Welcome! St James’ Church in Aston is one of 5 churches in the Parish of Bampton with Clanfield, the others being St Mary the Virgin in Bampton, St Stephen in Clanfield, St Mary in Shifford and Holy Trinity Church in Lew

Our vicar
Our vicar, the Reverend David Lloyd officiates at each of the churches and can be contacted at The Vicarage, Bampton OX18 2LY,

Tel: 01993 851222.

 

Pastoral care links to the Vicar:-
Elizabeth Wiltshire 01993 850989
Tom Jequier 01993 850738
Both the above are ordinary members of the church but have volunteered to act as a link/point of contact for the Vicar
Regular Services
The regular monthly pattern for the times of worship at St James’ is as follows;-

The first Sunday in the month 10:30am Family Service
The second Sunday in the month 06:00pm Evensong
The third Sunday in the month 09:15am Holy Communion
The fourth Sunday in the month 06:00pm Evensong

On some months there are five Sundays; where there is a fifth Sunday, only one of the five churches in the Parish will hold a service.

A brief history of St. James Church, Aston
St.James was built in 1838 and consecrated in 1839. It was built on land given by Henry Hippisley, a local land owner, and was designed by Thomas Greenshields of Oxford.
It is of a cruciform structure in Gothic style and although quite plain it was described by Sir John Betjeman as an almost unspoilt example of its period with nearly perfect acoustics.

There was originally a low squat tower with one bell but later in1860, a spire and second bell was added with money donated from William Monk. In 1883 six new bells were supplied by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough costing £410. There are two brass plates in the bell tower commemorating their dedication. Repairs were made to these bells in the early 1990’s and dedicated on 7th June 1992 with A.C.Scott, Vicar a d P.C.Hook and G.Wiltshire as Church Wardens.

The east window, behind the Altar, was added in1948 in memory of the late Major Thornton Loveless Wilkinson who died at the age of 37. It was designed by A.K.Nicholson of St.John’s Wood London and donated by his Father who lived at Cote House, Cote. The cost was £320.

The window in the Choir is in memory of Capt. J.L.M.Morton, who was killed at Passchandael in 1917, and of his parents. The remaining windows were designed by M.C.Farrah-Bell with design changes suggested by Sir John Betjeman.

Records of baptisms, weddings and burials are kept in the County Records Office at Cowley Oxford.

Currently, fund raising is taking place to build a kitchen and toilet facilities to enable the Church to be used for concerts etc. as well as normal services. See below for more information on church finance and funding.

Other services
In addition to the regular services, St James holds other special services for Mothering Sunday, National Remembrance Day, Harvest Festival, Blessing of Pets, Family Remembrance. St James also shares the two main Christian Festivals with their friends at The Fellowship. Both Christmas and Easter are celebrated in shared worship, Christmas at St James and Easter at The Fellowship.

Alpha Course and Home Groups
The parish has been running the Christian Alpha course and Home groups. They not only provide the opportunity to learn more about the Christian faith but help to build friendships in a relaxed environment (often with food!). For further information please contact Roger Crossley 01993 850718; rogercrossley@tiscali.co.uk

A fortnightly Aston Church house group has started in May 2008. If you would like to attend the occasional meeting or become a regular attendee contact one of the pastoral care links on the numbers shown above.

Events
It is planned that St James will hold a number of events including some concerts and also possibly some activities for the younger people of the village. It is hoped the latter will be developed during 2008 and 2009.

St James church also continues to host the very popular annual Christmas Carol Concert providing seasonal fun, entertainment, mulled wine and mince pies.

The Friday Drop-in lunch
If you're living on your own or just want to meet other local people, why not pop along to the church? Every other Friday from 12.30pm onwards the church is open for a light lunch of soup, rolls, nibbles, fruit and tea and coffee. It costs a modest £1.50. We regularly have 15-20 local people attend. You do not have to be a church member and you are not expected to go to church, so come along – everybody is welcome.

The Bell Ringers
Practice night is on Wednesday evenings from eight o’clock. If you would like to know more, watch or see if you would like to join why not go to the church on a Wednesday?

Charitable giving
St James Church donates regularly to the Children's Society and also to a bible lands charity supporting orphaned children in the Palestinian Territories.

How is the church financed?
It may come as a surprise to many people but Anglican churches do not receive one penny from either the Church of England or the Government. In fact, it is the other way round. Each church must every year pay an amount, called the Parish Share, to the Diocese, the local Anglican "county" if you like. For St James, that is a payment for the year 2008 of over £7,000. That is in addition to its normal running costs which includes charitable donations, light, heat, insurance, building maintenance and care of the churchyard. Total annual expenditure is well in excess of £10,000.

So where does the money come from to keep St James going?
It comes from the parishioners of Aston village. The only sources of revenue are from those who attend the church, fees from weddings, funerals and other special services (most of which have to be paid by the church to the Diocese) and from those who choose to donate. Apart from a tax rebate on gift aid donations, St James Church has no other source of income.

How are its finances?
Based on regular giving, the church makes a small loss of about £5 a week. If one, takes into account special fund raising events (village fete, book stall, Christmas stall etc) it does make a very modest surplus.

Church improvement plans
We plan to install a toilet in the vestry and a kitchenette and fund raising schemes are in the process of being launched. Including the cost of installation of the mains and sewer services, the quoted total cost is just under £35,000. This will help the members of the congregation involved with the Friday Drop-In and also for other events and services that may be held in the church in the future.

Can you help?
You may not be a churchgoer, or not attend regularly, but might have the well being of the church at heart. If you think you can help, either financially or if you would like to help in any other way, do contact us either via the vicar, his pastoral care contacts or via the Church Warden Ian Hirons (01993 850152) or simply come to one of the services. We look forward to welcoming you.