Services & Events

including baptism and wedding information

SUNDAY WORSHIP

10.15am Parish Eucharist    [new pictures to follow]

with congregational music, an address, and activities for children in term time

• On the first Sunday of each month, children remain in church for an all-age celebration.
• We aim to be an inclusive church, for people of all ages and traditions.
  
• Our congregation is very mixed, and we have a reputation for friendliness in welcoming newcomers.
• The style of our worship is liturgical, based on the the contemporary provisions of Common Worship.
• Refreshments follow the service, and sometimes a bring and share lunch.
  

WEEKDAY WORSHIP

Tuesdays at 12.30pm Eucharist a simple, said celebration in the side chapel   

Morning and Evening Prayer are usually said on weekdays at 8am and 5pm, and the church is normally open between these times for private prayer and visitors during the day.

Festivals and Special Days - Eucharist as announced (see monthly Calendar)

BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION AND MARRIAGE

Holy Baptism, or Christening, is administered during the Sunday service, or at other times by arrangement. Young people and adults are regularly prepared for Confirmation.

Enquiries about any of these can be made at the Sunday service, or click here to contact the Rector.
You can download baptism information and forms here, and wedding information and forms here.

REGULAR EVENTS & CONCERTS

Wapping Great Voices, the staff choir of News International, normally rehearses in church on Tuesdays at 1pm, and gives occasional concerts; however, they are currently rehearsing elsewhere because the redevelopment of their offices makes us too distant for their tight luch break. They are one of the three choirs that participate in NI's annual carol service, a highlight of the year. See the News International page for more details of our links, and watch this clip of the choir performing.

On Tuesday evenings during term, course members from North Thames Ministerial Training Course share a meal in the crypt and come into church to worship at 7.15pm, before their teaching sessions. NTMTC is based in our crypt, and is part of the College of St Mellitus which oversees training for ordained and some lay ministries in the dioceses of London and Chelmsford.

All the children of our church school, St Paul's CE Whitechapel, come to church for special services at least twice a term, and individual classes come at other times. The Rector leads assembly in school every Monday morning. In 2008, we held an 'Education Celebration' for children, parents, staff, governors and members of the congregation. The London Diocesan Board for Schools provides support for governors and staff, and resources for festivals. The recent denominational inspection rated the school as 'outstanding' in all four categories - distinciveness and effectiveness as a Church of England School (serving a Muslim-majority intake), collective worship, religious education, leadership and management.

On Saturdays, the Soytten Sen School of Performing Arts rehearses in church, and performs regularly around Tower Hamlets as well as in church. They are committed to passing on the rich traditions of Bengali folksong, dance and drama to the rising generation - for instance, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) - and we are glad to be associated with them.

CONCERTS
We host, or organise ourselves, series of concerts and one-off events:

• in 2008 Art Impact Project organised concerts, linked to art displays; the group has since moved elsewhere, but we keep in touch.
  
• in 2009 and 2010 our then-director of music, Elspeth Wilkes, organised three series of Sunday afternoon recitals, with performances of the highest quality.
• in 2011 local musician Fred Thomas organised an imaginative series of avant garde six concerts, combining contemporary and older music (with an emphasis on Bach) and involving talented musicians playing a wide variety of instruments. We hope this will continue in 2012. More details here, and video clips here.
• a local group Gaudeamus performed here in November 2011, and the London Transport choir will give a concert in on 24 March 2012.
• we also welcomed the London Gallery Quire in 2011. Although our church never had west gallery musicians (we had an organ from the start) their visit was a kind of 'reclaiming' the church for the style of music that would have been sung here before Bryan King introduced a surpliced choir in the sanctuary!
  

We have not just one, but two, good grand pianos - a fine Blüthner, recently-restored, and a late-Victorian Broadwood. 

CHURCH VISITS

Throughout the year many groups visit St George-in-the-East. School groups, both primary and secondary, come for various curriculum projects - not only RE, but history, geography and art (for example, this Religion and Place project by Building Exploratory). Students from colleges and universities study the building and its local context. And adults come, as groups and individuals, often as part of local history or Hawksmoor trails, or during the Open House, East London Heritage, and Ride & Stride weekends.