Attending church in London...?

Sherri, Neither Westminster Abbey nor St Paul's Cathedral are Catholic churches; they are both Anglican Churches.

There are quite a few smaller historic churches in London if you would prefer a less grandiose setting, including a number attributed to Sir Christopher Wren.

You should be fine in nice slacks and a sweater.

The area east of London Tower is predominantly a muslim area in terms of residency but there are many churches in the vicinity. (This is the ancient 'original' part of London after all with lost of historic churches)
There is no reason why you can't attend these or go for St Paul's or Soutwark Cahedrals (opposite side of river to St Paul's) both Church of England/Anglican.

The days when people were expected to dress up for church have long gone. If you want to dress up nobody will have a problem though.

As far as Westminster goes, you might be confused between Westminster Abbey (the iconic one near the Houses of Parliament with two towers) and Westminster Cathedral (closer to Victoria station and built in a neo-Byzantine style in the early 20th century). The former is Anglican and the latter is the main London Catholic church.

Southwark Cathedral is nice and worth a visit anyway, if you're in the area.

I'm not religious, but I enjoyed attending services at both St. Paul's and at Westminster Abbey.

Another thought - it's not a grand cathedral, but one of my favorite churches in London is St. Bartholomew the Great in West Smithfield, a few blocks from the Barbican tube stop. Its history dates back to 1123, and it really gives you a feeling of a medieval church. We were there before Christmas one year and the organist was practicing. It was glorious.

Westminster Abbey and/or St Paul's would be fantastic to attend church. Not sure why you thought they are Catholic but they are not. Both of them are Anglican and are worth the time to visit. Just a bit of fun history, King Henry VIII tried to get rid of all Catholic churches in England.

Yes, St Bartholomew the Great looks very interesting. We wanted to see it in early November 2008 and when we finally found it we could not get inside as they were filming a scene inside for the Sherlock Holmes movie. Lots of movies have used the interior--Four Weddings and a Funeral had some scenes too.

Sherri, I'm not sure what denomination you attend at home, but almost all of the churches you are likely to go to in London are Anglican (not just Westminster and St. Paul's). When my wife and I were there in 2008, we went to Holy Trinity, Brompton - which is the church that started the worldwide Alpha movement. Nicky Gumbel is still the Rector. It was a really neat experience and it was a modern service with "real" Londoners attending. Not that some of the people in the Cathedrals aren't Londoners, but most of the crowds in big touristy Cathedrals tend to be tourists on a regular Sunday.

Just my two cents. PS - all churches are Christian - including Catholic and Orthodox. Other religions call them by different names - for example, Muslims refer to their holy buildings as mosques, not churches.

I've attended a weekday Evensong service at Westminster Abbey and a Sunday full choral Eucharist service at St. Paul's Cathedral. The music was wonderful at both services!

As others have said, you'll fit right in if you wear good travel pants and a sweater.

Sunday services at St. Paul's are a delight--and a true cultural experience. Admittedly, as a Catholic, I felt comfortable attending a very formal Anglican service. But regardless of what church you are a member of or even whether you are very religious, you should find the services beautiful and moving. I highly recommend attending a Sunday service at St. Paul's.

I've been to St. Pauls for Sunday services a couple times. It was enjoyable but definitely a tourist rather than a local experience. My guess is that 60-70% of the congregation got up and left after the boy's choir sang which I found incredibly rude.

Here are my suggestions: St. Martins of the Fields on Trafalger Square which has wonderful music and does a marvelous ministry serving the neighborhood. You may want to have lunch in their cafe in the crypt, good and inexpensive. My most inspiring worship experience in London was at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Bayswater. Sorry I've forgotten the church's name.

I haven't been to St. Martin-in-the-Fields for Sunday worship, but I have attended two concerts there. The acoustics are absolutely marvelous! And I agree with Arn about the cafe-in-the-crypt. The National Gallery is across the street from St. Martin's so it's easy to combine a visit to the museum with a meal in the crypt.