Worship
Services have now recommenced in each parish every week.
December 5th
North Aston 9.30am Holy Communion BCP
Steeple Aston 11am Holy Communion BCP
Tackley 5.30pm Evensong for St Nicholas Day
December 12th
Tackley 5.30pm United Benefice Holy Communion
December 19th
North Aston 3pm Carol Service
Tackley 5pm Carol Service
Steeple Aston 7pm Carol Service
Friday December 24th Christmas Eve
Tackley 2pm Crib Service
Steeple Aston 4pm Crib Service
Steeple Aston 11pm Midnight Communion - CANCELLED
Saturday December 25th Christmas Day
North Aston 9am Christmas Family Communion
Tackley 9.30am Christmas Family Communion
Steeple Aston 10.30am Christmas Family Communion
December 26th
North Aston 9.30am Christmas Prayers and Carols
January 2nd
Steeple Aston 11am Holy Communion BCP
January 9th
North Aston 9.30am Morning Prayer
Steeple Aston 11am Morning Prayer
Tackley 5.30pm Holy Communion
January 16th
Steeple Aston 10.30am United Benefice Holy Communion
January 23rd
North Aston 9.30am Holy Communion
Steeple Aston 11am Holy Communion
Tackley 5.30pm Evensong
January 30th
North Aston 9.30am Morning Prayer
Tackley 9.30am Holy Communion
Steeple Aston 11am Morning Prayer
February 6th
North Aston 9.30am Holy Communion BCP
Steeple Aston 11am Holy Communion BCP
Tackley 5.30pm Evensong
February 13th
North Aston 10.30am United Benefice Holy Communion
February 20th
North Aston 9.30am Holy Communion
Steeple Aston 11am Holy Communion
Tackley 5.30pm Evensong
February 27th
North Aston 9.30am Morning Prayer
Tackley 9.30am Holy Communion
Steeple Aston 11am Morning Prayer
March 6th
North Aston 9.30am Holy Communion BCP
Steeple Aston 11am Holy Communion BCP
Tackley 5.30pm Evensong
March 13th
Tackley 10.30am United Benefice Holy Communion
March 20th
North Aston 9.30am Holy Communion
Steeple Aston 11am Holy Communion
Tackley 5.30pm Evensong
March 27th
North Aston 9.30am Morning Prayer for Mothering Sunday
Tackley 9.30am Holy Communion for Mothering Sunday
Steeple Aston 11am Morning Prayer for Mothering Sunday
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.
Rector's Absence
Our rector has been suffering from ill health through the final months of 2021, and we are very grateful to all those who have helped in taking Sunday services, especially our Area Dean, Revd Jeremy Auld.
For the first three months of 2022, our rector will be on a planned sabbatical: all our services will take place as normal, and we are again grateful to a number of clergy and others who are assisting in this - from the Bishop down! Our prayers are with Marcus as he continues to recover, and we look forward to worshipping together and hearing from God in fresh ways as we look to the year ahead.
COVID 19
Our church buildings are now open each day once more and Sunday services continue 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 people gathered in a 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.
Importantly: 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. We understand that some people want to fill our churches, especially at key life points, but our aim is to keep everyone safe and well.
For details on how all of this affects baptisms and weddings and funerals, contact the rector or church wardens. 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.