About St Margaret’s Toxteth

At St Margaret’s we joyfully affirm the Christian faith as expressed in the historic creeds: That God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit; that Jesus Christ was the Word made flesh; that he lived, died, rose and ascended for our salvation; that in him we have forgiveness of sins and the hope of a new heaven and new earth, with God’s Spirit present in us as a guarantee.

We worship in the liberal catholic tradition of the Church of England. Anglo-Catholicism stems from the early to mid-19th-century, when priests such as John Henry Newman, John Keble and Edward Bouverie Pusey argued that the Church of England’s tradition was an authentic continuation of the ancient catholic, apostolic faith. Along with this, they recovered a higher view of the sacraments, especially baptism and the Eucharist, not simply as symbols, but as real, effective means by which God imparts grace.

This means the Eucharist (or Mass or Holy Communion), is central to our Sunday gathering. It is at the altar and in the bread and wine that we meet with our Lord Jesus Christ and receive his Body and his Blood, which saves us. Our worship engages all the senses and is sometimes playfully described as ‘bells and smells.’ We use incense and have a mix of hymns and music alongside prayers, Scripture readings and preaching.

As liberal catholics, we embrace the full ministry of women as priests, deacons and bishops, and we proudly affirm LGBTQ+ Christians as clergy, lay ministers and fellow worshippers. We make this welcoming stance public by being members of Inclusive Church. We live, work and pray in the company of all the saints – the Church in heaven and on earth. Our Lady the Blessed Virgin Mary and our patron, Margaret of Antioch, are two very dear saints to us.