in the Latin "O Come, All Ye Faithful!")?

What's "Jubilate?" Still don't know what an antiphon is. So I give up (not knowing that the Venite and Jubilate are a few pages later), and start googling "how to do the Episcopalian office," and asking people on Twitter.

I eventually download and print out the St. Nicholas Ferrar two-pager, and start using the Mission St. Clare app. That goes well, but I still can't always work out *why* the latter chooses those particular passages or psalms or what-have-you if the source is the BCP.

Then I see that other parishes in my diocese do different office services! Ooh, this'll be helpful! But then they all differ from each other *and* the Mission St. Clare stuff pretty significantly (and I can't yet work out why), and one even uses an entirely different prayer book!

That's ... more or less where I still am. And like, I'm engaged, and have now attended either virtual or in-person services at maybe six different parishes in my diocese (and one outside of it!) in trying to get this right? I want to start involving my kids in this, too,

but I'd to have it fairly well mastered before I do that?

I mean, I get that I could just plug into an app and pray along no problem. But I kind of want to develop the ability to do this solo with just the BCP if I must, and that simply *has* been tricky and frustrating.

I'm reading this book called Welcome to the Episcopal Church my priest assigned me, and in it, it says that something like 70% of the current membership of TEC didn't grow up in it. I'm *very* grateful and blessed to find a welcoming "refuge church", don't get me wrong.

But wouldn't it be positively bitchin' if TEC produced targeted resources for us refugees who need help translating what we know from our cradle traditions into Episcopalian (and even stuff on why TEC does or believes different things), and how to do stuff in this new way?

You might say "sure, for Catholics this makes sense, but are there enough Mormons who join TEC for the effort to pay off?" Maybe not in my diocese, but it would be used a lot in the Diocese of Utah, and then all these could be like stored in the same digital location.

Heck, these could probably even help priests (and others) evangelize to interested folks and/or help in pastoral care to new Episcopalians, too.

I dunno, just a thought. But when people tell you it's hard to figure out the Office, I think there are reasons to believe them.