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SERVICES AT THE TEMPLE CHURCH Our services at the Temple follow the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England. The Book of Common Prayer reached its present form in 1662. Most of our services are choral. We invite the congregation to join, of course, in singing the hymns, the Venite (at Mattins) and the Creed (at Communion). For the rest, we hope that you will enjoy the singing of the choir and the playing of the organ. Such a service is an opportunity to bring our own cares quietly to God; and to set those cares within the vast, unfolding purposes of God, our Creator and Redeemer. We hear in these services of God’s unending love for his people and for his whole creation: in the story of the Old Testament and the songs of the psalms; in the story of Jesus himself; in the letters of the apostles; and in the hymns and creeds of the early church. So we learn, as a church and its members, to trust God’s care for ourselves and for those we love; and to entrust ourselves to the life that he calls us to live. In our services on earth we are made part of the unceasing service of heaven; we are at a strange, uncanny mid-way point where earth and heaven meet. At the Temple Church we come together for a beautiful service in a beautiful place. We catch some echo of the worship in heaven; and we seek to offer – in our liturgy, our preaching and our music – a worthy reply. We long to join our voices with the voices of heaven, and so to complete creation’s song of praise: I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, “To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever.” And the four living creatures around the throne of God said, “Amen!” Revelation 5. 13-14 Such prayers and praise belong here; and we will be delighted if you and your family find that your prayers and praise belong here too.

Lunchtime Organ Recital: Pingping Chen (Royal College of Music)

for 30 mins
The Temple Church, London
The Temple Church, Temple, London, EC4Y 1BB, United Kingdom

Pingping Chen (Royal College of Music)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
- Toccata, Adagio & fugue BWV564

Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)
- Prélude et fugue sur le nom d’Alain

Pingping Chen is studying for a Masters degree at the Royal College of Music, with professors Charles Andrews, David Graham and Martin Schmeding. In the course of her studies she has given recitals in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall at the RCM and participated in study trips in Paris and the Netherlands. In the next academic year, she will study for an Artist Diploma award at the RCM.

The Temple Church organ
The organ in the Temple church was built in 1924 for the Castle of Glen Tanar, Aberdeenshire, and installed in 1954 in the rebuilt church (following war damage), the gift of Lord Glentanar. The organ case was designed by W. E. Godfrey and installed in 1966 and is modelled on drawings of the Temple’s Father Smith organ of 1688, showing the crests of Inner and Middle Temple. The organ was rebuilt in 2013 by Harrison and Harrison of Durham and has 66 stops over four manuals.

Future recitals – Wednesdays at 1.15 pm
8 July – Gavin Phelps (Oundle Recital Award)
15 July – Simon Hogan (Southwark Cathedral)
22 July – Charles Andrews (Temple Church)

Recitals resume on 7 October 2026. Please check https://www.templechurch.com/music/lunchtime-organ-recitals for details.

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Choral Evensong

for 1 hour
The Temple Church, London
The Temple Church, Temple, London, EC4Y 1BB, United Kingdom

Sung by the Temple Church Choir

Introit: Lord for our nation (Gibbons/ Rutter) 
Responses: Clucas 
Psalm 149 (Alcock) 
Canticles: Noble in B minor 
Anthem: A new song (Macmillan)

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Spem in Alium - the 40 voice spectacular

for 1 hour, 15 mins
The Temple Church, London
The Temple Church, Temple, London, EC4Y 1BB, United Kingdom

The Temple Singers
Thomas Allery, conductor

Thomas Tallis’s monumental motet Spem in alium nunquam habui praeter in te, Deus Israel (I have never placed my hope in any other but in You, O God of Israel) stands as one of the most extraordinary achievements in choral music. Rarely performed, it is a breathtaking feat of contrapuntal imagination, conceived for an astonishing forty independent vocal lines arranged into eight choirs of five voices each.

Composed around 1572–73, Spem in alium is believed to have been first performed at Nonsuch Palace, the Earl of Arundel’s summer residence, whose octagonal hall and surrounding balconies likely inspired Tallis’s bold spatial design. The music unfolds as sound travels through space - surging from choir to choir, surrounding the listener in waves of resonance. Towering passages for all forty voices alternate with intimate exchanges among smaller groups, while musical ideas leap across the ensemble.

The result is a profoundly immersive, almost architectural experience: a living sculpture of sound that envelops both ear and imagination.

This concert is supported by a consortium of donors, and is given to mark the retirement of The Revd Robin Griffith-Jones, Master of Temple Church.

Full Programme

Josquin des Prez (c.1450-1521): Qui Habitat (24 voices) 6'00"
Gabriel Jackson (1962-): Cecila Virgo (24 voices) 8'00"
John Tavener (1944-2013): Hymn to the Mother of God (12 voices) 2'30"
Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924): Latin Magnificat in B flat, Op 164 (8 voices) 11'00"
David Bednall (1979-): Lux Orta est Iusto (40 voices) 8'00"
Eric Whitacre (1970-): Lux Aurumque (8 voices) 4'00"
Andrea Gabrieli (1533-1585): Maria stabat ad monumentum (6 voices) 5'00"
John Taverner (1490-1545): Dum transisset Sabbatum (6 voices) 8'00"
Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585): Spem in Alium (40 voices) 9'00"

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The King Shall Rejoice: A Baroque Coronation

for 1 hour, 30 mins
The Temple Church, London
The Temple Church, Temple, London, EC4Y 1BB, United Kingdom

Temple Church Choir
The Temple Players
Thomas Allery, conductor

The Temple Church Choir, one of London’s foremost liturgical ensembles, ignites a display of royal splendour in the magnificent historic surroundings of Temple Church. At the heart of the programme are Handel’s glorious Coronation Anthems, including the electrifying Zadok the Priest and the majestic Let thy Hand be strengthened, works written to celebrate the power, pageantry, and ceremony of the British monarchy.

Alongside these, the concert features a rich selection of Baroque music composed for royal occasions, bringing to life the brilliance and grandeur of the age. Set within the soaring acoustics and centuries-old walls of Temple Church, this performance promises an evening of ceremonial brilliance, dramatic contrasts, and resplendent choral sound - where history, architecture, and music converge in spectacular fashion.

Programme

G F Handel (1685-1759): Overture to Solomon
Francesco Durante (1684-1755): Magnificat
G F Handel: Let thy Hand be strengthened
William Boyce (1711-1779): Symphony no. 1
William Boyce: The King shall rejoice
G F Handel: Zadok the Priest

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