Worship

Worshipping God together is at the heart of the chaplaincy's life. We celebrate the Eucharist (also called Holy Communion) every Sunday.

At this service, we attend to God's words in Scripture. We offer prayers for our own needs and the needs of the world. And we gather around the table of the Lord in the Holy Communion. Before bringing our gifts to the table, we offer one another a sign of peace (demonstrated through the shaking of hands) in response to the words of Jesus:

When you are offering your gift at the altar, first be reconciled to your brother and sister, and then come to offer your gift.

(Matthew 5:23-24)

We invite all believing Christians to receive Holy Communion. If you do not wish to do so, you are invited to come forward with everyone else to receive a blessing in the name of Jesus.

The St. Boniface Sunday School meets once a month during the 9.30am service in Bonn. All children up to the age of around 14 are warmly invited to attend. Each 30-minute session includes a prayer, a Bible story and a craft activity. You can contact the Sunday School team here.

The daily office of Morning Prayer is rooted in the ancient monastic traditions of daily prayer. It combines psalms, scripture readings, prayers, and sometimes hymns. Morning Prayer is a time to dedicate ourselves to God at the start of the new day.

On the (very rare) Sundays when we don't have a Eucharist service at church, Morning Prayer is offered. Some people also say Morning Prayer as part of their regular personal devotions. The short service has the same basic structure every day, but the readings, psalms and prayers vary. You can find the order of service for any day on the Church of England website.

The daily office of Evening Prayer is a quiet and reflective service designed to bring the day to a close in worship, gratitude and reflection. Like Morning Prayer, it includes a structured sequence of psalms, scripture readings, canticles, and prayers for the needs of the community and the world.

We offer Evening Prayer every Tuesday at 7.30pm (on Zoom) and every Friday at 6pm (at All Saints, Cologne). The service lasts about 20 minutes. All are welcome.

You can find the order of service for any day on the Church of England website.

During Holy Week we commemorate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus by observing the three-part liturgy of the Triduum. On Maundy Thursday we remember the Last Supper which Jesus shared with his disciples, and we keep watch and pray in a vigil. On Good Friday we remember the crucifixion and death of Jesus, and we thank him for the unconditional forgiveness of humanity declared on the cross. On Holy Saturday we experience the joy of Christ's resurrection from the dead, celebrate his victory and remember that we are one with him by renewing the vows of our baptism.

During Advent, we welcome our friends The Bonn English Singers to lead the singing at our highly popular services of Nine Lessons and Carols.

Other special services throughout the year include Ash Wednesday at the start of Lent, Harvest Festival in October, a Requiem Mass on 1 November, Safeguarding Sunday in mid-November, and Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

Our annual Songs of Praise service in Bonn features a selection of hymns and readings around a particular theme. It's a great opportunity to raise our voices to God together. Many of the hymns are well-known, but you might also find a surprise or two!

Each year, we offer a one-day pilgrimage to Echternach in Luxembourg (with our Old Catholic sister congregation from St. Cyprian's church in Bonn), and a weekend pilgrimage within Germany. Previous destinations have included Fulda, Kevelaer and Rüdesheim. We walk, pray, eat and worship together, sharing the journey and growing in faith as we travel.