What to Expect at St Bene’t’s

Our Sunday 10am Eucharist (Holy Communion) is our main service, with 80 to 120 people. And there are 15 other services each week. All of our services are public acts of worship, open to everybody.

On Sunday, people begin arriving as early as 9.40am, but some of us don’t arrive until well after the service starts. A welcomer will greet you just inside the church, to give you a printed order of service and pewslip. Copes are available in large-print dyslexia-friendly fonts as well.

There are no reserved seats; sit wherever you like. The North aisle includes room for wheelchair riders.

We begin at 10am by singing a hymn, accompanied by our pipe organ. (Generally we sing from the New English Hymnal). Readings from the Bible, a fifteen-minute sermon, prayers, and then Holy Communion, follow.

We finish by 11.15am, and everyone is invited to stay for coffee.

Our worship is ordered, but warm and inviting. Prayerful silence and joyful song are both important parts of how we pray together on Sunday. We follow the Church of England’s Common Worship liturgy, and our worship is consistent from week to week.

We are a sacramental church, broadly in the Liberal Catholic tradition. However, we do not expect everyone in church to be uniform, either in theology or in style of worship.

You can see what a Sunday service looks like by going to our Youtube page. You can also download a copy of our usual order of service by clicking here.

Everyone is welcome at St Bene’t’s, whether you are a life-long Christian, a spiritual seeker, someone getting back in touch with God, a neighbour from another faith, or someone simply curious about what Christians get up to in church.

No one will interrogate you about your beliefs. We come from a wide range of background, and from many nations and traditions. When we disagree, we do so with respect and love. And we are open to learning from the wisdom and ideas which new people bring to St Bene’t’s.

When it comes time for receiving Communion (the consecrated bread & wine) at the Eucharist, only baptised Christians may receive — from any church or tradition. If you are not baptised, you’re still invited to come forward to receive a blessing. In all other parts of our worship, everyone is invited to participate equally.

Yes!

Children are welcome, just as they are. Children are welcome when they are noisy and excited. Children are welcome when they are shy or sleepy. And their parents, grandparents, caregivers and friends are welcome.

Learn more about our family ministries here.

On Sundays we offer children’s ministries during the first half of the service. Children under 10 meet in one room, and older children in the other. During school holidays our children’s ministry schedule may change.

There are also soft toys and a carpeted area at the back of the church for children who want to stay with their parents through the whole service.

We take safeguarding extremely seriously; read our Safeguarding Policy to learn more.

Some of us have come from churches where we have been rejected or hurt because of our sexuality, race, gender, physical disability, or neurodiversity. Others of us have friends and family members who have been similarly wounded.

In order to have a genuine relationship with God, we need to be able to bring our true, authentic selves to worship and community.

St Bene’t’s is a member of the Inclusive Church Network. We believe in a Church which welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ. There is no room for discrimination or fear in the love of Christ.

And we are a learning church. Sometimes we might get it wrong, or fall short. When we do, we repent, learn, and strive to do better.

There is step-free access into the church, using the ramp to our main entrance on Benet Street. In the church, there is space for wheelchair riders on the north part of the main church.

We have a hearing loop system in place, and large print copies of all our printed material, in a dyslexia-friendly font. Gluten-free hosts (less than 20ppm gluten) are always available.

We celebrate our diversity, including neurodiversity, and are a member of the Inclusive Church Network.

We do not have a quiet room, but it is possible to sit in the back by the font, which is more isolated and quieter. We do not yet have an accessible toilet, but we are working on it.

If there is anything we can do to be more accessible, please let us know.

St Bene’t’s is an Anglican church — part of the Church of England — in the Liberal Catholic tradition. We strive to be an inclusive, sacramental community, seeking and serving Christ in all people.

Belief is more than propositional knowledge. Belief is about trust, and the knowledge of being known and loved by God, and of loving in return.

And belief requires a willingness to learn, to grow, and to be surprised. Joining a church is not the end of knowledge, but the beginning of a journey of discovery and learning.

We believe that God loves us, and that we are called to love God and to love our neighbour. We experience God’s love in the mystery of the sacraments, in prayer and silence, in Scripture, tradition, and thoughtful reason.

Like all Christians, our belief in God as Trinity — three persons in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit — is at the heart of our faith. Christians believe that Jesus is God’s only-begotten Son, “God from God, light from light, true God from true God”. Jesus reveals to us that God is our Father, and that God is available to us through the Holy Spirit.

There are signs of God’s existence and handiwork in creation for all to see (Acts 14.15–17). We believe in the way we do because God has come to seek us out and has made himself known to us through the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, and through the work of the Holy Spirit. Scripture, Tradition, and Reason all guide us as we grow in love and faith.

Email is the best way to reach us; we’re happy to set up a time for you to meet (in person or on zoom) with a member of our clergy team, who are available daily. You can send your email to info@stbenetschurch.org

We offer volunteer and service opportunities, seasonal and occasional study groups and bible studies, social outings, and an active young adult and children’s ministries. Please contact us to learn more!

Oh, the deep questions!

“Benet” is Old English (Anglo-Saxon) for Benedict, the patron saint of students. When our church was built in 1020 AD, the French-speaking Normans hadn’t arrived; Old English tended to drop Latin inflections, turning a name like Benedict into Benet.

The English language adopted the apostrophe in the early 16th century. By the late 17th century, Benet was changed to Bene’t, indicating where the name Benedict had been abbreviated in Old English.

The second apostrophe, before the s, indicates possession — we are the church of St Bene’t. So: St Bene’t’s

Just to make it more confusing, our name in legal church documents is “The Parish of Saint Benedict”

Aren’t you glad you asked?