Services & Tradition

Services

We worship every Sunday with a sung service and a sermon.

We also celebrate with Occasional Worship and Church Festivals with Choral Evensong, Compline, and services during Holy Week and Easter, Christmas, and to celebrate St Barnabas (Patronal service).

Liturgical Tradition

For information about all the above services, please contact one of the churchwardens.

St Barnabas has a welcoming and friendly traditional liturgy. We make full use of the lectionary, calendar and seasons from the Book of Common Prayer to celebrate a full liturgical year. We use the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 to guide our worship and the Authorised Version of the Bible for most readings. The church is affiliated to the Prayer Book Society and is linked with the Guildford branch of the Society. 

St Barnabas maintains a broad and gently catholic liturgical tradition that emphasises the importance of the sacramental life and worship of the church. Our worship includes visual elements, such as seasonal liturgical colours, candles and oil for anointing.

The Eucharist is celebrated regularly (on second, fourth and fifth Sundays), and Christ’s presence in the Eucharist is at the heart of our church life. Here we encounter Christ, his sacrificial death and the consolation that he gives to each of us. When a choir is present a full polyphonic mass setting is sung, and on other Sundays we use the congregational setting by Merbecke. 

We also value the Anglican tradition of the sung services of Matins and Evensong. The service of Matins takes place usually twice a month and is much enjoyed especially because it provides the opportunity for congregational singing of the versicles, responses and canticles. Evensong takes place on an occasional basis in the summer months.