About Us

See News and Notices for details of upcoming services and events, and find us on Facebook and Instagram for more news and photos of our life together. We broadcast our Sunday High Mass live on YouTube for all who would like to join us online, and our most recent High Mass is linked below.

The Eucharist
The centre of our life together is the Eucharist, also known as the Mass - the blessing and sharing of bread and wine as Jesus showed us at the Last Supper, and said "Do this to remember me." We believe that Jesus makes himself truly present to us in the bread and wine, and gives us strength to live in his way of love and faith. This is called a 'sacrament' - a holy time where the life of heaven comes down to join with our life on earth. Our main celebration of the Eucharist is on Sundays at 10.45 am - this is when the largest part of our community comes together and we worship God in all the fullness of our tradition.

Worship for all
We have lots of different services on Sundays and through the week, and all people are welcome at all of them. Because we all worship in different ways, we have services that are designed especially for families and young people, which are shorter and more interactive, while introducing everyone to the beauty of our worship. Families are of course more than welcome at our High Mass too.

What to expect when you come to High Mass at St Margaret's
First of all, a welcome! Someone will greet you at the door with an order of service that has everything printed in it and show you where to sit. If you are new to church, please let us know, and you can sit with a friendly person who can guide you through the service, if you would like to.

The Mass is full of symbols and rituals that might seem strange at first, but are all designed to help us enter into this time of worship prayerfully and with all of ourselves: mind, body and spirit. The people around you come from a wide range of traditions and experience of church, and no one is required or expected to do anything except come with an open heart and mind; so please don't feel self-conscious or awkward.

There will be lots of music, most of which has been sung for generations, and some goes back to the earliest days of Christianity. You will smell incense, which has been used in worship for thousands of years. We hear from the Bible the same passages that millions of other Christians will be hearing around the world in their own churches on that day, and the priest will give a short talk explaining the readings, and how they apply to our life today.

The service ends with us receiving the blessed bread and wine, and all Christians who usually receive communion in their own churches are welcome to do so here. If you don't yet receive communion, or you're exploring the faith, you're welcome to receive a blessing, and the priest would be very happy to talk to you after the service about learning more about what it means to be a Christian.

We are then sent out to share our blessings with others - but first we head up to the hall for tea, coffee, biscuits, and a chance to talk to each other as friends.

All services
These are our regular services.  For more information about what each of these services mean, please see our Services and Events page.

Traditional Sunday services for all
8.00 am Low Mass (Book of Common Prayer Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the month)
10.45 am High Mass
6.30 pm Choral Evensong

Sunday services designed especially for families and young people, but open to all
from 9.00 am Breakfast Praise (first Sunday of the month)
9.15 am Family Mass (second and third Sundays)
(On the fourth and fifth Sundays we all join together at 10.45 am)

Weekday services
Monday to Friday - 9.00 am Morning Prayer
Tuesdays - 6.00 pm Contemplative Mass
Thursdays - 11.00 am Low Mass