Diocese of Oxford

Covid News

Churchwarden’s letter: February 2022

Dear Fellow Members of St Bartholomew’s Tricia rang me up on Thursday asking if I’d had the email she sent asking me to do a warden’s letter for the February monthly diary. I dutifully waffled about possibly having some recollection of it without actually having any idea at all. Back at home I discovered said email was in the Spam folder so…

Christmas messages from our Bishops

It was a different Christmas for many, and many churches, this year.  This year some of our Christmas services have looked a little different as we all continue to face the COVID-19 pandemic. Bishop Steven and Bishop Alan have both sadly been unable to attend and preside at Christmas services this year due to falling ill. However, the Bishop of Dorchester, the…

Christmas services: an update

Apologies for the confusion arising from our decisions to cancel or amend services over Christmas which are based on our concern for public safety amid a very transmissible Covid variant. Rightly or wrongly, we err on the side of caution. The situation now is: The service of the word at 10.30 on 19th will go ahead as planned. The Carol service at…

An update from the Wardens- the effect of Omicron

The Lay Ministers and myself held a meeting this evening primarily to discuss the question whether the Carol Service should go ahead given the sudden rise in Covid infections. On the latest projections these could, and probably almost certainly will, surpass 100,000 a day by next week. Regrettably we cannot square the circle of maintaining a safe environment while a highly transmissible…

Letter from Churchwarden – December 2021

Dear Fellow Members of St Bartholomew’s So, almost the end of another year, and just as we thought things were getting better re Covid, along comes another mutation to knock us, and the Government, backwards. Our plan is to keep St Bartholomew’s as safe as possible, so that means masks, social distancing, hand sanitisation, and generally being thoughtful and considerate. I for…