Sunday Sung Eucharist  |  Choral Evensong  |  Morning Prayer  |  Evening Prayer  |  Weekday Eucharist  |  Holy Communion  |  Orthodox  |  Lutheran  |  Special services

What to expect

All services at the Cathedral are open to everyone. Our worship is liturgical: using established patterns of prayer to help us grow together into the mystery of God.
 
It can seem strange and confusing at first, but soon becomes familiar.
 
Our main service is the 10.30 Sung Eucharist on Sunday, but a rhythm of prayer and worship is sustained every day through the week. The choir sings the service during term, in the great tradition of English Cathedral music.
 
At different times of year the character of the services will change: great celebrations at Easter and Christmas, more reflective during Lent and Advent.
 
The smaller services often take place in chapels rather than the main body of the church. Notice boards at the entrances tell you where each service is being held.

Sunday Sung Eucharist Here we gather to celebrate our life in God and God’s life in the world, made known to us in Jesus. Here is the heart of all we are and do. The liturgy we use helps shape and develop our spiritual life.   Much of the service is sung on our behalf by the choir, and there are hymns old and new for everyone to sing.   We take responsibility for the wrong we do, and hear God’s forgiveness proclaimed.   We listen to the ancient wisdom of the scriptures and have this interpreted for us in our day through the sermon.   We hold ourselves open to the needs of a broken world through our prayers, and we share a sign of being at peace with each other – usually a handshake.   There is a collection, to support the work here.   And with a great prayer of thanksgiving we proclaim that God became one with human life, in Jesus, and is with us as we share bread and wine – Christ’s body and blood – in remembrance of him.   So we remember God’s love for us and are sent out to share it with others.   If you have been baptised you are welcome to receive the bread and wine. Otherwise, you may like to receive a blessing, or stay in your seat, as you prefer.   On occasion a ministry of healing is offered as part of the service, and there may sometimes be a baptism.   When the choir is on holiday, the congregation sings the service. Top

Choral Evensong Using the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, with its resonant and beautiful words, this is the service which typifies cathedral choral worship.   The choir does most of the singing, when the congregation participates through a sort of active listening, the worship being carried by the song.   There are spoken prayers and readings from the scriptures, and on Sunday there’s a sermon and more hymns than on weekdays, and a collection.   The service marks the approach of nightfall, and is part of the Office – the pattern of prayer offered each morning and evening, whether or not a congregation is there.   When the choir is away, and on Mondays and Saturdays, Choral Evensong is replaced by Evening Prayer. Top

Morning Prayer Using readings and recitation from the Bible, especially the Psalms, here we start the day as we mean to go on, relating our lives to God and holding the needs of others in our prayers.   Often we are only a handful of people, but there is a strong sense that the worship is being offered on behalf of many more. Top

Evening Prayer This is the companion service to Morning Prayer. Using a similar pattern of recitation and reading, it offers a place of reflection and prayer as the day moves towards evening. Top

Weekday Eucharist This is celebrated each weekday at 12.30 hrs. It lasts less than half an hour.   It follows a similar pattern to the Sunday Eucharist but without music or a sermon, and is on a much smaller scale.   But the heart of it remains our meeting with God in the sacrament of bread and wine. Top

Holy Communion This is a Eucharist using the words of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. There is an unsurpassed beauty to much of the language which makes the worship both strange and familiar. Top

Orthodox A Russian Orthodox congregation meets here once a month for Eucharistic worship in their distinctive tradition, using icons and chant.   Contact: Fr Edwin Hunt (01246) 275 141. Top

Lutheran Once a month we are able to offer a home to a small Lutheran church for its worship.   Contact: Pastor M. Gunter (0161) 865 1335. Top

Special services Part of our purpose is to offer a place where the diocese, the city and the region can mark special times of celebration or sadness.   Hundreds gathered here for a service to celebrate the release of Nelson Mandela. Hundreds gathered to mourn those killed in the Hillsborough disaster and on the anniversary of 9/11.   Some special services happen annually – including our own Christmas services, ordinations, the Civic Service and the Legal Service.   Details of all the special services are included in the timetable of services for the coming month and in the list of forthcoming events.  If you are part of a group that would like to hold a service here at the Cathedral, perhaps for Christmas, contact Julie Fletcher Top