Worship

The parish of Holy Trinity and St Mary's consists of two separate churches run by one clergy team. Holy Trinity is a brick built eighteenth century church whereas St Mary's is nearly a thousand years old.

St. Mary's

God has been worshipped at St. Mary's for almost a thousand years; even the casual visitor drifting in from the High Street is aware at once that this is a beautiful and holy place, a place of prayer. The ancient columns and arches, often coloured by the sun shining through the stained glass windows, produce an atmosphere of tranquillity and calm in welcome contrast to the noise of town and traffic.

There are two regular services on Sundays and the Book of Common Prayer is used at both of them. At 8.00 there is a said Holy Communion, and at 11.15, Mattins with hymns and canticles, except on the first Sunday of each month, when Holy Communion is sung by the St Mary’s Choir. After this service there is an opportunity for congregation and choir to greet each other and chat for a while over a glass of fruit juice or sherry. On the last Sunday of each month the Parish Youth Choir sings at the new service of Thanks and Praise, which is based on the format of Mattins, when young members of the congregation take an active part.

St. Mary's provides the setting for a number of special services during the year: Compline is said in St John’s chapel during Holy Week and evensong is said (sometimes with a hymn or two) in August. Other services for which St. Mary's has proved particularly suitable include a Good Friday Family Service, the Easter eve liturgy, Carols for the High Street, the Christmas eve crib service and the candlelit service for Candlemas. There is an annual service in memory of Yvonne Arnaud and to give thanks for the work of the theatre; in recent years this service has included a presentation by the theatre’s Youth Groups. Regular Wednesday lunchtime organ recitals are given by visiting organists.

The special holiness of the church, together with its physical layout make it an ideal setting for new or experimental forms of worship and a number of these, ecumenical in character and often devised by lay people, are being held (see WorshipSpace entry).

Although the interior of St. Mary's is on several levels, access to the pews and to the toilet facilities does not involve any steps.