News

Over 20 children and their families enjoyed a festive Messy Nativity in St Marys Church Charlbury yesterday. They enjoyed making animal masks and Christmas cards, choosing a costume for the nativity play, learning the songs and then taking part in the nativity play lead by Fergus. Many thanks to those who made Christmas biscuits and cakes for us to enjoy.

We had a wonderful concert for Slatyne in Ukraine at St Mary’s church on the 29^th November. Jarisel played wonderful music and Natalia from Ukraine sang beautifully. The musicians performed for no charge which was extremely generous.

The evening raised an amazing £1,208 for Slatyne.

An Advent Calendar that makes a real difference. This Advent why not give something to help homeless people? The Porch in Oxford is a centre that helps provide homeless people with food, clothing and advice to help them move on from living on the street and with addiction. There is a huge need for donations of food and clothes, as well as financial donations.

One way of helping is to collect one item from this list (below) every day in Advent (30th November to 24th December) and place each item in a box or bag. Take the completed Advent box or bag of items along to St Mary’s Church or Cornerstone between Christmas Day and 18th January. All donations will be taken to the Porch. Don’t worry if you can’t manage an item every day; whatever you can give will be incredibly helpful and very welcome. Thank you!

Come along to Stay and Play at the Bowls Club on Friday mornings in term time. For Under 4s, parents and carers. More info here.

Charlbury Christmas Tree Festival 2025 – Bookings Now Open 

The organisers of the Charlbury Christmas Tree Festival are pleased to announce that bookings are now open for this year’s event. 

The festival will take place from Friday, 12 December 2025, to Thursday, 2 January 2026, with an official opening reception scheduled for Friday, 12 December, from 6:00 to 7:00 pm. 

Tree Sponsorship Individuals, community groups, and organisations are invited to participate by sponsoring a Christmas tree:

• Outdoor trees: £40 
• Indoor trees (inside the church): £45 (indoor spaces are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis for an additional £5) 

Outdoor trees will be decorated with lights, and non-breakable decorations may also be used if desired. Competitions will be held for both adult- and child-decorated trees, offering an opportunity for creativity and community spirit to shine. 

Supporting the Festival and the Church through tree sponsorship plays a vital role in the continuation of this much-loved Charlbury tradition. Additional donations to the church are also greatly appreciated and will be received with gratitude. 

Booking and Contact Information Booking for the 2025 Charlbury Christmas Tree Festival is available online.

For further information, please contact the organisers at charlburyctf@gmail.com . The organisers look forward to welcoming participants and visitors to what promises to be another memorable celebration of community, creativity, and festive spirit.

Some photos from this year’s Remembrance Sunday parade before the service in church on 9th November.

Photo by chris robert on Unsplash

The annual All Souls’ service will take place on Sunday 2nd November at 3pm in St Mary’s Church Charlbury. All are very welcome.

At this service, the names of those who have died, especially over the last year, are read out and remembered in prayer and there is an opportunity to light a candle in their memory. If you would like a loved one who has died remembered at this service please give their names to the Vicar or another member of the clergy.

All are welcome to our special candlelight service for All Saints Day at Shorthampton Church on Saturday 1st November at 6pm. This is a service of Holy Communion, followed by refreshments after the service.

Photo by Nicola Fioravanti on Unsplash

St Mary’s church has recently raised money for our sister church in Slatyne, Ukraine. The town depends on wells for water as the mains water infrastructure has been damaged by the war. Two of these wells have now been seriously damaged by recent attacks by the Russians. Our donations have enabled them to re-build these wells (photos to follow)

Meanwhile we also bought new winter tyres for the vehicle they use for distribution of aid.

Paddy