Church at Home

This week

Advent is a season of expectation and preparation, as the Church prepares to celebrate the coming of Christ in his incarnation, and also looks ahead to his final advent as judge at the end of time. Today the first Advent candle is lit and we recognise the Advent of Christ, the light of the world.

As we prepare for Christmas in our hearts and in our lives, in the very particular context of COVID-19, prayer is likely to be our focus. There are resources we can draw on that are commended by Bishop Steven. Click the Discovering Prayer link, below.

Presiding is the Venerable Guy Elsmore, Archdeacon of Buckingham. The address is given by the Rt Revd Dr Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham.

Other ways to participate in this service

Additional resources

To dial in to the service by telephone, dial 01865 920930 and, once connected, dial 0 for the full version of the service, or dial 1 a short version of the service. Standard call rates apply. There will be a few seconds of silence before the service starts.

Church at Home last week

The festival of Christ the King stands at a crossroads, with one liturgical year behind us and the promise of a new year ahead, beginning with Advent next week, which will bring a new energy as we prepare our hearts for Christmas.

This service of Christ the King borrows liturgical elements from previous Church at Home services and from Diocesan school assemblies, beginning with the very first Call to Worship from March 2020.

Let us be mindful of the words in that call: ‘I lay at the foot of the Cross all my fears.’ Those words begin our service. They echo as true today as they did in March, as they have done for centuries, and will echo true into the new liturgical year and beyond.

Annual service for Licensed Lay Ministers

This was a public re-stream of the Annual Service for Licensed Lay Ministers taking place on Zoom. Please pray for all those to be admitted and licensed, for their families and all who love and support them, and for their parishes and the people they will serve. The President is the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft.

Comfortable words
episode 7 available now

Series 5 of the popular podcast by Bishop Steven Croft takes its title from the opening verses of Isaiah 40-55.

This series is intended to help the church find its voice again in the midst of the pandemic.

Episode 6 is out now. Listen online at Bishop Steven’s blog, or search ‘Bishop Steven Croft’ wherever you get your podcasts.

Christ Church Cathedral

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, has a regular series of services and reflections. Visit their Soundcloud page for a full listing and see their YouTube channel for live video streams.

On demand

Live streamed services are available to view again at any time. Orders of service are available to view for each service.

Parish live streams

Many of our clergy and parishes are offering their own live streams. See our full listing of parish live streams.

Local radio

Our Bishops and clergy regularly talk about the Church response to the coronavirus crisis on our local BBC Radio stations. Listen to those interviews here. To request an interview, email communications@oxford.anglican.org

We are offering live streamed worship for the Diocese on Sundays and Holy Days in the coming months to complement what is offered by local churches. This Diocesan prayer and worship is designed to be sustainable over the long haul, collaborative, creative, accessible to all traditions, and reliable. We are prioritising, not competing with, local church streams. Our principal Diocesan services will be at 10 am each Sunday. Where possible, these have been live with some pre-recorded elements. We are also experimenting with ‘as live’ broadcasts from Maundy Thursday onwards.