St. Luke's, Garford

As well as the main parish church of All Saints' we also have a former chapel-of-ease in our parish. This is St. Luke's Church in Garford. Garford village is an historic, rural community of about 70 houses and 200 residents, consisting of a mixture of farm workers, professionals & commuters, retired people, young families with a growing number of children. The focal parts of Garford are the village hall and church, as well as the lovely countryside which surrounds the village.

The Church is open each Sunday between 11am-12pm for quiet prayer. There is usually some music too. Anyone is welcome to join in and will receive a very warm welcome!

See below for the services in the next few months:

1st December, 6pm: Advent Carol Service
20th December, 6.30pm: Carols on the Green
22nd December, 5pm: Lessons and Carols
25th December, 10am: Christmas Day Service

The 'Friends of St. Luke's' are a WhatsApp group of Garford residents who are passionate about their little church and who help to maintain the church building and grounds.

History

Garford belongs to the ancient parish of Marcham, which also included Frilford, Cothill and Gozzards Ford, dating back to Anglo-Saxon times and possibly earlier, based on an Anglo-Saxon estate, which may have originated in a Roman one.

St. Luke’s is near the ancient crossing of the river Ock, where there was a large religious site in use from the early Iron Age to the end of the Roman period.

The manor (or estate) of Marcham was granted to Abingdon Abbey, probably in the tenth century, and after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538 it passed into secular hands. The patronage of the parish was granted to Christ Church, Oxford in 1546.

St. Luke’s was probably a ‘chapel of ease’, enabling the community to attend services locally rather than make the journey to the main church at Marcham. It was attached to the parish church there by 1291, and since then, if not before, the clergy of Marcham have been responsible for St. Luke’s.

Today’s building

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Parts of the building date from the 12^th century, but mostly it is a Victorian rebuild of 1880 by the architect Edwin Dolby of Abingdon. He extended the rectangular mediaeval chapel, which was without an aisle or external separation between chancel and nave. The church now consists of a chancel with north chapel, a nave with a north aisle, a south porch and west bell tower with a single bell. The oldest features are the 12^th century lancets of the east window, and 12^th century south porch doorway; on the south side the 14^th century square-headed window in the nave, and portions of the large square-headed window in the chancel which date from the 16^th century; and the 15^th century open traceried panels along the cornice of the chancel screen. The rest of the building internally and externally dates from the 19^th century. The church is Grade II listed as a building of special architectural or Historical interest.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

We meet at All Saints Church (details here) for our Sunday Service starting at 10.30am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10 minutes early to find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team. We do move our pews around, so don't be surprised if the church is laid out a bit differently. Right now we have builders in refurbishing our kitchen and toilets so things are a little different, but we are still meeting as per usual.

We serve tea, coffee and biscuits when the service finishes. It is a great way to meet people, or simply take time to find your bearings. All refreshments are free.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access to the main part of the building, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. Currently we are having to use portaloos outside which are not easy for disabled access and we apologise.

Our Service

The main service begins at 10.30am with a warm welcome from one of our service leaders and we will often share news and notices. We have different service styles which can be found on our Sunday services page, but each one consists of some sung worship, Bible readings, prayers and a talk about the Bible and how to apply it to our everyday lives. Sometimes there is an opportunity to receive prayer at the end of the service. We have a team of service leaders and preachers who help Nick, the vicar, deliver these services.

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What about my kids?

We have a great programme lined up for kids of all ages. Our age groups are flexible depending on which children are around on any one Sunday.

Tiddlychurch (0-3).
Sunday Kids (School years R-6)
Sunday morning Youth (School years 7-13)

Children and young people stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome, songs and notices. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. At the end of the notices someone will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to their various groups. Whilst you are dropping your kids off at their groups, we pause to take time to chat to someone sitting near or next to us, giving folk a chance to come back before the sermon begins.

The kids group activities vary from week to week but usually there is a friendly welcome, bible stories, testimonies, praying, music, craft, drama, fun games and free play. Please pick your children up as soon as the service finishes.

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Getting Connected

Home Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our small groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons and some evenings. Check out Home Groups and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a small group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group.

Serving and Volunteering

If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team. We suggest you take a few months to consider where you might best serve.

Other Ministries

We also run the following ministries:

Men's Ministries
Women's Ministries

Get in touch with us to plan your visit

If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.

Name:

Telephone:

Email Address:
Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?

Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.


Nick Weldon		Tamsin Gilbert
Vicar		Parish Administrator

We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.

Best Wishes