Candlemas
Feb
2

Candlemas

Join us for a festal service of Holy Communion, with the chapel choir of Corpus Christi College, as we mark the Feast of the Presentation. The Rev’d Dr Matthew Bullimore, Chaplain of Corpus, will preach, and blessed candles will be shared with the congregation.

One of the oldest feasts in Christianity, Candlemas commemorates the presentation of Jesus at the Temple by Joseph and Mary ( Luke 2:22–40), and marks the end of the seasons of Christmas and Epiphany.

The tradition of giving out blessed candles on this day dates back to the 5th century, and is a way to commemorate Jesus as the Light of the World – and to symbolically bring that light into our own homes.

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Cambridge Central Mosque Tour
Feb
8

Cambridge Central Mosque Tour

Meet at the Cambridge Central Mosque on Mill Road – by Brookfields Hospital – for a parish tour of the new Cambridge Central Mosque, winner of the Royal Institute of Britsh Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize People’s Vote.

Please contact the vicar in advance, as spaces are limited for this tour.

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Youth-Led Service
Feb
9

Youth-Led Service

Our Sunday Eucharist will be led by the young people of St Bene’t’s Church, and everyone is invited.

The service will be our regular Sunday liturgy, but the prayers, sermon, and readings will all be led by the young people of St Bene’t’s.

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Parish retreat - Launde Abbey
Sep
5
to Sep 7

Parish retreat - Launde Abbey

Advance notice that we have booked Launde Abbey for a Parish Retreat from the afternoon of Friday 5 to lunchtime on Sunday 7 September 2025.

Further details and booking information will be available from around February next year.

If you are interested, please put the dates in your diaries and let Philippa know

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Midnight Mass
Dec
24
to Dec 25

Midnight Mass

Join us for the First Eucharist of the Feast of the Incarnation — also known as the Christmas Eve ‘Midnight Mass’ — with carols, scripture, sermon, and sacrament. Everyone is welcome.

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Benet Street Carolling
Dec
22

Benet Street Carolling

Join us as we gather outside the church to sing carols, enjoy hot drinks, and with our neighbours make ready for Christmas! There’ll be a collection for the Cambridge Churches Homelessness Project, and everyone is warmly welcome

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Taize Blue Christmas
Dec
21

Taize Blue Christmas

On the shortest day of the year - a good time to be together for a time of quiet prayer and Taizé music — especially for those of us who find the holidays a struggle.

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Christmas Concert and Carol Singing
Dec
14

Christmas Concert and Carol Singing

You are invited to join ReSound as we sing some of our favourite songs of Love, Peace, Hope and Resilience in the beautiful and  resonant St Bene’t’s Church (the oldest building in Cambridge).  Please aim to arrive around 1.45pm, though the doors will be open before … This is a free event but you are encouraged to donate.

From 3.00 – 3.50 pm, we will all go outside to the Church garden (or stay in the church if it’s wet) and sing carols and festive songs, led by Rowena Whitehead, with anyone who cares to join us.

Song sheets will be provided. Dress warmly with thick shoes! As always at these events (which go back well over 15 years) we will be collecting for Wintercomfort, the Cambridge charity which supports homeless people, so please bring cash for the collecting tin;  a card reader will be available for card donations

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Lunchtime concert
Dec
10

Lunchtime concert

Reflections’ is a 45-minute lunchtime concert programme devised and performed by bassoonist Laurence Perkins, who is regularly featured on Classic FM, BBC Radio 3 and worldwide radio stations.

Admission is free, and donations will be invited for UK-Med and Music Action International - two registered charities who are providing vital medical and therapy support work with survivors from the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

For more information and a 2-minute sampler video —>

 https://laurenceperkins.com/concertsforpeace

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Embrace the Middle East
Nov
24

Embrace the Middle East

Save the Date: Sunday Supplement with Embrace The Middle East.

Make a note in your diaries for an informative and interesting discussion after the 10am service.

A representative from the charity Embrace will talk about Gaza, the West Bank and other Middle Eastern areas. Further details to follow.

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Assisted Dying legislation and Christian ethics
Nov
16

Assisted Dying legislation and Christian ethics

A presentation and open conversation on Assisted Dying legislation and Christian ethics. This is a Resoucrcing Faith annex event — a similar format to our Resourcing Faith conversations, but free.

The conversation will begin with a presentation by PhD candidate George Palmer. Small group and conversations will be supported to ensure a safe, pastoral environment for all.

St Bene't's is wheelchair accessible.

Tickets available at eventbrite

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Study morning - the many faces of Christianism
Oct
12

Study morning - the many faces of Christianism

Join us for the first Resourcing Faith study day of the academic year, hosted jointly by St Bene't's Church and Little St Mary's, Cambridge - The Many Faces of Christianism: From the 'Russian World' to the Challenge of Illiberalism in Contemporary Democracies

Can Christianity be reclaimed from populism?

Dr Mariëtta van der Tol, Research Fellow at the Faculty of Divinity, will explore questions of politics, populism, Christian nationalism, religious plurality, and the future of democracy.

Specialising in the comparative study of politics, law and religion, she leads the interdisciplinary networks ‘Religion, ethnicity and politics in German, Dutch and Anglo-American contexts: nationalism and the future of democracy’ and ‘Protestant political thought: religion, state, nation’.

Her book Constitutional Intolerance: the fashioning of 'the other' in Europe's constitutional repertoires (2024) appears in the CUP series comparative constitutional law and policy.

Tickets are £5 and available from https://resourcingfaith12oct.eventbrite.co.uk/

(please enquire directly if you require a free ticket)

Coffee is available from 10am

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Patronal Festival and Parish Lunch
Jul
14

Patronal Festival and Parish Lunch

Following the 10am Eucharist, lunch in the Fellows' Garden at Corpus Christi College.

Sign-up sheet with choice of food, £11 each, children £5.

We will also say thankyou to James Gardom as this is his last Sunday with us as Interim Priest-in-Charge

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St Bene’t’s to St Alban’s Walk
Jun
17
to Jun 21

St Bene’t’s to St Alban’s Walk

Rob Cumming

I am planning to walk with anyone who would like to join me from St Bene't's to St Alban's Abbey during the week leading up to the Alban Pilgrimage on Saturday 22nd June. This is approximately 65 miles making for 5 days of an average 13 miles a day. The route lends itself to a combination of overnight stays and day walks utilising the railway line between Cambridge and London. Anyone is welcome for the whole route or days of their choosing and there are some shorter sections that are suitable for those who are less mobile or prefer a shorter walk to join.

Pilgrimage is an ancient Christian tradition and many have found walking together draws us closer to one another and to God. In the time after Anna's death and burial at St Alban's I was drawn to this concept as a challenging way for us to collectively strengthen our bond as a congregation, and a chance to pay our respects together for those who would like to do so. 

Please sign up if you are interested, either on the online form or the sign-up sheets at the back of church or by emailing myself . I am also happy to hear from anyone with questions or suggestions ahead of the walk. 

The ininerary is described here and a full set of maps are listed here.

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Study morning at Little St Mary's
Jun
15

Study morning at Little St Mary's

Study Morning is at LSM start with coffee from 10am)

There will be two talks on a theme of The World Church and Western Anxiety.

  • James Gardom will give the first talk: Why are there so many non-UK heritage churches in Cambridge?

  • Dr Jörg Haustein from the Cambridge Faculty of Divinity will give the second talk: Christianity and the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda.

Tickets are £5 each and here is the Eventbrite link

Find some previous Study Day videos on our Resources page.

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Visit to Pembroke College with James Gardom
Feb
11

Visit to Pembroke College with James Gardom

I will be showing people the chapel (Christopher Wren's first building) the cloister, and, weather permitting, the College Gardens. Pembroke is the oldest college still on its original site, and the third oldest college in the University. It has beautiful gardens on an attractively open site.

The chapel is the first classical building in Cambridge, and established Wren's credentials as a first class modern architect when it was consecrated in 1665.

The timing was very strategic – many architectural opportunities emerged after the great fire of London, culminating in the building of St Paul's Cathedral.

I will meet people from St Bene't's at the porters Lodge on Trumpington Road at 2 PM.

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