Services

The church and grounds are open from 08.45 am to 4.30 pm from Monday to Saturday and from 07.30 am to 2.00 pm on Sundays. Many people come simply to sit and enjoy their beauty or to light a candle and to offer a prayer.

Regular services are as follows:

Weekdays 09.00 am - Morning Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer.

Wednesday 10.30 am - Holy Communion in the Lady Chapel.

The service follows the Common Worship Order and is followed by coffee in the Parsonage.

Sunday 08.00 am - Holy Communion The service follows the Book of Common Prayer

11.00 am - Parish Communion (Common Worship) People who are regular communicants in their own churches are invited to receive the sacrament with us or to come forward for a blessing. For details of special services please view our Future Events page click here.

Our Sunday morning Parish Communion is the main service of the week and is attended by the largest congregation, so we pull out the stops - literally! This is the one service of the week where our resident organist, Dr Melvin Bird, performs his wonders - we are extremely fortunate to have a man of his skill and dedication on the Island.

On Sunday morning we have a stall offering books to read, preserves, cards for almost all occasions, items made from Madeiran wood made by one of our members and many other items.  This is not the norm to have outside a church, but on a holiday island it works! After the service we have a reception where we invite you to sample two of the specialities of the island: a glass of Madeira wine or a slice of bolo de mel, the delicious honey cake, or simply to have a cup of coffee and a chat. We make a small charge for the reception.

Our congregation is directly proportional to the number of British tourists visiting Madeira at any one time, and these visitors are cyclical: our numbers start at 70 - 80 during June, July and August, pick up during autumn and early spring and peak at Easter. We realize that we are extremely fortunate to have congregations of our size - 70 is a bad week! - and are particularly pleased to record is that our numbers have risen steadily over the last three years. For instance, whereas in 2006 attendance on Easter Sunday was 250, in 2007 it was well over 300; the ground floor of the church was packed solid (it can hold about 275) and we had to bring the upper gallery into play. Marvellous!