About Us

We are a Church of England parish church in the district of Toxteth, on the southern edge of Liverpool City Centre.

We serve a multicultural, diverse community that is home to people of many different cultures and ethnic backgrounds, with several Christian churches, including Greek Orthodox, Methodist and Pentecostal, as well as a mosque and synagogue. We value the opportunity to contribute to a strong, solid community and participate in ecumenical and interfaith events that affirm and build upon what we share in common.

We are firmly rooted in the liberal Catholic tradition of the Church of England, which means the Eucharist or Mass - receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord in the bread and wine at the altar - is at the centre of our worshipping life.

Our Sunday liturgy comes from Common Worship (the Church of England's contemporary prayer book) and celebrates the central truths of the historic Christian faith - the Trinity, the incarnation, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ for our sakes, and the hope of a new heaven and earth - in word and sacrament. Our worship is traditional but vibrant, with hymns, prayers, incense (bells and smells!), Scripture readings and preaching. We always offer well-supervised children's activities as part of our Sunday worship and invite friends old and new to enjoy refreshments and conversations afterwards.

The gospel made visible in word and sacrament is one we try to live out in our daily lives by championing social justice, caring for the poorest and most vulnerable among us, and showing God's love in our words and deeds.

ABOUT OUR BUILDING

The church, now Grade II listed, was funded by local stockbroker Robert Horsfall, designed by George Edmund Street in the Decorated Neo-Gothic style, and opened in 1869, soon becoming known as 'the centre of Anglo-Catholicism in 19th-century Liverpool.'

The exterior is made of common brick, with a slate roof, a timber bellcote (a small, roofed structure for a bell), and redbrick and stone features. On the west face is a statue of our patron, St Margaret of Antioch.

The stunningly beautiful interior has a six-bay arcade supported by marble columns, or piers, and the walls are beautifully decorated with religious art, mostly by Maddox and Pearce. We particularly love the mural of the Wedding at Cana - when Jesus turned water into wine (John 2.1-12) on the west wall, between the main doors, and we have many of our own meals and celebrations beneath it.

Over the years, a number of saints have arrived in the form of statues, including Francis of Assisi, Catharine of Alexandria and St Stephen, as well as Our Lady the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Margaret, our patron, of course.

Past the north aisle is the Jesus Chapel, a sacred space with an ornate reredos, designed by Hubert B Adderley and built in 1926.