A specially shortened carol service this season that has been designed to fit into the lunchtime of a busy working day. It lasts just over half an hour and includes four of your favourite Christmas carols.

An evening carol service from the Middle Ages, with readings from the Wycliffe Bible, set in the mediæval wonder of our ancient Priory Church. Period instruments will accompany the choir, and the congregation will join in with some of the hymns of the era.

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive in good time to avoid missing out. Doors open at 5:00pm.

Members of the Friends and of the church’s stewardship schemes are welcome to reserve seats at this service.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

A candle-lit night-time carol service from the Middle Ages, with readings from the Wycliffe Bible, set in the mediæval wonder of our ancient Priory Church. Period instruments will accompany the choir, and the congregation will join in with some of the hymns of the era.

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive in good time to avoid missing out. Doors open at 8:00pm.

Members of the Friends and of the church’s stewardship schemes are welcome to reserve seats at this service.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join

A service of readings from Dickens, together with carols he would have heard and known.

Many of the images we are familiar with in our Christmases today come to us from the Victorian era, and are associated with the works of Charles Dickens, and especially his book, A Christmas Carol. This service uses readings from that magnificent work, as well as other writings by Dickens relating to the season, and reminds us of his special interpretation and understanding of Christ. Meantime, the music for both choir and congregation is taken from the sources that were available in his lifetime, so that we both hear his words and sing the carols that he would have known. Even the Bidding Prayer and the Blessing are derived from the great man’s own writings. “God bless us, every one!” A special feature of this service is that we are joined by descendants of Charles Dickens, who contribute to the readings.

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive in good time to avoid missing out. Doors open at 2:30pm.

Members of the Friends and of the church’s stewardship schemes are welcome to reserve seats at this service.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

A service of readings from Dickens, together with carols he would have heard and known.

Many of the images we are familiar with in our Christmases today come to us from the Victorian era, and are associated with the works of Charles Dickens, and especially his book, A Christmas Carol. This service uses readings from that magnificent work, as well as other writings by Dickens relating to the season, and reminds us of his special interpretation and understanding of Christ. Meantime, the music for both choir and congregation is taken from the sources that were available in his lifetime, so that we both hear his words and sing the carols that he would have known. Even the Bidding Prayer and the Blessing are derived from the great man’s own writings. “God bless us, every one!” A special feature of this service is that we are joined by descendants of Charles Dickens, who contribute to the readings.

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive in good time to avoid missing out. Doors open at 6:00pm.

Members of the Friends and of the church’s stewardship schemes are welcome to reserve seats at this service.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

A short Eucharist for children and their families, with hymns (in non-Covid times) and a talk.

A service with all the bells and whistles that the Covid emergency will allow: Three sacred ministers celebrate a traditional-language East-facing high mass; our professional choir sings a full choral mass setting.

This, one of our biggest services of the year, takes its inspiration from the Christmas Eve service held every year at King’s College, Cambridge. Readings tell the story of our salvation, from the Garden of Eden to the Kings arriving in Bethlehem to worship the baby Jesus. They are interspersed with wonderful music sung by the choir, the congregation joining them in the great Christmas carols. By tradition, the service begins with Once in Royal David’s City and concludes first with O come, all ye faithful, and after the Blessing, Hark! the herald angels sing.

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive in good time to avoid missing out. Doors open at 3pm.

Members of the Friends and of the church’s stewardship schemes are welcome to reserve seats at this service.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

Choral Evensong has returned to the Priory Church with choir and sermon.

This, one of our biggest services of the year, takes its inspiration from the Christmas Eve service held every year at King’s College, Cambridge. Readings tell the story of our salvation, from the Garden of Eden to the Kings arriving in Bethlehem to worship the baby Jesus. They are interspersed with wonderful music sung by the choir, the congregation joining them in the great Christmas carols. By tradition, the service begins with Once in Royal David’s City and concludes first with O come, all ye faithful, and after the Blessing, Hark! the herald angels sing.

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive in good time to avoid missing out. Doors open at 6pm.

Members of the Friends and of the church’s stewardship schemes are welcome to reserve seats at this service.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

A service of Lessons and Carols from the French-speaking countries

A brand new venture for St Bart’s, building a carol service from the French Christmas tradition. The readings will be from the Louis Segond Bible with music from the middle ages to the modern day.

Music would include:
Minuit, chrétiens (immortalised as “O holy night”)
Le Marche de Rois
Il est ne le divin enfant

Congregational carols include:
Noël nouvelet
Les anges dans nos campagnes
Ave Maria de Lourdes

There is no cost to attend this service and there are no tickets, but we advise you to arrive in good time to avoid missing out. Doors open at 5:30pm.

Members of the Friends and of the church’s stewardship schemes are welcome to reserve seats at this service.

Mulled wine, mince pies, and other refreshments are available in the Cloister after this service – please do come and join us!

In order to allow those who live further away or who are travelling later to celebrate the first Eucharist of Christmas on Christmas Eve we offer an early ‘Midnight Mass’, with the same music, readings, and sermon as later. The best carols are sung, and the choir sings one of the great settings from the choral tradition.

Midnight Mass is one of the most powerful services of the year, with the darkness and solemnity of midnight mixing with the joy of the Christmas story. The choir sings one of the great mass settings from the choral tradition, we sing the best carols of the season.

Midnight Mass is one of the most powerful services of the year, with the darkness and solemnity of midnight mixing with the joy of the Christmas story. The choir sings one of the great mass settings from the choral tradition, we sing the best carols of the season, and the Eucharist is celebrated as the clock turns midnight.

An early Christmas morning Communion with a Christmas Sermon held within the Lady Chapel.

The main service on Christmas Day where the best carols of Christmas are sung, the Christmas sermon is delivered, the choir sings choral settings from the choral tradition.

Do you miss a well-sung Evensong with interesting preachers and good hymns? Do you work in or near the City of London? Evensong in the City is for you! At 7pm on Thursday night it should allow you to come straight from work and enjoy the peace and beauty of Choral Evensong in London’s oldest church.

As well as promising you well-known, singable, hymns we will also serve up bangers and mash after the service – and open the bar in the cloister!

Marking the Epiphany and the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, celebrate with us as we enjoy the music and readings associated with the journey of the Magi and the manifestation of Christ to the world.

Mulled wine is available in the Cloister after this service - please do come and join us!