Both churches are popular venues for concerts, carol services and also for film locations and photoshots.

St Luke's has the larger capacity with seating for 450 in the nave and 200 in each gallery and Christ Church 300 in the nave with 100 in each gallery.

Please see diary for booked concerts

If you would like to hold a service or concert during Decmeber, here is a short guide:

Concert or service? What’s the difference?

A Carol Service is a service to worship God for the gift of Jesus Christ as a babe in Bethlehem. As such, in our parish churches, a member of the clergy will be present. A service will need close liaison with the clergy for its structure and contents. Generally, this will include a welcome and Bidding Prayer at the beginning of the service, at least one reading from the Bible relating to the birth narratives in the Gospels, prayers, the Lord’s Prayer and a Blessing.

The responsible member of the clergy will need to sign off your final draft of the Order of Service before it goes to print. Please do leave plenty of time for this to happen. We would also ask that we insert a message from our church in your programme. This will relate to Christmas, your particular charity or event and Christmas Services here in the parish.

A service is not subject to the Performing Rights legislation. There is no restriction on the number of people attending a service, but experience shows us that the church accommodates a maximum of 800.

For all services the Director of Music has the right to direct the music and he should be consulted at the earliest opportunity as to his availability. Set fees are used in remuneration (the director of music’s fee in 2008 is £250). If the Director of Music is unable to direct then he may depute someone else. If he allows someone else use of the instrument, for instance, your own musician, approval will need to be sought from him and he may still charge his own fee (which in this instance would be £180. Such fees are the responsibility of the organisers and will be invoiced alongside the church fee.

During a Carol Service we do not allow photographs to be taken and it is inappropriate for applause, although the member of the clergy involved in your event may, for example, as an encouragement to participating small children, suggest some applause at the end of the service. Any recording, audio or visual, increases the professional fees payable to all musicians.

A Carol Concert is an event which is designed primarily to entertain your guests. There is no need for a member of the clergy to be present, unless you would like a spoken greeting of welcome at the beginning of the concert. Concerts are subject to Performing Rights legislation and to Fire and Evacuation guidelines. These limit the size of your audience to 500 in St. Luke’s and 260 at Christ Church. For a concert you will need to register details of numbers attending and average ticket price not later than seven days after the event.

For both Carol Services and Carol Concerts
The verger will be present and his fee will be charged to the organisers

No free-standing chairs to be used in the body of the church except for choir and orchestra

Refreshments are welcome and should be set up and served under the portico – not inside the church – to minimize congestion and keep exits clear.

A finishing time of 10 pm is imposed both for the benefit of our neighbours and to enable the church to be cleaned and re-ordered for use the next morning.

There are no parking facilities available within the church, except for disabled access.

For flower arrangements please consult as early as possible.
At St. Luke’s our own florists must be used for the sanctuary wall.

We do hope that these guidelines are clear and will enable you to organize your event with minimum complication. We look forward to working with you and can assure you of our very best attention for an uplifting Carol Service or Concert.

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