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Christ Church Cathedral |
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The beautiful building of Christ Church Cathedral, the cathedral church for the Diocese of Oxford, is also the college chapel for Christ Church, one of Oxford University’s largest colleges. |
The cathedral is home to a vibrant worshipping community with a rich worshipping tradition and a world famous Cathedral Choir. It hosts a wide range of diocesan events, music, art and drama. Many thousands visit it each year to pray, worship, or simply enjoy its stillness and profound sense of history.
The cathedral stands on the site of the convent church where Oxford's patron saint, Frideswide, was buried in the 8th century. By the 13th century it was a major place of pilgrimage. In the 16th century when Cardinal Wolsey began building his college here, the western end of the church was removed to make space for Tom Quad, and the remainder was used as the temporary chapel for the new college. Wolsey would have demolished it all and replaced it with a larger chapel across Tom Quad but his fall from power under Henry VIII prevented that. Today we are grateful that the building has survived, and that it is used so much to the glory of God.
Everyone is welcome to join in the daily offering of worship to God which is at the heart of Christ Church, whether you come for a single service or more regularly.
Service Times
Sundays
8.00 am Holy Communion (1662)
9.00 am College Communion (Common Worship) - in term-time
10.00 am Matins and Sermon (1662)
11.15 am Sung Eucharist (Common Worship)
6.00 pm Evensong (1662)
Weekdays
7.15 am Matins (Common worship)
7.35 am Holy Communion (Common Worship)
1.00 pm Holy Communion (Wednesdays only) (Common Worship)
6.00 pm Evensong (1662)
On Mondays, out of term time, Evening Prayer is a said service, but during term time, Evensong is sung by the College Choir. On Thursdays, the evening service is usually a Sung Eucharist. This is sometimes moved to another day of the week for major Feasts of the Christian year. For further details, see the music list.
The advertised time for Cathedral Services is five minutes later than 'normal' time (GMT or BST depending upon season), because the Cathedral still keeps the old Oxford Time which is five minutes west of Greenwich. Thus 6:00 p.m. Oxford time is 6:05 p.m. GMT/BST. Download the current music list from our website: www.chch.ox.ac.uk/cathedral.
Amongst the glories of Christ Church Cathedral is the range of stained-glass: from the 14th century the Becket window and those in the Latin chapel; the 17th century Flemish windows by the van Linge brothers, and the 19th century windows by Burne-Jones. More recently the rebuilt medieval shrine of St. Frideswide, the award-winning altar of Peace and Reconciliation commemorating Bishop George Bell who in 1942 protested against the bombing of Germany, and Rita Phillips’ sculpture of the Mother and Child, have all added significance for visitors and worshippers.
The teams of welcomers and stewards, the shop-helpers, the servers and the voluntary choir of the Cathedral Singers which sings many services when the Cathedral Choir is on holiday, all offer opportunities for those who would like to be more involved. Study-courses in Advent and Lent and the Cathedral Summer Lectures provide for further learning in Christian faith. |
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