Blewbury’s rector, the Revd Jason St John Nicolle, has been made an honorary canon of Christ Church Cathedral. The award, in recognition of distinguished service to the church, was presented during a service in Oxford.

Fr Jason (3rd from right in photo) was ordained in 2004 and has spent all his time in local ministry. In 2008 he moved to the Churn benefice after his curacy in Kidlington, serving Blewbury and six other neighbouring parishes.

The awards recognise the dedication of lay and ordained people to the Diocese of Oxford and the wider church across a variety of areas of ministry and mission. This includes roles supporting theological education in the worldwide Anglican Communion, the deaf and hard of hearing in the diocese, and community organising and church growth.

Speaking on his installation as honorary canon, Fr Jason said: “It is a great honour. It comes with a great sense of responsibility. I look forward to the role. God’s holy spirit does not limit itself to the work of the church. I think God is calling our church to evolve and that’s exciting. The heart of my life is helping the church to cherish the best of the past together with an openness to the future and holding these two things together.”

Readers of the Bulletin will know we have funding for a village art project, which (for various reasons, including Covid) was stalled… But we are now confident something exciting is going to happen, because David Harber is designing a beautiful armillary sphere to be installed in the Playclose.

To make this an artwork unique to Blewbury, the base will contain a time capsule created by the school, and the bands of the sphere will be engraved with words, phrases and quotes that paint a picture of what makes our village a special place to live. To do this we need your help. Please tell us what you think makes Blewbury unique – it could be words that conjure the special nature of our chalk streams and downland flora and fauna, our sense of community, our unique theatre, the authors or artists who have lived and worked here, our cob walls, our connection to the past, present and future, our pubs… or none of the above! The area for engraving is limited so please be pithy and original, and we’ll choose the very best submissions to immortalise on the sphere.

Send your entries to sjane.gibson@btinternet.com by Friday 29th March – we can’t wait to hear from you!

The ducks, like most of us, cannot believe where the time has gone and that it’s time for them to take to the water on the Playclose for the annual Duck Race on Easter Sunday, 31^st March.

The first of five heats will start at 12.00 noon. The first three ducks across the line in the final race will win for their owners £50, £20 and £10 respectively, and all proceeds will go to St Michael’s Tower and Bell Maintenance Fund. The Bell Ringers are very appreciative of the support given to this annual event, and hope that everyone will enjoy the socialising and springtime fun. Fingers crossed for good weather although the ducks are happy in any weather!

This event is open to everyone, and racing ducks are available for £1.25 each.  They are obtainable from Blewbury Post Office or contact Gill Loyd on 01235 850459 or Chris Cook on 07786 635062.

Always popular, so please be sure to buy your racers early, as they will all be sold before the race day, and don’t forget to come along, bring your family and friends, and cheer for your ducks on the day. If you enjoy this sort of fun, why not meet the ringers in St Michael’s one Friday night to see what else we do when we are not racing ducks? You will be most welcome.