Hope and Heritage: Advent at Wren's St Bride's

This year we mark the 350th anniversary of the day that Christopher Wren's vision for St Bride's opened for public worship in December 1675 during the season of Advent.

The rebuilding of St Bride's Church from the ashes of the Great Fire of London was a triumph of hope over despair.

This story of regeneration and renewal reflects the themes of Advent – that time in the church's calendar when we look towards Christmas and the hope that even in dark, uncertain times, light, love, and renewal are still possible.

St Bride's has survived the intervening centuries – enduring the bombing raids of WWII and the pollution of our modern world – as a beacon of hope for better times for all that enter within its walls.

ADMISSION
The service is open to all, ticketless and free to attend. Doors open at 5pm and the service lasts approximately 1 hour.

Many of our Advent events are very busy; please register to reserve a spot for early admission to the church (30 minutes before the event) to avoid disappointment.

We will hold back 125 places for later admission (15 minutes before the service starts) via the West Door for those who arrive on the day without registration.

If you need assistance with this, please contact the office on 020 7427 0133 or email [email protected].

MUSIC
The musical and spoken content for this event will weave together the Advent themes of hope and renewal with the story of Wren's great masterplan for the rebuilding of St Bride's and the composers whose music has resounded within its walls since it opened.

SUPPORT ST BRIDE'S
St Bride's is wholly reliant on and deeply grateful for the generous support of our visitors and congregation without which this service could not happen.

There will be a retiring collection at the end of the service to support the work, ministry and music-making of St Bride's and help maintain our magnificent Wren church.

Donations can be made by cash or contactless at church or via JustGiving. A donation can also be made in advance via EventBrite if you choose to register for early admission to the service.

Do please Gift Aid your donation if you are eligible which generates an extra 25p in every £1 donated.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
If you register for early admission please arrive 30 minutes before the service. Your place may need to be released to others queuing if you arrive later than this.

Christmas at St Bride’s is just as much for children as for adults.

Our regular Sunday Club children invite others to join them for their annual Away iņ a Manger crib service at 2:30pm on Sunday 14th December to retell the Christmas nativity story in words and carols.

Anything can happen, and it really doesn’t matter if it does!

Join us for this informal celebration of the famous story of the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem, which is followed by party food and craft activities for children and hot drinks and mince pies for the grown ups.

Please email the office if your child would like to be involved at [email protected].

If can let us know in advance that you are coming, please email [email protected] in the office but otherwise just turn up on the day.

As is traditional in Advent, St Bride’s Choir will be singing Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols on Sunday 14th December at 5:30pm.

ADMISSION
The service is open to all, ticketless and free to attend. Doors open at 5pm and the service lasts approximately 1 hour.

Many of our Advent events are very busy; please register to reserve a spot for early admission to the church (30 minutes before the event) to avoid disappointment.

We will hold back 125 places for later admission (15 minutes before the service starts) via the West Door for those who arrive on the day without registration.

If you need assistance with this, please contact the office on 020 7427 0133 or email [email protected].

MUSIC
Seven of the eleven movements of A Ceremony of Carols were written in 1942 as a homesick Britten endured a perilous boat journey across the Atlantic from America. It sets medieval texts by poet Gerald Bullett and embodies the spirit of hope and joy in our anticipation of Christmas.

The work opens and closes with the chant Hodie Christus natus est (Today Christ is born) sung in procession. The chant is also the basis of the poignant and dramatic harp Interlude which is both at the centre of the whole work and its longest movement. We are delighted that harpist Sue Rothstein will once again be joining us.

This service is preceded by a shortened form of Evensong, sung by men’s voices which complements the Britten by using two of the same elements – plainsong, which is used for the responses, psalm and canticles, and medievalism, with a piece of seasonal medieval music ending the service just before A Ceremony of Carols begins.

Those who have attended this service in the past have found it to be a profoundly devotional experience and a time of calm amidst the bustle of the Christmas period.

SUPPORT ST BRIDE'S
St Bride's is wholly reliant on and deeply grateful for the generous support of our visitors and congregation without which this service could not happen.

There will be a retiring collection at the end of the service to support the work, ministry and music-making of St Bride's and help maintain our magnificent Wren church.

Donations can be made by cash or contactless at church or via JustGiving. A donation can also be made in advance via EventBrite if you choose to register for early admission to the service.

Do please Gift Aid your donation if you are eligible which generates an extra 25p in every £1 donated.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
If you register for early admission please arrive 30 minutes before the service. Your place may need to be released to others queuing if you arrive later than this.

Our annual Fleet Street Carols service has become so popular over the years that we now run it twice! This year it will take place on Thursday 18th December at 12 noon and 5pm.

When Fleet Street was the home of the newspaper industry, this was the occasion when all the printers, journalists, and news agencies gathered at St Bride’s, to celebrate Christmas together in a not-to-be-missed or forgotten Christmas Carol service.

We extend a very warm welcome to everyone in our parish and community, including local businesses, residents, and visitors, to come to this wonderful service and get into the festive spirit. Featuring our regular brass quintet, Onyx Brass, and the phenomenal professional St Bride’s Choir, this really is a service to remember – so, ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful …!’

ADMISSION
The service is open to all, ticketless and free to attend. Doors open 30 minutes before the event which lasts approximately 1 hour.

Pre-registration for early admission to this event is now closed. Plenty of places (125) are available on the day on a first come, first served basis for later admission via the West Door (15 minutes before the service starts) for those who arrive without registration.

MUSIC
Fleet Street Carols will again feature our old friends Onyx Brass, who will join us in David Willcocks’s evergreen versions of the best-loved Christmas hymns and serenade you before and after the service.

St Bride’s Choir will revisit two contrasting items from their extensive seasonal repertoire, which have been frequently performed in the past but not heard for a number of years – Andrew Gant’s haunting setting of "What child is this" and the lively, rumbustious "Sir Christèmas" by the Welsh composer William Mathias.

SUPPORT ST BRIDE'S
St Bride’s is wholly reliant on and deeply grateful for the generous support of our visitors and congregation without which this service could not happen.

There will be a retiring collection at the end of the service to support the work, ministry and music-making of St Bride’s and help maintain our magnificent Wren church.

Donations can be made by cash or contactless at church or via JustGiving. A donation can also be made in advance via EventBrite if you choose to register for early admission to the service.

Do please Gift Aid your donation if you are eligible which generates an extra 25p in every £1 donated.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Directions to St Bride’s Church and information about accessibility are available on our Visit Us page.

If you register for early admission please arrive 30 minutes before the service. Your place may need to be released to others queuing if you arrive later than this.

The St Bride’s Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on Sunday 21st December at 5:30pm is a wonderful opportunity to hear the full range of readings in the now famous service devised for King’s College, Cambridge in 1918 by Eric Milner-White.

The congregation sings Christmas hymns ranging from Once In Royal David’s City to O Come, All Ye Faithful and we also have the opportunity to hear a number of contrasting pieces from the wide repertoire of Advent and Christmas music which St Bride’s Choir sings.

ADMISSION
The service is open to all, ticketless and free to attend. Doors open 30 minutes before the event which lasts approximately 1 hour.

Pre-registration for early admission to this event is now closed. Plenty of places (125) are available on the day on a first come, first served basis for later admission via the West Door (15 minutes before the service starts) for those who arrive without registration.

MUSIC
This music for this service will include some old favourites, such as Andrew Carter’s arrangement of "I wonder as I wander", but will also feature two contrasting contemporary carols, both suggested by choir members – Clive Osgood’s lyrical setting of the "Coventry Carol" and "Ding Dong Diggety" by Janet Wheeler – a jazzy re-working of the classic carol “Ding dong merrily on high.”

SUPPORT ST BRIDE'S
St Bride’s is wholly reliant on and deeply grateful for the generous support of our visitors and congregation without which this service could not happen.

There will be a retiring collection at the end of the service to support the work, ministry and music-making of St Bride’s and help maintain our magnificent Wren church.

Donations can be made by cash or contactless at church or via JustGiving. A donation can also be made in advance via EventBrite if you choose to register for early admission to the service.

Do please Gift Aid your donation if you are eligible which generates an extra 25p in every £1 donated.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Directions to St Bride’s Church and information about accessibility are available on our Visit Us page.

If you register for early admission please arrive 30 minutes before the service. Your place may need to be released to others queuing if you arrive later than this.

A special late night service sharing in the anticipation of the joy of Christmas and celebrating its message of good news.

By long-standing tradition, we begin our 11:30pm service of Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, Wednesday 24th December, by singing the beautiful Austrian carol Silent Night. It sets the tone of the service perfectly: the stillness of the dark night, and the sense of expectation, as we prepare for the wonder and the mystery of the birth of Christ two thousand years ago.

ADMISSION
This service is open to all, ticketless and free to attend. Registration is NOT required. The service lasts approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.

MUSIC
The communion setting is Haydn’s seasonal "Missa Sancti Nicolai" which returns after a gap of several years.

The anthem after communion will be "Verbum caro factum" est by the early 17th century composer Hans Leo Hassler. This exultant motet in the Venetian style – with the choir dividing into answering groups then reuniting – sets the famous text from St John’s Gospel “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.”

SUPPORT ST BRIDE'S
There will be a retiring collection at the end of the service to support the work, ministry and music-making of St Bride's and help maintain our magnificent Wren church.

St Bride's is wholly reliant on and deeply grateful for the generous support of our visitors and congregation.

Donations can be made by cash or contactless at church or via JustGiving. A donation can also be made in advance via EventBrite if you choose to register for early admission to the service.

Do please Gift Aid your donation if you are eligible which generates an extra 25p in every £1 donated.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Doors open at 11pm and the service lasts around 1 hour 15 minutes.

Amidst the whirl of excitement of Christmas morning, take time to reflect on the wonder and hope that the birth of Christ brings to us all.

Christmas morning with its stockings, presents, and the burgeoning aromas of a wonderful Christmas dinner can be the most exciting and hectic of the year, but it is so important that we take the time to reflect on what it is that we are celebrating.

Our Family Communion Service at 11:00am on Christmas Day is an integral part of the Christmas festivities for many of our congregation members and visitors, as we celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

ADMISSION
The service is open to all and free to attend. Registration is not required.

MUSIC
As is customary, the Eucharist setting on Christmas morning will be one of Harold Darke’s English language settings.

The choir items during communion will be chosen from our extensive Christmas repertoire on the spur of the moment with possible scope for requests!

SUPPORT ST BRIDE'S
There will be a retiring collection at the end of the service to support the work, ministry and music-making of St Bride's and help maintain our magnificent Wren church.

St Bride's is wholly reliant on and deeply grateful for the generous support of our visitors and congregation.

Donations can be made by cash or contactless at church or via JustGiving. A donation can also be made in advance via EventBrite if you choose to register for early admission to the service.

Do please Gift Aid your donation if you are eligible which generates an extra 25p in every £1 donated.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Doors open at 10:30am and the service lasts around 1 hour.