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Worship
Services & worship
Mass is celebrated every day of the week at St John’s, and Morning and Evening Prayer are said in church throughout the year. All are welcome at every service.
Sunday
The Lord’s Day
Sunday is the heart of the week. The 9.30am Parish Mass is our main service, sung, with a sermon and refreshments afterwards — if you are visiting for the first time, this is the one to come to.
8.00am
Mass
Said, without music. Around forty minutes.
9.30am
Parish Mass
Sung, with hymns and sermon. Children are very welcome.
5.00pm
Evening Prayer & Benediction
Said and sung devotion before the Blessed Sacrament.
Monday to Saturday
Weekday Mass
Daily Mass is normally celebrated at the times below. Some weekday Masses are celebrated at our sister church, St Andrew’s, Clifton Road, and times occasionally change for feasts, funerals and pilgrimages.
| Day | Time |
|---|---|
| Monday | 10.00am |
| Tuesday | 10.00am & 5.30pm |
| Wednesday | 11.00am |
| Thursday | 10.00am |
| Friday | 10.00am |
| Saturday | 10.00am |
Please check this week’s pewsheet for the current week — it lists every Mass, its venue and its intention, together with the saint kept that day.
The Daily Office
Daily Prayer
Every day, Christians all over the world say Morning and Evening Prayer together. We praise God with psalms and hymns. We listen to what God has to tell us in his holy Word. We bring to God our needs and the needs of the world in prayer. Next to the Mass, Morning and Evening Prayer are two of the most important parts of the daily worship of the Church.
Daily Prayer — also known as the ‘Daily Office’ — connects us to the life of the wider Catholic Church, using prayers which have been used since the earliest days of the Church. It also connects us with our own expression of Catholic Christianity as members of the Church of England, which has always taught the importance of daily Morning and Evening Prayer as a way of deepening our faith and growing in holiness as a community.
If you would like to join us in Daily Prayer at St John’s, you are simply welcome to arrive and sit down; or contact one of the clergy team. If you are unable to join us in person, please do join us in prayer using the links below.
| Day | Morning | Evening |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 9.30am | 5.30pm |
| Tuesday | 9.30am | 6.00pm |
| Wednesday | 10.30am | 5.30pm |
| Thursday | 9.30am | 5.30pm |
| Friday | 9.30am | 5.30pm |
| Saturday | 9.30am | — |
Bible study is usually held in church on Mondays at 3pm — check the latest pewsheet for details.
Seasons & colours
The Church year
The year at St John’s follows the seasons of the Church, and the colours of the vestments and hangings change with them. If you visit in Lent and again at Easter, the church will look and sound quite different.
- Purple — Advent and Lent, the penitential seasons.
- White or gold — the major feasts at Christmas, Epiphany and Easter.
- Red — Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Pentecost, and the feasts of martyred saints.
- Green — ‘Ordinary’ time, the long stretches between the great feasts.
Every week
What to expect on a Sunday
You do not need to know anything, bring anything or do anything in particular. Come in through the south door off Elm Grove, where someone will give you a book and a pewsheet. Sit wherever you like. Join in as much or as little as you wish, and stay for coffee afterwards if you would like to meet people.