Junior Church
It is a great pleasure to welcome whole families
— of all generations — to our services.
We realise that our choral services are likely to be most attractive to adults. On ordinary Sunday mornings the choir-vestry is available for families to use from the start of the service. The vestry-door is in the north-east corner of the Chancel; any of us on duty will gladly point it out to you. Parents with infants are most welcome to ‘to and fro’ in and out of the service itself. Carers/parents of children who would like to play or read can of course bring their own toys and books and make use of the vestry. There are loos nearby.
If you are bringing children to a baptism before or after the Sunday morning Choral Service, do feel free to use the vestry during the Choral Service.
Several times a year, we hold services which focus on the children. The Christmas Nativity Play followed by Christmas Tea on a Sunday afternoon in December. This is a well-established favourite. There are parts — and costumes! — for all ages. We are grateful to the teenagers who help with lighting, mics and supervision. For information regarding the play, ‘casting’ of the larger parts from early December, and details of the tea, please contact contact Catherine de Satgé in the Church Office on 020 7353 8559 or catherine@templechurch.com. It is a particular pleasure to welcome families who have celebrated a wedding or baptism here — and members of the Inns’ own staff — to this happy afternoon. Do join us!
We have held a Confirmation Service here almost every summer for 20 years, generally on a Sunday at the end of July when we mark the end of the Legal Year. We gladly prepare candidates from the age of 10. If you would like to discuss the Confirmation of children or grandchildren, please contact Catherine de Satgé in the Church Office on 020 7353 8559 or catherine@templechurch.com.
Each year we hold a Wedding Reunion Service or Baptism Reunion Service, and a special service on the Sunday of the Temple Big Picnic. In each case we arrange special activities for the children: a ‘Royal Wedding Play’ in 2011, a ‘Coronation Play’ in 2013 — and so it goes on!
Christmas Day and Easter Day have a very special atmosphere here, and all ages come to share in the celebration of these holy days. There is an Easter Egg Hunt after the service on Easter Day!
What’s On In Summary
| MonNov10 |
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| TueNov11 |
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| WedNov12 |
Choral Evensong
Sung by the Temple Singers Organ: Psalm Prelude Lento, poco appenato (Howells) This service will be live-streamed on the Church's YouTube Channel. |
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| ThuNov13 |
Holy Communion
This service will be live-streamed on the Church's YouTube Channel. |
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| FriNov14 |
Talk: The story of the Temple Church from the Knights Templar to the present day
Free as part of the entrance fee. |
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| SatNov15 |
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| SunNov16 |
Holy Communion
This service will be live-streamed on the Church's YouTube Please enter the Temple via Tudor Street Choral Mattins
Sung by the Temple Church Choir Organ: Fugue in G minor BWV578 (Bach) This service will be live-streamed on the Church's YouTube Channel Lux Aeterna
Temple Youth ChoirThomas Allery (conductor)Charles Andrews (organ)Join the Temple Youth Choir for their annual Remembrance concert, an event drawing together talented young voices from across London. The programme includes Ian Venables' Lux Aeterna, the final movement of his Requiem, and Henry Walford Davies' Psalm 121, inscribed for those lost in war by the former Temple organist. An early evening event filled with poignant choral music that is not to be missed. Pärt: Beatitudes Duration: Approx. 1 hour (no interval) |
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| MonNov17 | ||
| TueNov18 |
Holst Singers
Katherine Gregory (mezzo-soprano)Florian Störtz (baritone)Harrison Cole (organ)Sarah Henderson (cello)Stephen Layton (conductor)Stephen Layton returns to the Temple with the Holst Singers, one of the UK’s most acclaimed chamber choirs. Their programme pairs Łukaszewski’s strikingly atmospheric O Antiphons with Duruflé’s radiant Requiem, a masterpiece of 20th-century choral writing infused with plainsong and quiet intensity. Marking both Remembrance and the approach of Advent, this promises to be a powerful and reflective evening of music in the Temple Church. Łukaszewski: O Antiphons Duration: One hour 45 minutes (including interval) Sponsored by Katie Bradford |
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| WedNov19 |
Choral Evensong
Sung by the Temple Singers Organ: Fantasia in G (Byrd) This service will be live-streamed on the Church's YouTube Channel. |
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| ThuNov20 |
Holy Communion
This service will be live-streamed on the Church's YouTube Channel. |
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| FriNov21 |
Talk: The story of the Temple Church from the Knights Templar to the present day
Free as part of the entrance fee. |
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| SatNov22 |
Collegium Musicum London: Bird/Song
Bird/Song From the warble of a nightingale to the chatter of a chaffinch, birds of every feather have exercised the imaginations of composers and poets throughout the centuries. This November, CML returns to Temple Church for a concert inspired by both the majesty of birds in flight and their mellifluous vocal dexterity. The concert will feature violinist Ian Belton performing a special arrangement of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s soaring and elegiac tone poem The Lark Ascending, with the choir providing vocal accompaniment. Choral favourites will also feature, including Charles Villiers Stanford’s popular and gravity-defying partsong The Blue Bird. The concert promises a kaleidoscopic array of colourful plumages and tuneful avian tweets, including an owl, a cuckoo and a turtle dove, in an eclectic and uplifting programme, in one of the capital’s most atmospheric and historic venues. Ian Belton is a founder member of the Brodsky Quartet, and has remained an active member of the group for over 40 years. He has performed over 3,000 concerts worldwide and has played on more than 60 recordings. Ian has also performed and recorded regularly with the Adderbury Ensemble for more than two decades. Saturday November 22, 7.30 pm Tickets £20 / £18 concessions on the door |
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| SunNov23 |
Holy Communion
This service will be live-streamed on the Church's YouTube Channel. Choral Communion
Sung by the Temple Church Choir Organ prelude: Prelude in A minor BWV543 (Bach) This service will be live-streamed on the Church's YouTube Channel. |
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| MonNov24 | ||
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| WedNov26 |
Choral Evensong
Sung by the Temple Singers Organ prelude: I love thee, my Lord (George Shearing) This service will be live-streamed on the Church's YouTube Channel. |
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| ThuNov27 |
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| FriNov28 | ||
| SatNov29 |
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| SunNov30 |
Choral Communion for Advent Sunday
Sung by the Temple Singers Organ: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland BWV599 (Bach) |
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| MonDec01 |
Winter Festival: Outcry Ensemble
Outcry EnsembleJames Henshaw (conductor)Sumptuous works for string orchestra performed by exceptional young professional musicians in the legendary acoustic of the Temple Church: an irresistible combination for the opening night of the Winter Festival. From the rapturous beauty of Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (heard in the very place where the famous 1962 Barbirolli recording was made) to the work which brought Benjamin Britten to international attention in 1937, tonight's programme features some of the greatest 20th century works for string orchestra. It includes Arvo Pärt's tremendously powerful elegy on the death of Britten in 1976, for strings and tubular bell. Not to be missed. Elgar: Serenade for Strings Duration: 90 minutes (including interval) |
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| TueDec02 |
Winter Festival: Katharina Ruckgaber & Sholto Kynoch
Katharina Ruckgaber (soprano)Sholto Kynoch (piano)A rising star in concert halls and opera houses across Europe, lyric soprano Katharina Ruckgaber partners with one of the leading figures from the world of song, in a bittersweet selection of music for the season. The passing of the year, stars, snow, magi, miracles, sorrow and joy are all wrapped together in this stunning programme from the exceptional duo. Join Kynoch & Ruckgaber in the ancient surroundings of the Temple Church this December and let time stand still. Humperdinck: Weihnachten Duration: One hour (no interval) |
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| WedDec03 |
Winter Festival: Fantasia
Matilda Lloyd (trumpet)Richard Gowers (organ)The renowned duo make their Temple Church debut in a kaleidoscopic programme of baroque fantasias and contemporary music. Newly-commissioned works by Deborah Pritchard, Owain Park and Roxanna Panufnik explore the expressive possibilities of trumpet and organ, whilst Bach, Krebs and Martini dazzle in improvisatory passagework; none more so than in Bach's famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor, which featured in the 1940 Disney film Fantasia. Bach (arr. Foster): Toccata & Fugue in D minor *Commissioned by Matilda Lloyd and Richard Gowers for Fantasia (September 2025, Chandos Records) Duration: One hour (no interval) Advent Carol Service
Sung by the Temple Church Choir Introit: This is the truth sent from above (English traditional carol arr Vaughan Williams) |
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| ThuDec04 |
Winter Festival: Christmas Oratorio
Bar Choral SocietyTemple PlayersThomas Allery (conductor)The Bar Choral Society is based in the Temple with singers drawn from across the legal system. Their performance of Cantatas I–III and VI from J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio is sure to be a highlight of the festive season in the Temple. Bach's masterpiece captures the wonder of the nativity story in a sequence of sparkling choruses and beautiful arias. The choir is joined by four outstanding soloists including Grace Davidson (soprano) and Richard Latham (baritone), and the colourful orchestral score - complete with jubilant punctuations from trumpets and timpani - is brought to life by the fine baroque instrumentalists of Temple Players. Duration: 130 minutes (including interval) |
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| FriDec05 |
Church open for sightseeing
10:00 am–
4:00 pm
Winter Festival: What Sweeter Music
Temple SingersThomas Allery (conductor)Charlie Andrews (organ)Our Winter Festival concludes with a wonderful selection of choral music for Advent from one of London's finest professional church choirs. This rush-hour performance offers a moment of reflection in the ancient and numinous surroundings of the Temple Church. Praetorius: Es ist ein Ros entsprungen Duration: One hour (no interval) |
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| SatDec06 |
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| SunDec07 |
Christmas Carol Service
Sung by the Temple Church Choir This service will be sung again on |
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| MonDec08 |
Church open for sightseeing
10:00 am–
4:00 pm
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| TueDec09 |
Church open for sightseeing
10:00 am–
4:00 pm
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| WedDec10 |
Church open for sightseeing
10:00 am–
4:00 pm
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