Term Dates 2024/25
Our regular services take place during term time only. As our services are open to the general public – who won't necessarily know when term time is – this schedule has been provided for reference.
The Anglican Chaplaincy follows the following dates which are for standard University terms, but the dates of required attendance for some programmes of study may vary. Please check with your department if you're unsure of dates for your course.
Michaelmas/Autumn Term
Monday 23rd September - Friday 13th December 2024 (but please see the following note about first services).
First services of the new academic year
Autumn services start the week before term begins, as part of Welcome Week. Welcome Week events are for new students, but everyone is welcome to services in the chapels, including the general public:
- Morning Prayer
Monday 16th September, 8.00am - 8.30am, St Luke's Chapel, St Luke's Campus - Choral Evensong
Wednesday 18th September, 5.00pm - 5.45pm, Mary Harris Memorial Chapel, Streatham Campus - University Welcome Service
Sunday 22nd September, 5.00pm - 6.00pm, Mary Harris Memorial Chapel, Streatham Campus - Sanctuary Service
Sunday 22nd September, 7.00pm - 8.15pm, Mary Harris Memorial Chapel, Streatham Campus
For more information about these services, please see our Welcome Week information.
The pattern of regular services for this term, following Welcome Week, is to be confirmed.
Lent/Spring Term
Monday 6th January - Friday 28th March 2025
Trinity/Summer Term
Monday 28th April - Friday 13th June 2025
Please note
There are Bank Holidays on Monday 5th May and Monday 26th May 2025; there is no teaching or Anglican Chaplaincy services or events on Bank Holidays.
Michaelmas and the Feast of St Michael and All Angels
The autumn academic term is sometimes referred to in Christian circles as the 'Michaelmas term', because it is the time of the Feast of St Michael and All Angels on 29th September.
To avoid any confusion about the name, although Universities are secular institutions, you may see that some still call the autumn term 'Michaelmas term' as a result of tradition. (Exeter uses 'Autumn term' outside the Anglican Chaplaincy.)
The origins of this name bring together ancient ecclesiastical and agricultural traditions, because the date falls near the autumn equinox of the Northern Hemisphere, when the hours of daylight here are noticably shortening. As the daily hours of darkness grow longer, in the Christian story we are reminded of the triumph of good over evil, through the most dramatic of scenes when Michael the Archangel triumphs over Lucifer.
The Feast of St Michael and All Angels commemorates the Biblical account found in Revelation 12,
'And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.'
Some thoughts about Michaelmas recorded on 29th September 2021, by the Lazenby Chaplain, the Rev'd Hannah Alderson: