Worship
Prayer is said here twice a day whether anybody comes or not. Most of it is sung, none of it asks anything of you, and all of it is free.
Every week
- Sunday 10:30 Choral Eucharist
Morning Prayer is said at 7.30 every day in the Lady Chapel. It is not listed above because it is not sung, but anyone may come.
If you have never been to Evensong
Which is the service most visitors end up at, usually by accident.
- You arrive and sit down. A steward will show you into the quire if there is room, which there usually is. It is free and you do not book.
- The choir comes in. Everyone stands. That is the last thing anybody will expect of you.
- It is sung at you, not with you. Two psalms, two readings, two canticles and some prayers. You are not expected to join in and there is nothing to hold.
- It lasts forty-five minutes. You may leave at any point and people do.
- That is all. No collection, no notices, nobody at the door asking your name.
A fair number of people come to Evensong for years without describing themselves as believers, and the Minster has no opinion about that at all.
Weddings, baptisms and funerals
The Minster is a parish church as well as a minster, and the parish is small. If you live in it you have the same rights here as anywhere — which surprises people, because the building does not look like somewhere you can simply get married.
Outside the parish it is possible but not automatic, and the conversation is worth having early. Ring the Chapter office rather than emailing; it is quicker.