Sunday Morning Worship at Brook Street

Sunday Services start at 11.00 a.m. (unless otherwise indicated below)

Regulars, newcomers and ‘seekers’ are all warmly welcome.   Our worship services are simple and easy to follow. They reflect the fact that Brook Street Chapel is a Unitarian & Free Christian spiritual community that has retained its Christian character while seeking and practising faith with freedom, reason and tolerance.  We invite you to join us on our journey of faith: each of us with our own viewpoints but freely united in love and service

Enjoy tea, coffee biscuits and a chat after Sunday Service.   The Chapel is known for its friendly atmosphere and so you will always receive a warm welcome, friendship and support. 

What happens at Sunday Services?

Sunday morning services are simple and easy to follow. They are a mixture of singing, closing our eyes in prayer, and listening to readings and a short talk. Services usually last about an hour. We hope you’ll join us for tea, coffee, biscuits and fellowship (friendly chat, nothing heavy) afterwards.

Visitors may find it helpful to know the following in advance.

We begin the service at 11.00 by standing to sing the first verse of ‘Be Still for the Presence of the Lord’. The words can be found inside the front of the red hymn book. They go like this:

      Be still for the presence of the Lord, the Holy one is here

      Come bow before him now in reverence and fear

      In Him no sin is found   

      We stand on Holy ground

      Be still for the presence of the Lord, the Holy one is here.

We light a candle at the beginning of the service and extinguish it at the end. This symbolises the divine presence with us.

There are usually four hymns. We stand to sing and sit down straight away afterwards, except for the last hymn where the congregation remains standing while a few words of benediction (blessing) are spoken and the candle flame is extinguished. Very occasionally our ‘pop up’ choir will sing while everyone else listens.

There will be a point in the service where members of the congregation share news, joys and concerns. Feel free to join in but please don’t feel that you have to.

There is an ‘offertory’ where donations are placed in a wooden box that is brought round. If you are a taxpayer and you’d like us to collect gift aid on your donation please use the envelope that should be near to you as you sit in the pews. If you are not able to make a donation this morning please don’t worry. There are many reasons why people ‘pass’ as the collection comes round, for example not having cash with them, or making online donations in other ways, so please don’t feel embarrassed. We are not currently able to take digital donations but you may prefer to make a bank transfer.

Our organist, Jonathan, plays for us most weeks but sometimes we use a hymnal.   There will be a point in the service where Jonathan (or the hymnal) plays a piece of music for us to listen to and maybe reflect on something within the service, or our own private thoughts, prayers and concerns.  

We’d love you to join us downstairs for a drink and chat afterwards but we quite understand if you need to get away. No one will quiz you about your beliefs or pressure you into anything. We are a friendly, relaxed and caring congregation, and we look forward to seeing you next time.

Finally, Francis our Minister, aims to come and say hello to all newcomers whenever they join us.  Sometimes he doesn’t notice visitors, so please do come and introduce yourself, he’d love to say hello and to welcome you.

For any newcomers we hope to see you again but regardless you will leave with our warmest wishes