Services and Rites of Passages
Services and sacred gatherings
Our weekly Wednesday evening services are inclusive and addressed to people of all faiths and none. They feature music and words from across the world’s wisdom traditions and speakers from a variety of backgrounds and beliefs.
In addition, we join with members of Oxford’s Jewish community for our Holocaust Memorial programme; we mark LGBTQ+ month with a special gathering; we mark Black History month; we celebrate May Day. We make our way through the year acknowledging the part religions play in fostering the resilience of the human spirit. We take religion seriously, as practice, as observance, as ritual and rite, and as a holder of beauty and wisdom.
The Rev Dr Claire MacDonald, our College Chaplain
Rites of passage
As a non-denominational chapel with non-conformist roots, the chapel is the only Oxford University chapel licensed for same sex weddings and one of the few to conduct rites of passage for non-alumni. Inclusivity for all genders and commitment to equal marriage is a principal of this community and we welcome applications from couples wishing to marry, as well as from people who would like a special blessing, a child naming or a funeral or memorial service conducted by our Chaplain.
Our rites of passage are generally conducted by our Chaplain, who is authorised to conduct legal weddings for all. She is supported by a roster of people who are also authorised for weddings.
View more information about holding your wedding.
Unitarian congregation
The chapel also hosts a lively social justice focused Unitarian Sunday congregation, the Manchester College Oxford Chapel Society. The chapel was founded, designed and funded by Unitarians and has had a continuous Unitarian congregation since 1895. The college is proud of its nonconformist roots and honours its connection to the dissenting tradition through the chapel, the presence of the Unitarian congregation that gathers there and through the unique historic collection of dissenting materials that we hold in our library.
