Faith · Beauty · Justice
The Chapel of St John’s College is one of the most recognisable buildings in Cambridge and is home to a lively, welcoming and inclusive community. We aim to provide something for everyone, no matter how great or how little your faith and whatever your background or church denomination.
St John’s College has a distinguished tradition of religious music and, since the 1670s, has possessed a world-famous College Choir, whose main duty is singing the daily services (Tuesday to Sunday) in the College Chapel during the University Term.
Chapel services
Services
We are always delighted to welcome you to Chapel for services. Services are held in Chapel during University Full Term dates. Tickets are not required for our services.
Please note that during term time visitor access to the College is limited to the Chapel only, for services. Please enter the College via the Great Gate or Forecourt Gate.
Special services
In addition to the regular services, the Chapel organises a number of special events and services which take place during the year.
Advent Carol Service
The Advent Carol Services will be held on Saturday 30 November 2024 at 6.00pm and Sunday 1 December 2024 at 3.00pm. The Sunday service will be broadcast live by BBC Radio 3.
Please note that priority will be given to members of the College. It is with regret that we are unable to accept applications from members of the public to this service. This service is unsuitable for babies and toddlers. For more information and to apply for tickets please follow this link.
Epiphany Carol Service
These highly atmospheric candle-lit services are planned for Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 January 2025 at 6.00pm.
This Candlelit Service of readings and music celebrate the season of Epiphany.
This service, owing to the hand held candles, is unsuitable for babies and toddlers. Applications for seats will open in the November. Please note that priority will be given to members of the College. For more information and to apply for tickets please follow this link.
Ash Wednesday Evensong
This service of Evensong is planned to take place on Ash Wednesday, 5 March 2025 at 3.30pm (time tbc).
A Lenten Meditation
These highly atmospheric services of readings and music for Lent and Passiontide is planned for Saturday 15 March 2025 at 6.00pm.
This service is unsuitable for babies and toddlers. Applications for seats will open in the December. Please note that priority will be given to members of the College.
Ascension Day
Ascension Day next falls on Thursday 9 May 2024. Every year on Ascension Day, after a Choral Eucharist in Chapel, the Choir ascends the 163ft Chapel Tower and sings the Ascension Day Carol.
Forthcoming events in Chapel...
Chapel Collections
There is a Collection Box and a Contactless giving machine in Chapel to enable those who wish to donate to Charity. Various charities are chosen throughout the year and we are grateful for the generosity of our congregations in supporting them.
Should you wish to make a donation online you may do so by following this secure link.
The Charity that the Chapel is supporting currently is:
The Royal British Legion provides lifelong support for the Armed Forces community - serving men and women, veterans, and their families.
Service List
This Term's Chapel Service list
To download a copy of this Term's service list please follow this link.
Sermons
Sunday Evensong Sermons
This term our preachers will speak to one of the seven christian virtues and explore what it means to be a virtuous person and live a ‘good life’. The term ‘virtue signalling’ is often levelled as a criticism, but can the virtues of prudence, fortitude, temperance, justice, faith, hope, and love provide a framework for shaping our character, serving our communities and living in the world today?
This Term's Sunday sermons may be found following this link.
Sunday Eucharist Sermons
Sermons Preached at the Eucharist this term may be found following this link.
Each term the Sunday Evensongs have a theme and guest preachers from best-selling novelists like Salley Vickers to eminent scientists like John Polkinghorne have encouraged us to think more deeply.
For a selection of our most recent themed sermons, click here.
The College Choir
The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge is one of the finest collegiate choirs in the world – known and loved by millions from its recordings, broadcasts and concert tours. The Choir is directed by Christopher Gray, who was previously Director of Music at Truro Cathedral. We are part of the Church of England, and Evensong (from the Book of Common Prayer) is sung every Tuesday to Sunday during Term, with a Sung Eucharist (Common Worship) on Sunday mornings. You can find out more about the Choir at its dedicated website.
For information about applying for a Choral Award, click here.
What's on
Annual Highlights for students
Matriculation Service (Tuesday of Fresher’s Week).
Your formal welcome to the College, immediately after the Matriculation Photograph.
Advent Carol Services (Last weekend of full Michaelmas Term)
Broadcast live on Radio 3 and followed by Advent Hall, these are the most popular services of the year by far. Current students get priority.
Epiphany Carol Service (First weekend of Lent Term)
This is one of our most atmospheric services, lit only by candlelight.
A Lenten Meditation (usually the last Saturday of Lent Term)
A meditative service with music, poetry and singing.
Graduation Service (Graduation Day)
Just after the graduation photograph, this is a service to celebrate the end of your time at St John’s, and is open to visitors who come to support you at graduation.
Other highlights
Study and Reading Groups
Other than in the Easter Term there is usually a reading group or Bible Study group, convened by the Chaplain. The College also has a Christian Union.
Chapel trips and events
From time to time the Chaplain organizes visits or social occasions for students, which he advertises to them directly.
Partnerships
The Chapel has a partnership with the Parish of St John the Divine, Kennington in South London. This is one of the poorest parishes in the UK, but its church community is extraordinarily lively, with one of the largest children’s choirs of any Anglican parish church nationally. Its congregation includes people of over 50 nationalities, especially from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
The children’s choirs were founded in 2013 with encouragement from two Johnians in the congregation: Jeremy Martin and Tom Chigbo. Each July, the choirs visit Cambridge for a summer school, staying at the College school and singing for services in the Chapel.
St John the Divine has two parish schools, located within the Lambeth education authority, with which the College has a special connection through the University’s Area Links Scheme.
In September 2017, the Parish set up organ scholarships to provide opportunities for up to five of the most enthusiastic and talented children to benefit from professional lessons, practice facilities and opportunities to perform publicly, with support from the College.
Venue and facilities hire
The Chapel and its facilities are available to hire for a variety of different events. To enquire about hiring the Chapel, please contact the Chapel Clerk on 01223 338676, or by email. If you would like to get married in the Chapel, please contact the Dean by email.
The Chapel can seat up to 247 people in the collegiate style benches and misericords. If desired, additional seating can be placed in the aisle to increase the total number of seats in the main body of the Chapel to 413 (at extra charge). It is also possible for an extra 100 seats to be set out in the Ante-Chapel, but these do offer restricted views.
Please note: Owing to major building works scheduled to take place in the Chapel throughout 2025, the College is unable to accept bookings for concerts and services (including weddings) on dates between 1 January and 31 December 2025.
Concert hire
The Chapel is used regularly for concerts due to its excellent acoustics and versatile space. The stage area has fixed tiering, which can accommodate around 45 instrumental players. The Chapel has excellent recording facilities; for an example of a recorded event, please visit the recent choir webcasts, available on the Choir website.
Organ recitals
The Chapel’s four manual, Mander Organ is one of the finest instruments of its kind in the country. The organ can be hired for recitals or as accompaniment for choral or orchestral concerts.
Recordings
The Chapel is available for hire as a recording venue when it is closed to the public. We do not have recording equipment for hire, but we can provide benches and chairs.
Weddings in Chapel
The College Chapel is available for a Marriage Service and for services of Prayer and Dedication after a Civil Marriage at certain times of the year. Members of the College who are within current residence (or out of residence for no more than five years) are entitled to be married in the College Chapel in accordance with the Standing Orders of the College and of the rules governing a marriage within the Church of England. Ceremonies are taken by the College Clergy and initial conversations about arrangements and wedding preparation should be had with them.
A date, if available, may be held for a couple of months, however no date is confirmed until an application has been received and approved by the College Council and therefore reception venues etc should not be confirmed. Please note that weddings do not usually take place during Term time or in August. If you are considering the College for your Wedding Breakfast, please follow this link.
A Marriage Service takes place under a Special Licence issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The College is not licensed for Civil Wedding Ceremonies.
Who's who
Victoria Johnson came to St John’s from the Metropolitical Cathedral Church of St Peter, York, known as York Minster, where she was Canon Precentor, overseeing the musical and worshipping life of the Cathedral. Prior to this she was a Residentiary Canon at Ely Cathedral, and a priest in Manchester Diocese being ordained there in 2007. She read theology and religious studies at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and studied at the Institute of Sacred Music and Divinity School in Yale, USA. Prior to ordination Victoria worked as a Post-Doctoral Cancer Research Scientist at Manchester University after gaining a BSc and PhD in Biochemistry from Leicester University. Her research interests span Liturgy, Music, Homiletics, Religion and Science, apologetics and mission theology, and she has recently published her first book, On Voice: Speech, Song, Silence, Human and Divine, (Darton, Longman and Todd, 2024) As Dean, Victoria oversees Chapel life and contributes more broadly to the life of the College community.
Graham grew up by the sea in Kent before moving to London where he studied for an MA in English at King’s College and then worked for several years in public policy and external relations within Government and the private sector.
As Chaplain, Graham seeks to be a visible presence around College as an open, approachable and non-judgemental listener to anyone, of any faith or none, and to ensure the Chapel is a place where all are welcome.
Graham trained for ordination in Cambridge at Westcott House and Gonville and Caius College and was ordained at St Paul’s Cathedral in 2021. Before coming to St John’s, Graham was Curate of Hampstead Parish Church in London where he was involved in all aspects of parish life including social outreach and youth ministry as well as the rich musical tradition of the church.
In his spare time, Graham loves music, reading, theatre, listening to podcasts (mainly politics and history) travelling and cooking. Graham and his wife also spend a lot of time in the service of their cocker spaniel Collins, who is a big fan of Cambridge.
The Director of Music
Chris Gray is new to St John’s, having moved to Cambridge after Easter. A native of Bangor, Northern Ireland, he read music as an undergraduate at Pembroke College Cambridge before spending a year as Organ Scholar at Guildford Cathedral while studying postgraduate performance at the Royal College of Music. In 2000 Chris moved to Cornwall to be Assistant Organist at Truro Cathedral, and in 2008 he was made Director of Music, with responsibility for the cathedral choir and its six sung services each week. He has broadcast and recorded extensively, as well as commissioning new works from many of the UK’s leading composers; and as Musical Director of Three Spires Singers and Orchestra he has conducted most of the large-scale choral repertoire. A Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, Chris has given recitals on many of the finest organs in the UK and further afield.
At the heart of Chris’s responsibilities at St John’s is direction of the College Choir: he works with the Choristers, Choral Scholars, Lay Clerks and Organ Scholars to provide music that enhances the liturgy of the beautiful Gilbert Scott chapel, upholding a tradition that dates from the 1670s.
Chapel Clerk
Stephen came to St John’s in 2007, having previously served as Verger at Romsey Abbey and St Marylebone Parish Church in London. He has been a Verger since 1999. His responsibilities are for the care of the Chapel and associated administration under the direction of the Dean.
Stephen is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Chapel building, he oversees the administration of the Chapel and is the prime contact for all external hirers of the Chapel.
In August 2016 he obtained the Diploma for the Church of England Guild of Vergers with honours. Stephen currently serves as General Secretary to the Church of England Guild of Vergers.
In 2020 Stephen was appointed as the Ostiarius of the Convocation of Canterbury, an honorary role with the House of Bishops in the See of Canterbury.
In 2021 the Church of England Guild of Vergers bestowed upon Stephen the Fellowship of the Guild, this is the highest honour that can be given by the Guild.
Assistant Verger
John Boulter works with the Chapel Clerk and assists at many of the College's services.
H&S and Safeguarding Policies
The Chapel's Health & Safety policy and Safeguarding policy are found below:
Policies
Contact
General enquiries
Chapel
Chapel Clerk
Stephen Stokes
Tel 01223 (3)38676
Email chapel@joh.cam.ac.uk
Address Chapel Office, Chapel Court
Stephen is the main contact for enquires about the Chapel, Services and any enquiries about booking the Chapel as a venue for a Wedding or a Concert
The Dean
The Rev'd Dr Victoria Johnson
Tel 01223 (7)69975
Email v.johnson@joh.cam.ac.uk
The Chaplain
The Rev'd Graham Dunn
Tel 01223 (3)38617
Email gsd31@cam.ac.uk
Choir
The Choir Administrator
Andrea McDermott
Tel 01223 (3)38718
Email A.McDermott@joh.cam.ac.uk
Address F2c Chapel Court
Andrea is the main contact for enquiries about Choir activities
The Director of Music
Christopher Gray
Email cmg20@cam.ac.uk
for telephone enquires please contact
The Choir Administrator 01223 (3)38718