Welcome to our weekly newsletter for the benefice. If you would like to be notified by email each week, please sign up using the form at the bottom of this page.
If you have any items for next week’s notices, please send them to manager@StGilesStMargarets.org by Wednesday.
Worship & Prayer
Sunday 2 November
All Saints’ / All Souls’
8.00am – Holy Communion at St Giles’ (said, 1662 BCP)
10.30am – Holy Communion St Margaret’s (sung, Common Worship)
10.30am – Holy Communion at St Giles’ (sung, Common Worship)
6.30pm – All Souls’ Requiem Eucharist at St Giles’ (sung, 1662 BCP)
Almighty God,
you have knit together your elect
in one communion and fellowship
in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord:
grant us grace so to follow your blessed saints
in all virtuous and godly living
that we may come to those inexpressible joys
that you have prepared for those who truly love you;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Pew sheets
The pew sheets for our services on 2 November including the readings, prayers and music details, are available to download below:
Coming up this week
Morning Prayer: 8.30am Tuesday-Friday at the Vicarage, Church Walk
Evening Prayer: 5.30pm Monday-Saturday at St Giles’
St Giles’ open for quiet prayer: 12pm – 2pm, Monday-Friday
Next Sunday (9 November):
Remembrance Sunday / 3 before Advent
8.00am – Holy Communion at St Giles’ (said, 1662 BCP)
10.30am – Holy Communion St Margaret’s (sung, Common Worship)
10.30am – Holy Communion at St Giles’ after Remembrance Service on Street (sung, Common Worship)
6.30pm – Choral Evensong at St Giles’ (sung, 1662 BCP)
Parish News
All Souls’ Requiem Eucharist
If you would like someone to be remembered in the prayers at this special service – whether you can be there in person or not – then you can either write them in the sheet at the back of each church, or email them to manager@StGilesStMargarets.org before Friday 31 October.
Jazz at St Giles’: Ewan Bleach Sextet
The next Jazz at St Giles’ concert is Saturday 8 November at 7:30pm: Ewan Bleach Sextet. Come and see JASG favourites return to St Giles’.
Other Jazz events in the Autumn / Winter season include The Velvet Tones (6 December), Will Barnes Quartet (10 Jan), and New Jazz Artists Eva Fidler and Colleagues (7 Feb).
Open letter from Inclusive Church
Following last week’s vicar’s letter about the latest disappointing news regarding the Church of England’s ‘Living in Love and Faith’ process, Inclusive Church has produced an open letter, addressed to the House of Bishops, for Church of England members to ‘sign’ if they wish:
The Living in Love and Faith process has shown that the majority of the Church of England, clergy and laity alike, now long for a Church where LGBTQ+ people are fully welcomed and celebrated. Many want to see their grandchildren able to be married in church, their trans family members affirmed, and their Church reflect the generous heart of God.
Please take a look and sign if you feel able to:
Heating at St Giles’
We apologise for the lack of heating in St Giles’ over recent weeks. We are waiting for a leak in the heating system to be repaired and to enable us to do this a wooden panel from the oak screen in front of the vestry has to be removed. We were let down by a joiner who was asked to remove the panel and we have had to arrange for the work to be completed by a different company. We are now expecting the panel to be removed and the heating repaired in the first week of November.
St Margaret’s Porch Back in Action
We are now using the porch at St Margaret’s on Sunday mornings again – so please do enter via the South West porch!
Memory Café
The next Memory Café will take place on Wednesday 12 November. If you know of anyone who might benefit, or you would like more information, please contact St Margaret’s Parish Community Worker, Tricia Brant, on 07776 595456 or email her on triciabrant@stmargaretsoxford.org
Call for Iron and Bottle Bags
Eva is looking for a working iron to use with Hama beads. Please contact her if you have one.
It’s also that time of year again when Eva needs about 35 used bottle bags (preferably without reference to drinks) for an advent activity for our families. If you have any spare ones, then please leave them in the cupboard next to the children’s area.
St Margaret’s Christmas Fair: please help!
St Margaret’s Church is going to be repeating the Christmas Fair this year on the afternoon of Saturday 6 December – it will be a wonderful opportunity to encourage people into the refurbished building and be able to invite them to join us for worship over Christmas. We are therefore looking for volunteers who would be willing to help with planning and running stalls.
In the meantime, please start collecting:
- prizes for the Tombola;
- second hand books for the Book Stall;
- mince pies or bottles of mulled wine;
- small presents / sweets for the Children’s Stall.
We will also be asking for pledges of cakes for the Cake Stall and home made items (jams, chutneys, sewing, felting, crochet or knitted items or anything else you have a talent for) for the Homemade Stall.
For more information or to join our Christmas Fair volunteers, please speak to Claire (associate@StGilesStMargarets.org) or Eva (eva@StMargaretsOxford.org)
Call for Marbles
Call to borrow marbles for a “Guess How Many Marbles in the Jar” competition to raise £60 for St Giles’ toilet twinning. These would only be on loan until the competition has raised enough. A fun prize to be won for the person closest to the correct number! Speak to Helen Dodd or click below for more info.
Benefice book group
The next meeting of the Benefice Book Group will be on Wednesday 12 November at 7.15pm, where we’ll be discussing Night Waking by Sarah Moss.
For more information, contact Siân Grønlie (curate@stgilesstmargarets.org)
Coming up in November…
Monthly “What’s On” leaflet
Download November’s issue below:
Online events calendar
Thanks to our ChurchSuite system, you can now see all of the events that we have coming up in the next few months online, and get more information where relevant. You can view them as a list or in a calendar view:
Join St Margaret’s choir!
If you, or someone you know, might be interested in joining St Margaret’s choir we would love to hear from you! Please get in touch with George: choir@stmargarets.org
Browser Extension to Raise Money for St Margaret’s
Raise a free donation for St Margaret’s Church, Oxford when you shop online via #easyfundraising. Add the extension to your browser and whenever you shop online with one of 7,500+ easyfundraising’s partners they will make a donation to us! This includes Tesco, Sainsbury’s, John Lewis, Argos, Trainline and more! If you’re not supporting us on easyfundraising yet, now’s the perfect time to get involved.
Diocesan News
New issue of Pathways has arrived
Copies of the Summer 2025 issue of Pathways, the Diocesan magazine, will be available from church this Sunday – or you can download it from the Diocesan website below:
Community News
Tea & Talks at St Margaret’s Institute
A new season of Tea & Talks at St Margaret’s Institute continues on Wed 5 November at 1:45-3:30pm with a talk titled The Thames and its Tributaries from Richard Mayon-White. Entry is £2, including tea and cake. All welcome.
Call for actors and backstage staff for the Oxford Community Passion Play 2026
See the below note from the organisers:
After two successful performances, in 2022 & 2024, we are bringing the story of Easter to the city centre. Come to our LAUNCH PARTY on Saturday 22nd Nov at St Matthew’s Church, Marlborough Road, Oxford OX1 4LW.
Hear about our past productions and watch a short 10 min video of our production in Hinksey Park 2024. Meet the production team who are all professional practitioners and hear from some of our past actors.
Rehearsals will be every Sunday (2pm – 4pm) at St Matthew’s Church, from 4th Jan 2026 until March 29th followed by two performances on 4th April, at New Road Baptist Church, Bonn Square, Oxford. All are welcome regardless of experience or ability. For more information contact Carolyn Lloyd Davies on clloyddavies@msn.com or call her on 07782259471
St Theosevia’s Newsletter
Please see below the latest newsletter from St Theosevia Centre for Christian Spirituality. The first study day is on Saturday 15 Nov 10.30 am – 4 pm titled The Book of Genesis: a Mosaic of Perspectives with Professor John Day, Professor David Taylor, and Revd Canon Dr William Lamb.
Safeguarding
Safeguarding is a major priority in our Benefice as we work together to keep everyone in our community safe. It is often said safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, thank you for the part you play. If you are concerned about a person’s or activity’s safety in our community, please contact our Parish Safeguarding Officers (details below) or the Diocesan Safeguarding Team (details below). We are greatly helped by many volunteers, thank you for your time, including for completing required DBS checks, safeguarding training and safer recruitment forms.
St Margaret’s Church PSO Becca Rose: safeguarding@stmargaretsoxford.org
St Giles Church PSO Lorraine Desai: safeguarding@st-giles-church.org
Diocesan Team 01865 208 295 safeguardingreferrals@oxford.anglican.org
Out-of-hours: Thirtyone:eight on 0303 003 1111 for confidential advice, guidance and support.