Alternative worship (also known as alt.worship) is a means of approaching God in worship using a variety of senses. just as God created our environment to comprise of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, so He invites us to worship him immersing ourselves in all these senses.

Reaching out to God in this way, alt.worship seeks to engage the individual in a journey of faith in a creative way. alt.worship can never be a spectator sport, but asks for involvement, for participation.

In practical terms, this means that alt.worship utilises a variety of techniques to support the liturgy: music, visual media (often projected or displayed on video screens), dance, image, and different approaches to prayer coming together to form a multimedia worship experience. music in church in the past has always reflected the idiom of the time, and so alt.worship uses music which is extremely contemporary and cutting edge: whether dance music or guitar-driven.

Blesséd is regarded by many as a Fresh Expression of worship, part of a movement of innovative and creative worship within the Anglican Church, and we have a place at the Round Table discussions on Fresh Expressions, but Blesséd predates this movement, and is too messy, too badly behaved and too unconventional to be truely happy with the corporate packaging of the Fresh Expressions institution.

It has been said that the ultimate multimedia worship experience was the 8th century roman basilica mass: where visuals, sound, smell and liturgy were combined creatively to the glory of God. 12 centuries may have passed since that zenith, but alt.worship seeks to recapture some of that sense and in the same way, catch a glimpse of God as he is revealed today in holy word and holy sacrament.

Alt.worship does not seek to throw out the Christian heritage, but neither does it reject the new and innovative just because it is radical. God continues to be revealed to us in this very day and age and can continue to be revealed through modern music and techniques. alt.worship is not restricted to the charismatic or evangelical churches, but instead is a reflection of the true catholic (in the sense of universal) faith.

Blesséd is profoundly sacramental, seeking to explore an alternative journey of faith through that most central act of Christianity: the eucharist. for centuries the pilgrim people of God have gathered together to make Christ present in scripture and sacrament, and Blesséd continues that tradition by placing the mass in a truely modern context. it is through God's holy sacraments and his teaching that we are given that glimpse of heaven.

Blesséd is freely available to all people: young and old, regardless of church, tradition or background. all those who are in the practice of receiving the holy sacraments in their own church are welcome to share in this most unifying of acts; those who wish to receive God's blessing poured out on them are also welcome to receive that.

The first Blesséd event (blesséd transcend) took place in November 2003, on the eve of the feast of Christ the King, where the theme was be one of transcendent worship, proclaiming joyously the glory of Christ as king of all the earth and making him present in word and sacrament. other events have taken place at St Peter's Petersfield, Blesséd in the Spirit: a celebration of Pentecost and the power of the divine and Blesséd on the Island, a mystical encounter on the feast of St Theresa of Avila. We led an act of night worship at a christian festival in Chichester which was called Blesséd, Living Waters - which included the sacramental renewal of baptismal promises

Blesséd was the first alt.worship event in the diocese of Portsmouth, and has now become a regular feature of worship on the south coast, which is almost uniquely sacramental in nature.