'Virtual Chapel' returns for the Summer Residency

We are pleased that we are able to continue our offering of online services throughout the Summer Residency period from Sunday 21st June - Sunday 5th July. These services will feature a greater number of recordings from the College Choir and St John's Voices. A summary of services can be found below, accompanied by links to where they are available.

Each service will be led by either the Dean of Chapel, the Rev'd Canon Mark Oakley, or the Chaplain, the Rev'd Andrew Hammond, and will broadly mirror the format of services in Chapel under normal circumstances.

Throughout the Summer Residence, we will be supporting the charity Help Musicians UK.

The Dean of Chapel, The Rev'd Canon Mark Oakley, said:

“We have been delighted by the many letters and emails of appreciation we have received over the term regarding the 'virtual' services we have been offering. They have proved to be anything but virtual, and instead have been very real acts of worship, and aids for some reflection, by the large community made up of College members and our friends from all over the world. We wanted to continue these services during the period known as 'Summer Residence', when the Choir would normally continue to sing Evensong and at the 1030am Sunday Eucharist. We hope you will find peace in joining with us as we pray and sing. We all look forward to the day when we can meet again in our beautiful Chapel and give thanks for the gifts of life, friendship, music and each other!."

Our Director of Music Andrew Nethsingha writes:

"In this second iteration of Virtual Chapel we are including a little more music than we did during the Easter Term. I have found that the services contribute to our choristers’ continued choral education from home. All the musical content is taken from recent live services.

“Unfortunately, our sister choir from St John the Divine, Kennington, cannot hold its annual residency in College this July. We are including an anthem from a recent joint service with them, and we look forward to welcoming them back to College as soon as possible. For those singers who leave St John’s Voices and the College Choir this summer, it is a great sadness for us and for them that they have been unable to enjoy their final months of services here. We thank them and their families for all that they have given us; we will say prayers for them in the final services on June 29th and July 5th respectively.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with all who are unwell, bereaved, unemployed and furloughed, as well as all who feel socially and spiritually isolated. I hope we can provide some nourishment for the many musicians, including our own, who are starved of the usual joy of making music together. I am particularly thinking of the millions of choral singers around the world. We also offer these services to those who are currently unable to attend acts of worship in their own Churches, Cathedrals and Chapels. Whether or not you are a person of faith, we hope to contribute to daily moments of solace.”

A service list for this term is available to view below:

Download the current Service List

Virtual Chapel Summary (Summer Residency)

Evening Service: a 6:30 p.m service that follows the structure of Evening Prayer, which will feature recordings of the Choir Tuesday-Sunday and St John's Voices on Mondays. Each service will be premiered on Facebook. You can receive notifications on services by selecting 'Follow'.

Evening Service with the College Choir (Tuesday-Sunday)

Evening Service with St John's Voices (Monday)

Sung Eucharist: Each Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m, a full Sung Eucharist will be broadcast featuring music from the College Choir. Each service will be premiered on Facebook. You can receive notifications on services by selecting 'Follow'.

Sung Eucharist with the College Choir