Cathedral 101 started in the autumn of 2014 in a rented room above a pastelaria on Rua Afonso Sanches in Cascais. Reverend Thomas Alcott had been chaplain at the British Hospital in Lisbon for five years and kept meeting people who wanted a regular Sunday service closer to home. The first gathering had twelve people, two of whom brought their own chairs. The name came from the address of that first room: number 101, a building that had once been part of a larger ecclesiastical property. It stuck.
People often arrive at Cathedral 101 having not been inside a church for years, sometimes decades. Some come because they have just moved to Portugal and want a point of connection. Some come because something difficult has happened. Some come because they walked past on a Tuesday and noticed the door was open. Whatever brings you, this is a plain account of what you will find.
Read more →Weddings at Cathedral 101 are conducted in English, with Portuguese elements available on request. The church seats 80 guests. The aisle is approximately twelve metres. These are the facts. What follows is a more complete account of what the process looks like, from the first email to the day itself.
Read more →Baptism at Cathedral 101 is conducted in English, with Portuguese elements available if the family prefers. The font is original to the building, a shallow limestone basin that has been in place since the structure was first consecrated in the late nineteenth century. This is what the process looks like.
Read more →A one-hour service each Sunday morning, with a short sermon, communal prayer, and time for quiet reflection. Children are welcome and there is a small room available for families with young ones.
Reverend Thomas Alcott is available for one-to-one conversations, hospital visits, and support during difficult seasons. Contact us by phone or email to arrange a time.
Monthly shared lunches, seasonal events, and occasional evening talks. These happen in the church hall and are open to anyone, regardless of faith background.
Reverend Thomas Alcott studied theology at the University of Durham before completing a pastoral placement in Lisbon in 2009. He spent five years as a chaplain at the British Hospital in Lisbon, where he worked closely with the English-speaking expatriate community and the Portuguese families who attended services there. In 2014 he founded Cathedral 101 with a small congregation of twelve people meeting in a rented hall in Cascais. He reads Portuguese fluently, cycles most mornings along the Estoril coast, and keeps a notebook of sermon drafts that he rarely finishes before Saturday night.
hello@cathedral101.comNo. Sunday services are open to anyone who wants to come. Some of our regular visitors describe themselves as curious rather than committed, and that is entirely fine. The only expectation is a degree of quiet during the service itself.
Yes, entirely. The sermon, readings, and prayers are all in English. We do have printed orders of service available in Portuguese for guests who prefer to follow along, and Reverend Thomas Alcott is happy to speak Portuguese before and after the service.
Contact us by email at hello@cathedral101.com at least six weeks before your intended date. We will arrange a meeting with Reverend Thomas Alcott to discuss the service, the building, and any particular wishes you have. The church seats up to 80 guests.
There is a public car park on Rua Visconde da Luz, about four minutes' walk from the church. On Sunday mornings it is usually not full before 10:30. There is also a bus stop directly outside the building on Rua da Misericordia.
