CHILDREN and young people are an important part of the cathedral family, says the service leaflet handed to visitors. So it was disappointing when it was “suggested” that I take one noisy baby into the crèche, and even more so to discover the loudspeaker system did not work and Schubert’s fabulous Mass in G, sung by the choir of Jesus College, Cambridge, was inaudible there. I heard the sermon by sneaking out and standing behind a column, and some of the music when we were allowed out for communion.

Yet it was worth braving the chilly welcome to discover the stoic warmth of the powerful community at the heart of this church. Even though this was a traditionally quiet Sunday, the cathedral was packed. Edinburgh’s former bishop, Richard Holloway, used to preach there regularly. Last month he led a discussion on “ethical jazz”. The cathedral has a “men’s group” and runs breakfasts for homeless people. Men and women from local hostels are active in the congregation and some, recognising us as strangers, drew special welcome pictures during the service and presented them to us afterwards, signed and framed by flowers.

The Episcopal Church in Scotland, a fraction the size of its sister in England, was disestablished after the abdication of James II in 1689. Most Scottish Protestants joined the Presbyterian church established by King William, taking St Giles’s Cathedral in Edinburgh with them. The Anglican Church was further weakened by penal statutes in force until 1792. But it experienced a resurgence in the 19th century as a result of the Tractarian movement. Its flavour is still Anglo-Catholic, although distinctly liberal.

After losing their cathedral in the 17th century, the congregation went first to a woollen mill and then to St Paul’s Church in York Place. St Mary’s was built after two unmarried sisters bequeathed their estate to the church. An architectural competition for the design was held, amid some controversy, with entries submitted under pseudonyms.

The result is an intricate and unexpectedly beautiful church, seeming twice the size inside as from the outside. With energy and spirit it serves God, every section of the community and Scotland’s growing reputation as a centre of outstanding artistic achievement. On sunny days the Eucharist can be spectacular thanks to Sir Eduardo Paolozzi’s new Millennium Window in the Resurrection Chapel in the south transept. Even on a snowy winter’s day like ours, the effect was stunning.

Over coffee after the service, worshippers at St Mary’s sang the praises of the Very Rev Graham Forbes, Provost since 1990. He has degrees in Russian and theology, heads his church’s theological institute and is active in criminal justice, being a member of the new commission which investigates alleged miscarriages of justice in Scotland. He also serves on the General Medical Council.

At our service the preacher was the chaplain, the Rev Philip Blackledge, who delivered some truths about the Three Wise Men. “Magi doesn’t mean wise men, or kings. It means shaman, astrologers, Zoroastrians and witchdoctors from Persia. Myrrh is a sort of ointment used in preparing the dead for burial, a sort of embalming fluid. Bet Mary was overjoyed at getting that for Christmas.”

Prayers were led by Sheila Kidney, a member of the congregation. She prayed for those who are sick, disturbed and disadvantaged, and for those who have died and are now with God. And she prayed about Iraq, as we all did, for decisions to be guided by integrity and thoroughness, fairness and justice.

A five-star guide

VENUE: St Mary’s Cathedral, Palmerston Place, Edinburgh

PROVOST: The Very Rev Graham Forbes

ARCHITECTURE: Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, its three spires have become an Edinburgh landmark since its consecration in 1879

MUSIC: Choir conducted by Timothy Byram-Wigfield, former director of music at the cathedral and on a return visit with his new choir of Jesus College, Cambridge

LITURGY: Anglican eucharist from the 1982 Scottish Liturgy, similar to 1980 ASB

SPIRITUAL HIGH: Enjoyable warmth and religious comfort

AFTER-SERVICE CARE: Tea, coffee and fascinating insights into metropolitan life in Edinburgh