Up and down the country many people are asking the same question. It seems that traditional communion services, hymns and the idea of a parish church for the whole community has disappeared from the C of E.

Has it all been replaced by guitars, drums, and music bands—so-called happy clappy music—and call-me-Freddie clergy with open necked shirts and woolly jumpers? Sometimes it can seem that local communities get driven out by large, imported congregations. Those that value traditional liturgy and good, thought provoking sermons can find themselves with nowhere to go.

St John's, Hyde Park takes an approach that embraces the whole community. We welcome people of all ages, especially those with experience of life. We believe they have so much to offer in support and advice to young families and all in our community. St John's congregation is drawn from all over our city—and all over the world. And we value diversity of ages just as much as we value diversity of culture.

Our 10 am Sunday service celebrates the best of the Church of England’s liturgy and music. We use modern language in our services but within the familiar structure of the Eucharist that has been the backbone of the Church of England for generations. There is a robed choir made up of choral scholars and volunteers. Choral settings are used and we sing the hymns that people know, interspersed with the very best of the new ones. Our sermons are informative of the Christian faith and deliberately thought provoking. Some might consider our approach formal—but we incorporate into our worship a friendly, relaxed and informal attitude through our welcome, after-service drinks and by including children into our worshipping life.

St John's attempts to meet the needs of many different groups of people, because we believe that we are all called to the Lord's table. Young families, professionals and older people all share wisdom and gifts that our community needs to survive and be healthy.

We appreciate the demands that grown up children, grandchildren and the ambitions we have for retirement place on us. People come and go at St John’s—some like to travel, spend time in the country, or have families many miles away. All of us find our time is divided, but that's life in the modern city! If that sounds like your life then you’ll fit in just fine here.

Our main Sunday service is our Parish Communion at 10am. But we also have an 8 am service—a quiet, said Communion Service with a short homily. It’s perfect for those that enjoy peace and quiet and the familiarity of the simple service.

In the evening we do things differently. Here we experiment as a small group with alternative forms of worship and take a much more informal approach. Quiet singing with a guitar, gathering in a circle and interactive sermons and study are the hall marks of this service.