One of Cambridge’s theological colleges has issued an apology after trainee priests conducted a service in Polari, a form of speech historically linked with London’s gay subculture.

The service, at Westcott House, was held to commemorate the beginning of LGBT History Month. One attendee told the BBC it had been lead by a trainee, rather than a licensed minister. The college has apologised after there were complaints within the college and on social media following the service.

The college has issued a full apology, with its principal describing the event as “hugely regrettable”. They said that the wording of the service had not authorised by the college, and was “at variance with the doctrine and teaching of the Church of England”.

Approval had been given for a ceremony to commemorate the start of LGBT History Month, but specific approval had not been granted to the wording of the service. Legally, services in Anglican churches must be conducted using the approved Church liturgy.

Polari is a form of slang which developed in 18th century London, which was used prominently in markets, circuses and among members of the gay subculture. At a time in which homosexuality was illegal, it gave its users a means of clandestine communication. Its usage declined after the 1960s, though some of its vocabulary, including the word ‘naff’, entered mainstream usage.

The BBC reported that the order of service was based upon the Polari Bible, which was created by the protest and street performance group ‘Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’ between 2003 and 2004.

A printed handout said that the service was “an attempt at queering the liturgy of evening prayer, locating the queer within the compass of faith, and recovering for the Christian tradition a sense of its own intrinsically subversive jouissance.”

Rather than the traditional prayer "Glory be to the father, and to the son, and the Holy Spirit", the trainee priests instead read "Fabeness be to the Auntie, and to the Homie Chavvie, and to the Fantabulosa Fairy".

"Rend your heart and not your garments, return to the Lord your God", from the Old Testament Book of Joel, was read as “rend your thumping chest and not your frocks - and turn unto the Duchess your Gloria: for she is bona and merciful”.

Westcott House, which is on Jesus Lane, is one of several theological colleges closely linked to the University of Cambridge. It is not formally part of the University, but some of its graduates have their degrees provided by Cambridge, and the organisations have many traditional ties.

According to the college’s website, all of its students take a ‘Cambridge Awards’ course at the Faculty of Divinity of the University of Cambridge, or a ‘Common Awards’ course at Durham University in addition to their studies at the college. It also has educational ties with Anglia Ruskin University.

The principal of Westcott House, the Reverend Canon Chris Chivers, said: “An evening service took place in the chapel on Tuesday to mark LGBT History Month using a form of liturgy which was not an authorised act of worship in line with the College’s procedures.

He apologised to any who had been offended by the service, saying: “Inevitably for some members of the House this caused considerable upset and disquiet and I have spoken at length to those involved in organising the service.”

He added that he is taking steps to prevent future such occurrences, and “will be reviewing and tightening the internal mechanisms of the House to ensure this never happens again.”

He concluded: “It needs to be recognised that theological colleges are places of experiment and enquiry where people do make mistakes.”