What’s on 

In addition to worship on Sundays, we hold a number of activities in the week, including:

To keep up to date with what is happening at St John’s, please sign up to receive our email newsletters, which you can do here.

Music and Choir

St John’s has a strong tradition of choral music that gives voice to our praise and enriches our experience of worship. Our choir sings at the main 10am Sunday service, and at other special times in the church’s calendar. We currently hold Choral Evensong three or four times a year. The music is carefully planned and, at the main service, often involves an introit, anthem, mass setting and psalm or canticle.

We sing services occasionally at Southwark and Rochester Cathedrals and have often been in residence for a weekend in August at Derby Cathedral. Social occasions are arranged from time to time, such as outings, pub lunches and parties.

Our Director of Music, John Webber, has considerable experience in church music, and seeks to nurture both the musical skills and a deeper understanding of the Christian faith of all in the choir. We are fortunate in having a team of assistant organists to support the Choir and the Director of Music.

The choir sings in harmony and to be a member you need to have at least a basic grasp of the reading of musical notation. Rehearsals are on Thursday evenings and before services. New members are very welcome.

The church organ dates from 1985 and has been at St John’s since 2011, having been generously given to the church on a permanent loan by Trinity Laban Conservatoire (formerly Trinity College of Music). The organ has three manuals and there is a considerable variety of sounds available.

For organ enthusiasts you can see more information about our organ at the National Pipe Organ Register.

See the current music list here. 

Art at St John’s

Over recent years, the visual arts have found a natural home at St John’s, both in the building and in our shared spiritual life. Art can be a prompt to prayer, and can shed new light on our theological understanding. In Advent 2019 we curated an exhibition entitled, ‘What are you expecting?’, of three works: ‘Refugee Mother and Child,’ known as ‘Our Lady of Calais’, painted in situ at St Paul’s Cathedral in 2015, by street artist Joy Gillard, also known as CBloxx. ‘Southwark Trinity – After Rublev’ by Meg Wroe, and commissioned by the Diocese of Southwark, which depicts members of the Southwark community, and ‘Blessed are the Poor’ by ID Campbell, artist-in-residence at St George’s Tron, Glasgow. The exhibition was accompanied by a programme of talks, events and workshops for children.

In Advent 2020, we commissioned a contemporary icon of the Virgin and Child, an outdoor video installation by artist Sara Mark and filmmaker Julian Civiero, with All Churches Trust funding. A short film is here. A member of the community said: “I can see that art really helps us to reflect on our faith and it is wonderful to see the church lit up and projecting that image of hope in these dark times. I stood in front of the image thinking of how much we had missed out on this year but also of what is to come if we can just hold on to hope.”

Another arts-based initiative was an Advent Art Study pilot course put together by Prof Ben Quash and Dr Chloë Reddaway Research Fellow, Arts and the Sacred, both at King’s College London, using the online resource, the Visual Commentary on Scripture. With sixteen participants from two churches, it was a fresh and creative way to explore the themes of Advent. We look forward to further opportunities to engage with art and artists at St John’s.

Children and Young People

Children and Young People are valued members of our community at St John’s. We really hope that they will grow up with positive memories of church, learning the story of God’s love for them and for each person.

During our services, we have a special children’s corner for little ones at church, with quiet toys, books and colouring, and all children are welcome to come forward during communion for a special prayer of blessing. We don’t worry too much about noise, but parents and carers can always take a wriggly child out into the foyer if they need a bit of space. Older children can join our junior choir, or join our team of altar servers.

We love to welcome children and their families for Christening, see our Christening page for more information.

For children over seven, parents can choose for their child to be prepared to receive Holy Communion, we usually hold fun preparation sessions once a year, please speak to one of the clergy team if you would like to find out more. Secondary age children are welcome to be prepared for confirmation, and make their own, informed faith commitment.

Once a month we hold a special service called Messy Church, you can find more information and dates of our services here. You can read about the Messy Church approach here.

If you have questions or suggestion, do get in touch! We always want to grow and improve, so that all people are fully welcome, included and affirmed.

Outreach

St John’s is proud member of our local East Dulwich community. In the winter months we support the Robes Project which works with people who are homeless. If you would like to volunteer then please join our mailing list.

We collect donations of dried/non-perishable food, toiletries and sanitary products for Southwark Foodbank. You can find out what they need and how you can donate directly here.

Our harvest festival in the autumn supports the Manna Society, which runs a day centre for homeless people near London Bridge. You can see how to support their work here.

On four Sundays during the year we have a ‘Special Collections Sunday’ to support selected charities. In addition, we support Christian Aid Week, in May, and at our Christingle services at Christmas we support the work of The Children’s Society.

Parish Magazine

Our Parish Magazine is more than just news — it’s a window into our shared life as a faith community. Each issue brings together updates, reflections, and contributions from parish members. Whether you’re a regular worshipper or a friend from afar, we hope you’ll enjoy reading and feeling part of our parish family.

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