What St Barnabas
means to me

I first came to S. Barnabas a little over a year ago, just as I was beginning to feel as if God was calling me to be a priest. Since I first walked through the doors on a Thursday evening in summer for Holy Hour and Mass, I have found a community where the liturgy is formal and reverent, the atmosphere is friendly and welcoming, and I feel totally at home.

I will never tire of walking down a relatively ordinary street to find a glorious basilica at the end of it, and I will always recommend S. Barnabas to others as a ‘hidden gem,’ as well as a profoundly beautiful and edifying place to pray, reflect, and delve into the truth and transformation that the Church’s tradition offers.

I have also been encouraged and enabled to become involved in the church’s life; serving at the altar is a joy and a privilege, and I truly loved journeying towards confirmation with Amy, Anna, Aysha, Joe, and Sam, with Fr. Christopher’s guidance. S. Barnabas is a community that allows itself to be shaped by the mysteries we celebrate in our worship, and in my time here so far, I have encountered the charity and compassion that should define our life together as Christians, and which has continued to form and ground my own vocation.

It is wonderful that our church can be open for all to receive a warm welcome, to behold the unique beauty of our church building, and to know Jesus Christ, and I sincerely hope this can continue.

Jacob Owen Second-year undergraduate

I’ve been coming to St Barnabas for a couple of years, since I moved to Jericho, and it has been a breath of fresh air for me. My experience is a little unusual in that I’m away from Oxford on weekends and can only come to the Tuesday and Thursday eucharist services — so unfortunately I miss most Sundays.

I don’t come from the UK, or from an Anglo-Catholic background, so much of the worship style was new to me, but I have enjoyed settling into the rhythm of the liturgy and have found it deeply healing and nurturing. The community has been wonderfully welcoming too. I’ve made good friends, and Fr Christopher has been a great support pastorally.

Beyond personal considerations though, I think St Barnabas plays a vital role in strengthening and preserving the fabric of our community in Oxford. Much of the pastoral care of those in deepest need carries on unseen. In a time of economic storms for so many, churches like St Barnabas provide a much-needed spiritual and social anchor, bearing witness to the steadfast love of Christ.

Oxford is a wonderful city, but so many of its most beautiful spaces are hidden away behind college walls, or are accessible only for a fee. We are so blessed to have in St Barnabas a space of such exquisite beauty that is open to all.

I am grateful for the far-reaching vision of those who built such a stunning testimony to the beauty of God, and for all those today whose lives and ministries make it not a museum, but a living presence in our community.

Brett Academic

One of the things I liked most when I first came to St. Barnabas was that it felt like a local parish church. Oxford has a number of large churches (where one can get a bit lost), and others where the congregation is largely transient (because of the University). St. B’s feels somewhat unique in having a congregation made up of folks of different ages and from a range of backgrounds—some of whom have been at the church for years and years.

I’ve valued having a place to come each week to stop for an hour and connect with God and to spend time with people who have a shared faith (and, as I sing in the choir, a shared love of music!). All of this makes Oxford feel like home to me.

While not all churches are able to keep their doors open during the week, I’ve always loved that I can pop into St. B’s for a quiet moment to sit and reflect if I happen to be passing through Jericho. The beautiful building lends itself to contemplation, but my experience of it as my ‘home’ church also makes it feel safe and familiar.

My hope is that other people are able to experience St. Barnabas in a similar way: as a welcoming space for connecting to one another and to God.

Amanda Academic, singer and cellist, recently married at St Thomas the Martyr

Some places become special because of the memories we make there; others because of the people we meet. For me, St Barnabas is both, but above all, it is the place where I found my faith.

My connection with St Barnabas began in childhood, attending services as a pupil at the local primary school. Little did I know then quite how profoundly this church would shape my life. Years later, having been away at university, I returned to Oxford and found myself drawn back to St Barnabas, this time discovering something far greater than a familiar place of worship. I found a spiritual home.

Through the beauty and reverence of the Mass, the richness of the Anglo-Catholic tradition, and the warmth of its congregation, my faith flourished. It was here that I was baptised and confirmed, two of the most meaningful moments of my life. With Father Christopher’s guidance, faith became a source of strength, comfort and purpose extending far beyond Sunday worship.

There is something extraordinarily special about St Barnabas. The incense, music, liturgy and beauty of the building draw us towards God. Yet what makes the church truly remarkable is the devotion of those who sustain it, ensuring its doors remain open and its traditions flourish.

Since moving to Jersey, I have come to appreciate St Barnabas even more. Distance has only deepened my gratitude for the church and those who nurtured my faith. Whenever I return to Oxford, attending Mass at St Barnabas remains something I cherish.

Aysha Recent graduate, now living away from Oxford

S. Barnabas was the place I found refuge, safety and security. My Great-Grandfather Frederick Augustus Dixey sang in the choir, my grandparents Roger and Phyllis Dixey attended all their married life.

For perhaps an hour and a half on a Sunday morning, I could forget all my troubles and just bask in all the High Liturgy. The picture of Christ in Majesty, blessing the faithful, the 12 Apostles, the whole Theatre.

Hugh Former parishioner

St Barnabas Church is a very special place. The welcome given to everyone no matter who they are is rare these days and is to be very much valued.

Helping people who find themselves on the street is very special too. We could any of us have a change of circumstance and be on the street. This is when you realise that St Barnabas is following the word of God.

I no longer live in Oxford but I always try to visit when I come.

Jackie Former parishioner

I have two experiences whenever I walk through the doors of St Barnabas: a sense of awe and a sense of history. It makes me feel privileged to be part of the church both as a building and as a community.

Yet I understand that with privilege comes responsibility: the church building needs the same care I have to give to my own home, and there is always something which needs attending to, given its size and its age.

I also experience a good deal of warmth in the church — I don’t have to pay for the warmth of Christian friends I meet there, but I do have to play my part in paying for the warmth of the church itself! As prices go up I’ll have to dig deeper, but I know this is something I have to do in order to give back what I have received.

Anonymous

What can you get for £5,703? A ‘fly-cruise’ around Greenland, maybe? A week on a game reserve in South Africa followed by a week by the beach in Mauritius? A modest second-hand car? How about building a basilica large enough for a thousand worshippers? That’s what our magnificent church had cost by the time it was consecrated in 1869; adding the bell tower three years later cost a further £789!

Of course there is something absurd about making cost comparisons over such a long interval — for a start, neither ‘fly-cruises’ nor game reserves nor Ford Focus motor cars existed 157 years ago, so how can we tell how much they would have cost had Thomas Combe decided to spend his money on such frivolities.

But the same kind of erosion of the purchasing power of currency is evident (and more convincing to compute) over shorter periods. Because we’re usually so busy trying to cope with the rising cost of living we may not stop to look back and remember that contributions or standing orders need to be uprated if the recipients of our donations are not to be steadily penalised by inflation. As the Queen in Alice Through the Looking Glass remarks, ‘here…it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place.’

For instance if we gave £10 five years ago we would now need to make that £12.86 to maintain the purchasing power of our gift. Go back a further two years, just before the pandemic changed so much, and a donation of £10 then has lost a third of its value since.

So please ‘index’ your gift. And if you can, don’t neglect to let us collect some free public money: please register your contributions for Gift Aid so we can benefit from the very welcome extra 25%.

Dick Smethurst Retired Provost of Worcester College