Inside Christchurch Priory in Dorset, England

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Christchurch Priory

Welcome

Welcome to our parish website. There has been a church on the site of Christchurch Priory for over 1300 years, from the first Saxon building to the glorious Priory Church we see today.

Throughout the centuries, the worship of God, through Jesus Christ his Son and inspired by the Holy Spirit, has been at the heart of the Priory’s life and has fuelled its service to the local community. Very rarely has the voice of praise been stilled within these walls: once during the reign of King John, when the country was under Papal censure; once, at least, because of bubonic plague; and this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Our prayer and worship continues, but in new ways.

Services now take place with Covid-safe measures in place and the Sunday morning 10am Eucharist from the Priory will be live streamed. We also continue to meet online for Morning Prayer daily (except Sundays). For full details, see the panel on this page.

The Priory Church is now open for visitors as well as for private prayer - please ensure you follow the Covid-safe instructions. We look forward to welcoming you.

Please continue to keep yourselves and others safe. God bless you all.

Canon Charles Stewart (Vicar)

Services

Platinum Jubilee Celebrations

We will be celebrating the Platinum Jubilee with a special service on Sunday June 5th at 11am. (There will not be an 8.00am Service, nor the Sung Eucharist at 10am. Instead, we will hold a said Eucharist with hymns at 9am.)

Then there will be the opportunity to celebrate together with a picnic on the Priory Lawns, whether or not you have been able to attend the service.

Please bring your picnic (plus blanket or chairs etc - a limited amount of seating will be available for those who need it most) Jubilee-themed activities are available for all ages!

Unfortunately we are unable to provide any food or drink as the kitchen is not yet open.

Ascension Day, Thursday 26th May

We celebrate Ascension Day on Thursday 26th with special services at 11am and 7.30pm in the Priory and 10am at St George’s.

Sunday 22nd May

8.00am - Holy Communion at the Priory

9.30am - Eucharist at St George's with hymns (with Junior Church )

10.00am - Sung Eucharist at the Priory (also online)

6.30 pm - Choral Evensong at the Priory

Full details of all weekly services can be found on our Regular Services page here

Watch the latest online service

The order of service can be viewed here

YouTube playlists of previous services and sermons are available by using the buttons above.

Donations:

With Covid-related regulations severely restricting our operations, our income is currently considerably reduced while our outgoings remain unchanged. If you are able to make a donation to help us through these difficult times, that would be received very gratefully.

Please either post a cheque made out to PCC of Christchurch to The Administrator, Christchurch Priory, Priory House, Quay Road, BH23 1BX; or make a direct payment by online banking to PCC XCH Freewill, sort code 52-21-34, account number 52428036; or use the ‘DONATE’ button below to make a donation using a debit card. Thank you.

If you pay income tax, please contact the F.W.O Secretary/Treasurer via our contact page to discuss how you can Gift Aid your donation.

Daily Prayer

Morning Prayer: We say Morning Prayer together daily (Mon-Sat) at 8.30 am, using Zoom. We use Common Worship Daily Prayer. The text is available as a free download from the Church of England website, just go to: Daily Prayer . If you would like to join us on Zoom, please contact 'Conference' via our contact page for details.

Evening Prayer: If you would like to say this office at home, you can find it at: Daily Prayer

Night Prayer (Compline): If you would like to end your day with a quiet and reflective service of Compline (night prayer), you can do so using this link: Daily Prayer

prayer

Prayer Requests

If you would like prayers to be offered for someone or something, please email your request via our contact page and your prayer will be offered during Evening Prayer at 5.00pm.

Our weekly prayer list contains suggestions for prayers each day, including prayers for people in our parish. You can view it here: 22.05.22 WEEKLY INTERCESSIONS

Visiting and Private Prayer

The Priory is open for visiting and private prayer Monday to Saturday between 10am and 4pm and on Sundays between 12pm and 4pm. It will occasionally be closed to visitors during special services and events.

St George's and St John's are currently closed except for services.

Cloisters Café and Gift Shop are currently closed for refurbishment

The Priory House Project

As many of you will have seen, the works to Priory House have now begun in earnest. This is an exciting time which will see the commercial side of the Priory updated, in order to position us strongly for the future. As it is not safe for anyone to enter the building, we have put together a website to give you a window into the project. This includes photographs to let you see what is happening, and which will be updated, along with up-to-date plans. You can view the Priory House Project website by clicking here

Foodbank logo

please remember the work of our friends at Christchurch Foodbank +

The regular items they need include: long-life semi skimmed milk, tinned meat pies, tinned/boxed custard, tinned vegetables, small jars of coffee and tea bags, tinned fruit, jelly cubes, pasta sauce jars and tinned rice pudding – in fact, any tinned or packaged food which (if possible) has a six-week shelf-life.

There is a collection point for donations in the Priory Church as well as Sainsbury’s, Waitrose or the Co-op or visit the food bank in St Josephs church on Mondays between 10 and 12.

Alternatively, please support the Foodbank by making a direct donation by bank transfer to 40-52-40 a/c 00015300 using the reference CFBFood.