Cambridge - Religion

Religion

Cambridge has a number of churches, some of which form a significant part of the city's architectural landscape. Like the rest of Cambridgeshire it is part of the Anglican Diocese of Ely. A Cambridge-based family and youth organisation, Romsey Mill, had its centre re-dedicated in 2007 by the Archbishop of York, and is quoted as an example of best practice in a study into social inclusion by the East of England Regional Assembly.

Great St Mary's Church has the status of "University Church". Many of the University colleges contain chapels that hold services according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, while the chapel of St Edmund's College is Roman Catholic. The city also has a number of theological colleges training clergy for ordination into a number of denominations, with affiliations to both the University of Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin University.

Cambridge is in the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia and is served by the large Gothic Revival Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church at the junction of Hills Road and Lensfield Road. There is a Russian Orthodox church under the Diocese of Sourozh who worship at the chapel of Westcott House, and a Greek Orthodox church under the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain. There are three Quaker Meetings in Cambridge, located on Jesus Lane, Hartington Grove, and a Meeting called "Oast House" that meets in Pembroke College.

An Orthodox synagogue and Jewish student centre is located on Thompson's Lane, operated jointly by the Cambridge Traditional Jewish Congregation and the Cambridge University Jewish Society, which is affiliated to the Union of Jewish Students. The Beth Shalom Reform synagogue which previously met at a local school, has recently purchased land to construct a purpose-built synagogue building. There is also a student-led egalitarian minyan which holds services on Friday evenings.

The Abu Bakr Jamia Islamic Centre on Mawson Road and the Omar Faruque Mosque and Cultural Centre in Kings Hedges serve the city's community of around 4,000 Muslims until a planned new mosque is built.

A Buddhist centre was opened in the former Barnwell Theatre on Newmarket Road in 1998. In 2005 local Hindus began fundraising to build a shrine at the Bharat Bhavan Indian cultural centre off Mill Road where Hindu groups conduct worship. The shrine was completed in 2010.