Church of England (CoE)

These are the Church of England churches that I have visited.

Last updated: 28 Feb 22

Diocese of London:

St. Paul’s Cathedral, London
BCW Said Communion, Choral Evensong
Broad Church
Year of visit: 2018, 2019
Website: https://www.stpauls.co.uk/
A massive Baroque cathedral, it is beautiful, but lacks the mystique of a Gothic church. I only was able to visit the first time I was there. The second time, I was able to attend a noon-hour said communion service.

Church of All Saints, Margaret Street, London
BCW Low Mass
Anglo-Catholic
Year of visit: Aug 2019
Website: https://asms.uk/
Very beautiful church on the outside and inside (very ornately and richly decorated, no surface was left undecorated). There was a very strong Roman Catholic feel to the mass.

Saint Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London
Visit only
Year of visit: Aug 2019
Website: https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/
A very beautiful neoclassical baroque church. Famous for its concerts and music.

Saint Stephen’s Church, Gloucester Road, Brompton (South Kensington), London
Roman Missal Said Communion
Anglo-Catholic
Year of visit: Dec 2019
Website: https://www.saint-stephen.org.uk/
A traditional Anglo-Catholic parish that uses a “flying bishop” (the Bishop of Fulham) because of their rejection of the ordination of women. I attended a noon hour said communion held in their Lady Chapel. First time actually seeing a fiddleback chasuble in use. They used the Roman missal for their liturgy and when people bowed/genuflected/crossed themselves was very different from my practices. They used a pink coloured wine for communion.

Diocese of Oxford:

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Visit only
Year of visit: Aug 2019
Website: https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/cathedral
Part of the tour of Christ Church College. The cathedral was actually smaller than I thought it would be.

University Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Oxford
BCW Said Communion
Anglo-Catholic
Year of visit: Aug 2019
Website: https://www.universitychurch.ox.ac.uk/
The church where John Henry Newman was vicar and the birthplace of the Oxford Movement. The worship service there was not as high church as I thought it would be (i.e. the priest was people facing rather than altar facing).

Diocese of Winchester:

St. Michael the Archangel Church, Southampton
BCW Sung Communion
Anglo-Catholic
Year of visit: Dec 2019
Website: https://www.stmichaels1070.org.uk/welcometostmichaelschurch.htm
A Norman era church and the oldest church in Southampton. I didn’t realize it was a high church until I walked in and saw the six candles on the high altar. They also used incense during the service. There was a baptism while I was there, so it was nice to see how the CoE did baptisms. This was the first CoE church that I attended that used red wine for their communion.

Royal Peculiar:

Westminster Abbey, London (Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster)
BCP(1662) Said Communion / BCW Said Communion / BCW Morning Prayer / BCP(1662) Choral Evensong
Broad Church
Year of visit: 2017, 2018, 2019
Webite: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/
Westminster Abbey was magical but not as I expected. Despite the Gothic architecture, the liturgy was rather modern. I was the only person who kneeled, bowed, and genuflected. It was my first exposure to the Church of England.

The Church of St. Margaret, Westminster Abbey, London
BCW Said Communion
Broad Church
Year of visit: Aug 2019
Website: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/st-margarets-church
Originally built so that the Benedictine monks could worship in the Abbey apart from the locals. Occasionally, they hold noon hour said communion in St. Margaret’s. A very beautifully decorated church. For said communion, we were a small enough crowd to sit in the quire.