Worship
Services have now recommenced in each parish every week.
October 10th
North Aston 9.30am Family Service
Steeple Aston 11am Family Service & Baptism
Tackley 5.30pm Holy Communion & Baptism
October 17th
North Aston 9.30am Holy Communion
Steeple Aston 11am Holy Communion
Tackley 5.30pm Evensong
October 24th
North Aston 9.30am Morning Prayer
Tackley 9.30am Family Communion
Steeple Aston 11am Morning Prayer
October 31st
Tackley 5.30pm All Souls & All Saints - Remembering All God's People
November 7th
North Aston 9.30am Holy Communion BCP
Steeple Aston 11am Holy Communion BCP
Tackley 5.30pm Evensong
November 14th
North Aston 9.30am Remembrance
Steeple Aston 10.55am Remembrance
Tackley 5.30pm Remembrance
November 21st
North Aston 9.30am Holy Communion
Steeple Aston 11am Holy Communion
Tackley 5.30pm Evensong
November 28th
North Aston 9.30am Morning Prayer
Tackley 9.30am Holy Communion
Steeple Aston 11am Morning Prayer & Baptism
Facecoverings/masks are no longer compulsory, but we ask that people still wear them if at all possible - and if not, we very much still welcome you to worship with us!
There is no need to book.
Our church buildings are also open every day. Do feel free to visit at any time. Please use the hand sanitiser when you enter and leave to keep the buildings fresh and clean for everyone, and please do wear a face mask when inside.
Worship at Home, our weekly online service during COVID19 finished on June 20th. Some of these services remain available via YouTube.
We also offer two short videos to help with Daily Morning and Night Prayer
UPCOMING EVENTS
This is where you can find details of extra events byond our usual Sunday Services.
COVID 19
Our church buildings are now open each day once more and Sunday services have begun again in each parish.
We are singing again, a little, and delighted to feel that the things that feel precious are returning to our regular experience.
But we are still being careful.
Masks are no longer compulsory when you come into church - but if there are more than one or two in the building, we do ask that people still wear them if at all possible so that all might feel safe. If you struggle with masks or just can't wear them, then please come anyway without one and know that we are thrilled you are here.
We are keeping every other pew empty so that there is some built-in distancing kept for now. Please respect this - and if you want to build in more distancing when you come, just put a scarf or a bag next to you and people will respect your space.
For details on how all of this affects baptisms and weddings and funerals, contact the rector. And join us Sunday by Sunday as we gather again as God's family in this place, to worship, to pray, to sing and to give thanks together.
And...
If at any time you are lonely or under the weather or grieving or struggling, let the rector or the churchwardens know, so we can make sure you are prayed for. We are not alone. Each one of us is precious, loved by God and cared for by our whole Christian community.
Diary Updates
Church Building Projects
Steeple Aston
The Diocesan Advisory Committee on church buildings gave us a sort of amber light on the project nearly two years ago - and then we had some kick back from a couple of the national amenity societies that comment on historic buildings. That left us three basic options - 1. Do what the amenity societies want (essentially, not enough to make the building useful through the week) 2. Do what we had planned anyway (but we’d risk ending up in a long drawn out court battle to get the permissions we need, and all that would cost time and money) 3. Find a compromise that gives us enough to make it worth doing the project, while at the same time keeping the amenity societies happy. This is what we are currently working on …
Through it all, we started with six principles, and we are not letting go of them.
Access - we want anybody and everybody to have good and easy access to the whole church and across the churchyard.
Better heating - a warm church shouldn’t be rocket science in this day and age, and if we can do something to introduce renewable energy, so much the better.
Toilets - whether you are young or old or somewhere in between, it’s perfectly reasonable to expect a public building to have decent toilet facilities.
Hospitality - we want simple hospitality facilities so we can foster fellowship after church, put on decent concert interval drinks, host a small cafe midweek. A church is about loving God and caring for people; hospitality somewhere near the centre of church life.
Children - we need a specific space for our children’s church within our own building so that children know they matter here.
Flexible space - much loved as our victorian pews are, the lives of people in our village today matter more. We want space so we can worship in different ways, have more concerts, welcome the school regularly, find a place where the PCC can meet or watch a midweek cafe thrive. Maybe Sustainable Steeple might make use of the building; maybe we’ll have a Heritage Corner with a permanent display about the Steeple Aston Cope bringing visitors to the village.
We hope to work with the amenity societies and reach agreement on our new plans before long. And when we do - there’ll be an exhibition so everyone can see. And then we will be able to really get moving…
We do need your help, so if you would like to donate to our project in Steeple Aston, please send a cheque made payable to "Steeple Aston Church" to The Steeple Aston Church Fund, c/o The Rectory, Fir Lane, Steeple Aston, OX25 4SF.
North Aston
One project has become three. St Mary's For Everyone is our over-all heading, with three separate aims:
1. To renovate the windows in the Anne Chapel, so our building is sound
2. To renovate the lichgate and put in a new, step-free path so that access is easy for everyone from car park to church door
3. To introduce a new servery and toilet into the church, bringing facilities which will enable the church building to be better used by the whole community - from Sunday worship and concerts through to midweek groups. Also, we are improving some liturgical furniture at the same time.
We are very grateful to all those funding bodies and to everyone locally who helped us reach our first target and successfully complete the renovation of the windows! It has been wonderful to achieve this goal. Now we progress to the second part.
If you would like to donate to the North Aston projects, then please send a cheque made payable to "St Mary's North Aston" to St Mary's For Everyone, c/o The Rectory, Fir Lane, Steeple Aston OX25 4SF.
Village Life
Steeple and Tackley have their own websites with details of all sorts of community activities. North has an excellent and informative Wikipedia page. Click the relevant box for details.