St Aldate's Church: Difference between revisions
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[http://www.oxfordprayerroom.org Oxford Prayer Room] |
[http://www.oxfordprayerroom.org Oxford Prayer Room] |
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[http://www.loveoxford.org Love Oxford initiative] |
[http://www.loveoxford.org.uk Love Oxford initiative] |
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Revision as of 19:30, 23 March 2010
| St Aldate's | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | St Aldate's, Oxford |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Church of England |
| Website | St Aldates website |
| Administration | |
| Diocese | Oxford |
| Archdeaconry | Oxford |
| Deanery | Oxford |
| Parish | St Aldate's |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | Charlie Cleverly |
| Vicar(s) | Gordon Hickson |
| Curate(s) | Alan Ramsey |
| Senior pastor(s) | Simon Ponsonby |
St Aldates, is an Anglican church in the centre of Oxford, in the Deanery and Diocese of Oxford. The church building is located on St Aldate's opposite Christchurch College and next door to Pembroke College. The church has a large and vibrant congregation and has a staff team of around 35 which includes clergy, pastoral and administrative staff. The offices of the Rector and other members of staff are located at 40 Pembroke Street.
History
The community at St Aldates dates back to Saxon times. It may have been one of three churches within the monastic precinct of St. Frideswide. The first major constructions, dating back to the 12th century, were the nave and chancel, the central strand of the building as it now stands. Since then the church has been extended and remodeled at various times. The original tower built during the 13th century was rebuilt in its entirety in 1873.
The south and north aisles - to the sides of the nave - were added in the 14th and 15th centuries respectively in order to accommodate the growing population of Oxford.
The modern church was developed during the nineteenth century, with a remodeling of the interior in 1832. Most notably, during the 46 year ministry of Canon Alfred Christopher, a highly regarded leader from 1859-1905, the north and south chancel aisles and the vestry were added.
Further remodeling was completed in 2002. The pews were removed to create more seating room for a growing congregation, under-floor heating, carpet, Jerusalem stone tiles, wood flooring, and a state of the art AV system with projector screens and television monitors were installed to create a modern venue for a living church.
Most noticeably, the North Wall was knocked open to create a spacious, welcoming glass vestibule that opened the church up to the main thoroughfare of St Aldate’s street, opposite Christ Church. In addition, the graveyard at the front has been landscaped to open up a garden at the front of the church for tourists and passers-by.
Parish
As a member church of the Church of England, St Aldates is located in the Deanery and Diocese of Oxford and therefore comes under the administrative care of the Bishop of Oxford. The Church is governed locally by the Church Leadership (clergy and lay ministers) and the Parochial Church Council, in line with the Church Representation Rules as laid out in the Synodical Government Measure 0f 1969.
The Church
Most of the congregation live outside the Parish. Members are drawn from throughout the city and surrounding villages, as far as Grove, Heyford and north towards Banbury. Due to the nature of life in Oxford, the congregation is very fluid and it is estimated that up to 30% change each year.
There is a good balance of age and stage in life in the congregation, with a number of older folk, young families, families with teenagers and single folk, youth and students. During term time up to 400 students attend the Sunday services, and during the vacations many tourists and visitors join the congregation.
St Aldates actively encourages members of the congregation to be involved in the various aspects of the church life and ministry areas and relies heavily on a large number of volunteers who help in the following areas: prayer, administration, catering, maintenance, counselling, stewarding and teaching.
Services
Services are held at 10.30am, 6pm and 8.15pm on Sundays, with Holy Communion celebrated regularly at each service. The worship at each service is informal, with songs, hymns and liturgy and sermon notes displayed on video screens. Worship is led each week by a band consisting of different groups of musicians overseen by the Worship Pastor.
The morning service attracts around 500-550 worshippers, including over 100 children. There is a thriving Children’s Church which meets in the Parish Centre, although the children are part of the main service for the first part. Around 500 attend the evening service. The Late Service (8.15pm) has been running since Sept 2007 and is even more informal in terms of set up with no chairs and creative lighting. 300-400 regularly attend this rapidly growing service.
On Wednesday at 11.00am there is a further service of Holy Communion held in the Parish Centre. Up to 30, mainly elderly folk attend this more traditional style service which uses the Book of Common Prayer.
Catacombs Youth and Prayer Centre
In October 2009, the Catacombs building at 12 Littlegate Street was re-opened by the Bishop of Oxford. Following extensive redevelopment, the ground floor is now a youth centre and the basement has been dedicated as a prayer room for Oxford. In March 2010 the Oxford Prayer Room hosted the first 24-7 week of prayer open to all churches in Oxford, with representatives from over 24 churches attending over the course of the week.
Love Oxford
In 2006 St Aldates helped coordinate an historic event in Oxford which brought together over 30 churches in the city for an open air service in Broad Street on a Sunday morning in June. This event known as Love Oxford had the vision to ‘declare God’s praises’, ‘pray for the peace of the city’ and ‘hear the word of God preached’. The event has run every year since and in 2009 moved to South Park in East Oxford. Around 4,000 people gather for the open air service.
51°45′02″N 1°15′28″W / 51.750633°N 1.257791°W