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Items for next week’s notices can be sent to manager@StGilesStMargarets.org by Wednesday.
Worship & Prayer
Sunday 29 March
Palm Sunday
8.00am – Holy Communion at St Giles’ (said, 1662 BCP)
10.00am – Liturgy of the Palms at St Margaret’s, with procession to St Giles’
followed by Liturgy of the Passion at St Giles’ (see below for further information)
6.30pm – Stabat Mater at St Giles’ (sung, 1662 BCP)
Almighty and everlasting God,
who in your tender love towards the human race
sent your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
to take upon him our flesh
and to suffer death upon the cross:
grant that we may follow the example of his patience and humility,
and also be made partakers of his resurrection;
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 29 March including the readings, prayers and music details, are available to download below:
Holy Week services
Monday (30 March):
Monday of Holy Week
6.30pm – Holy Communion at St Giles’ (said, 1662 BCP)
Tuesday (31 March):
Tuesday of Holy Week
8.00pm – Compline at St Giles’
Wednesday (1 April):
Wednesday of Holy Week
7.30pm – Tenebrae at St Giles’
Thursday (2 April):
Maundy Thursday
8.00pm – Liturgy of Maundy Thursday at St Margaret’s
8.00pm – ‘Come and See’ Lent course (online – email Daniel for link)
Friday (3 April):
Good Friday
10.30am – BCP Mattins and Litany at St Giles’
12.00pm – Good Friday Meditations at St Margaret’s
1.30pm – Liturgy of Good Friday at St Margaret’s
Saturday (4 April):
Easter Eve
8.00pm – Liturgy of Easter at St Margaret’s
Next Sunday (5 April):
Easter Day
8.00am – Holy Communion at St Giles’ (said, 1662 BCP)
10.30am – All-Age Holy Communion at St Margaret’s (sung, Common Worship)
10.30am – Holy Communion at St Giles’ (sung, Common Worship)
More details of all of our Holy Week and Easter (29 March – 5 April) services can be found online by clicking or tapping the button below:
Come and See: Lent 2026
Although we won’t be using Bishop Steven’s suggested lectionary at our Palm Sunday services, you can still watch the sixth and final of Bishop Steven’s Lenten reflections below:
Coming up in April…
Monthly “What’s On” leaflet
Download April’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:
Parish News
Palm Sunday practicalities
Today is Palm Sunday, which means that our usual morning routine will be slightly different.
Congregations and choirs from both St Giles’ and St Margaret’s will congregate at St Margaret’s Church at the slightly earlier time of 10:00am, for the first part of the service – the “Liturgy of the Palms”. This includes a procession from St Margaret’s down to St Giles’, where the service will continue with the “Liturgy of the Passion”.
We recognise that for some members of our community, this procession may be too physically demanding. If this applies to you, please make your way directly to St Giles’ Church for 10:15am, where there will be a slightly shorter version of the Liturgy of the Palms.
Heating and toilets at St Giles’
Unfortunately we’ve been having more problems with heating at St Giles’ – and completely unconnected to the problems we had earlier in the year!
To make matters worse, the connected problem is also affecting our toilets – if you need to use the facilities at St Giles’ this morning, please use those in the Parish Rooms next door to the church.
Liturgical Performance at St Giles’
There will be a liturgical performance of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater on Palm Sunday, 29 March, at 6:30pm at St Giles’ Church. All welcome.
Benefice Manager vacancy
We are looking for someone to join our team who is confident with people, comfortable managing multiple tasks, and able to work independently and proactively with good judgement.
Do you know someone who fits? Point them here:
Annual Meetings and Electoral Rolls
The annual meetings for the churches will take place this year in April:
- St Margaret’s at midday on Sunday 19 April
- St Giles’ at midday on Sunday 26 April
If you are on the electoral roll, you can both stand and vote for PCC members and churchwardens. Please think and pray carefully about whether this might be something you are called to – particularly at St Margaret’s, where there are currently a number of vacancies on PCC, and will also soon have a churchwarden vacancy.
This means that we need to make sure our respective electoral rolls are up to date. We don’t need to collect everyone’s names like last year (that won’t happen until 2031) but if you are not on the roll, and have been attending either church regularly, or semi-regularly, for the last six months or more, please do join the roll. It doesn’t cost anything; you don’t have to give us any information beyond name and postal address; and most importantly it means we have an accurate record of our communities.
The deadline to sign up to the roll is:
- St Margaret’s: 11.59pm on Saturday 4 April
- St Giles’: 11.59pm on Saturday 11 April
Click or tap on the button below to join the roll:
Easter Sunday Concert at St Giles’
Nicholas Prozzillo presents a performance of movements from Bach’s cantata Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen (Rejoice, O Hearts) on Easter Sunday, 5 April, at 12:00pm at St Giles’ Church. All welcome.
Jazz at St Giles’: Holly Shearsmith Quartet
The next Jazz at St Giles’ concert is Saturday 18 April at 7:30pm: The Holly Shearsmith Quartet, who present an evening of Modern Jazz with La Nouvelle Vague. The next JASG concert will be on Saturday 20th June: Jazz Spiritualities: ‘Naissance’ with John Law and Jon Lloyd.
Memory Café
Our next Memory Café will be on Wednesday 8 April. If you know someone who might enjoy or benefit from coming along, or if you’d like more details, please contact St Margaret’s Parish Community Worker, Tricia Brant, on 07776 595456 or at triciabrant@stmargaretsoxford.org.
Benefice book group
The next meeting of the benefice book group is on Wed 15 April, 7.15pm at St Anne’s; and we are discussing Pearl, by Siân Hughes.
For more information, contact Siân Grønlie (curate@stgilesstmargarets.org)
Chorister Taster Singing Afternoon at St Giles’
If your child is interested in becoming a chorister, Nicholas is holding a taster afternoon on Saturday 16 May at 1:30pm. Email to register for a place.
Youth Pilgrimage 2026
Booking is now open for the 2026 Youth Pilgrimage to Worcester Cathedral from 10-14th August. Spaces are limited so please contact Eva for more details.
Volunteers needed on the 17th February to help in the kitchen with refreshments and pancakes. Help also needed for setting up and tidying up, and with serving food. It would be lovely to have some of our young people helping out during the holidays too! Please contact Eva or Claire.
House groups
We are exploring potential interest in small “house groups” for those who might enjoy meeting in homes for conversation, prayer, and informal engagement with Scripture. This is something some people will know from other church traditions, but there is no expectation here that anyone “ought” to join.
At this stage we are simply gathering interest. If you might like to attend, host, or help lead a group, please email Daniel.
Community News
Tea & Talks at St Margaret’s Institute
The current season of Tea & Talks at St Margaret’s Institute continues on Wed 15 April at 1:45-3:30pm with a talk titled Tackling the legacies of slavery and colonialism at English Heritage sites from Andrew Hann. Entry is £2, including tea and cake. All welcome.
Oxford Theatre Guild presents TS Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral
Local theatre group OTG have asked us to share information about their next show, Murder in the Cathedral, at Oxford Playhouse from 21-25 April. They think it may appeal to our congregation, as not only does it recount one of the most significant events in the Church’s history, but that it also has particular resonance at the moment when the first female archbishop is being installed in Canterbury Cathedral. The production will also feature choral singing.
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.