Our family (me, DH and 2 kids age 10 and 8)will be in London for a week in mid-April. We would like to attend a service on Good Friday. We have not been to London before, and are not Catholic. We will be staying in a flat in Chelsea, but can easily catch the tube/bus to other areas.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks much.

The British are not primarily Catholic - remember Henry VIII? Most cathedrals/ major churches are Anglican - which in the US would be called Episcopalian. Would that be OK? Or are you looking for a specific protestant denomination?

And are you looking to attend a service in a major cathedral - or just a local church?

I only mentioned that we are not Catholic because we would be most comfortable in a non-Catholic church. The church does not need to be any particular denomination (in fact, we are Episcopalian!).

I would just love to experience a service in one of the major cathedrals, but I'm not sure how difficult that is to do (crowds, seating, etc).

On Sundays when visiting England we attend morning service at Westminster Abbey. It is a truly wonderful experience. We arrive about half an hour before the service is to start and wait by the gate, which is opened about 15 minutes before the service. The Church is closed except to worshippers on Sundays and on Good Friday. Westminster Abbey is Anglican, so you will be familiar with the service.

Hi issy, I could be wrong but I believe only the Catholics have the Good Friday Station of the Cross service. Is that what you are thinking of? Well since you are Episcopalian you would know that better than I do. If you wish to join in with the Catholic Stations of the Cross you certainly would be more than welcome.

Crowds are practically never an issue in any English church, least of all Protestant ones. Eew, even among those who go to church at all, ever bother with the Good Friday liturgy.

There's only one major (or any kind of) Protestant cathedral in central London - as in any city - and that's St Paul's, the Anglican cathedral: you've eliminated Catholics, the Orthodox cathedrals observe Easter the following week and by definition the other Protestant denominations don't hold with cathedrals. Details of St Paul's service times are on its website.

There's a list of other London churches that take music seriously at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...043666,00.html. Check these churches' websites for service times, as it's becoming sadly common for even the most traditional to move services to a time other than 3pm.

As you think you'll be uncomfortable in a Catholic church, ignore the list from the Oratory to St Mary's Cadogan St.
Incidentally, your anticipated concern is understandable. The Stations of the Cross are rarely celebrated in Catholic churches on Good Friday: but the complex (and realy rather beautiful) Good Friday ritual still includes the element Protestant campaigners during the Reformation called "creeping to the cross" and cited as a classic example of what they wanted to eliminate.

The main Anglican Good Friday service in major churches is identical to the traditional Catholic one in all respects except for the cross veneration bit. If checking the services on the web, look particularly for those whose choirs will be featuring Vittoria's setting of the Passion gospel. The Reformers may have got rid of some elements of the liturgy: in the Anglican church they had the good sense to keep the pre-Reformation music.

I love the services that I've attend at St Martin in the Fields. I haven't been there on Good Friday, but the first 3 photos on http://www.mightymac.org/04uk04.htm are from Palm Sunday 2 years ago.

Keith

With respect to the RC and Anglican services: I popped into a noon weekday mass down the street from the Family Records Centre in Islington where I was researching my "tree" a couple of London trips ago. It wasn't till I was on my way out after the service where I knew every response that I noticed that there was an Anglican newspaper at the back - 'Isn't that nice', I thought, 'that the RC church is carrying an Anglican newspaper. Good for ecumenism.' Later I checked and found that while I thought I was attending an RC Mass, (and I had read the sign outside the church) I'd actually attended an Anglican Mass - so there really is no difference but, I realize, you're asking about Good Friday.

For anyone uninitiated in the minutae of English church scene, what you find on Good Friday in an Anglican (Church of England) church can be one of any number of things. Traditional Anglican service, certainly for the past 100 years or so, has been Three Hours' Devotion. It was originally introduced by the Jesuits in the 17th century in Lima, Peru, and was adopted by some Anglo-Catholics (High Churchmen) in the Victorian times and then spread to the rest of the Church of England. It usually begins at 12 noon and commemorates Jesus' agony on the cross with music, readings, sermons and prayers. Normally you are allowed to come and go during the service, and stay as long as you like. There are Anglican churches, calling themselves Anglo-Catholic or Anglican Catholic, that use the traditional Latin rite of Good Friday liturgy, Celebration of the Lord's Passion, with a solemn proclamation of the Passion, Intercessions, Veneration of the Cross and Communion (from reserved sacrament), starting around 3 pm. There are many such churches in Central London, the main ones being All Saints Margaret St (near Oxford Circus), St Alban's Holborn, St Paul's Knightsbridge, St Peter's Eaton Square (near Victoria), St Mary's Bourne St (Pimlico) and St Stephen's Gloucester Rd (where TS Eliot was once churchwarden). Other services you may encounter on Good Friday, esp in the evening, is a performance of Stainer's Crucifixion.

..re the Cof E services..some churches are "higher Anglican" than others..or as my son the choirboy said- "more bells and smells." The service at St. Paul's will be middle of the road and the choir is good. The litergy will be identical to any Episcapalian service in the States but most cathedrals will have wonderful music which on Good Friday usually brings me to tears.

I am attending a Palm Sunday service in Lincoln Cathedral. What would be considered proper dress for that service? I guess more importantly, what is not acceptable dress for that service?

SallyCanuck:

For future reference, there are two ways of avoiding the confusion in future.

The boring way is to look at the notice board outside the church: if its says "Diocese of London", it's Prod.

The more interesting way is to pay close attention to the service. High Anglicans will follow Rome on just about anything - from transubstantiation to priestly celibacy.

But even they draw the line at the awful hymns English-speaking Catholics have concocted over the past two centuries (and especially over the past 40 years). If they're singing robust, tuneful hymns, chances are they're Anglican.

In fact, many of us cradle Catholics, finding ourselves in an unknown part of the country on a Sunday, will choose to go to the Anglican church because the service we'll find there is likely to be a lot closer to what we grew up with than the post-Vatican 2 mimsiness they'll be putting on at the local RC place.

Don't worry about dress code. Your normal travel outfit would be perfectly acceptable, though you'll find some people, such as sidesmen (ushers) and older people wearing jacket/tie and dress/suit.