Welcome to the Benefice of Cherbury with Gainfield, a group of seven churches in rural Oxfordshire. We have several services each Sunday, and lots of events going on every month. For our latest news and events, please see What’s On, or you can subscribe to our weekly bulletin.
Meet the Ministry Team
We have several clergy who minister in our benefice team, led by our Rector, Reverend Talisker.
Our Benefice Office is run by our Benefice Administrator, Jane Hawes. The Benefice Office opening hours are Tuesday and Thursday 10am – 12.30pm. All communications received will be replied to as soon as possible.
If you have any enquiries, please do get in touch and we will do our best to help. If you come along to any of our church services, our welcome teams will be very glad to help you.
Revd Talisker MacLeod
Rector
Reverend Talisker has been Rector of Cherbury with Gainfield since October 2015. She studied Classics at St Andrews and Theology at Ripon College Cuddesdon, and prior to ordination she taught Classics for several years at Christ’s Hospital. Going on adventures with her daughter is always the greatest joy! She also loves art, music, and doing lots of creative things.
Vacant
Associate Priest
We have a vacancy for this post. Are you interested?
See the advert on the Diocesan website for more details.
Revd Jim Mynors
Permission to Officiate
Canon Jim Mynors visited family in Longworth and Hinton parishes from the 1950s, moving to Shellingford in 1973. After Engineering and Theology at Cambridge he worked nationally with those training for ministry and leading rural churches. From 1988-2017 he also served a dozen village churches in the eastern region.
Avril Coleman
Licensed Lay Minister
Avril studied English Literature, then trained as a teacher before becoming a professional coach and educator in the business world. A Licensed Lay Minister since 2018, Avril is delighted to be working with the rural churches of the Benefice. She enjoys reading, theatre, walks in the country, and time with family (which includes twin grandchildren!)
Lucy Gildersleeves
Lay Worship Leader
Lucy studied classics at Oxford and theology at Moorlands College. After a career in library services, she is now involved with prayer spaces in schools, is a governor at Buckland School and has a particular interest in children’s and youth ministry. She keeps poultry and pigs and enjoys walking and detective fiction.
Pastoral Visiting
Pastoral visiting is absolutely at the heart of our ministry in the benefice.
If you would like one of the ministry team to visit you, please do not hesitate to email or call them directly, or to contact Jane in the Benefice Office, to arrange a pastoral visit.
We also can do Home Communions on request.
Whichever church you come to, you will find a warm and welcoming Christian community. Each church is made up of people of people from different ages and stages of life, from across the broad spectrum of Christian belief and practice, together with those who are simply friends of the Christian faith who find peace in our community.
We have a deep belief that God’s love is for everyone. God wants everyone to be part of His family. Inclusion and diversity are therefore really important for us. We want everyone to feel that this is a Benefice where they can find friendship and community. Our goal is to help each person in our community to connect with the love, beauty and truth of Christ’s love for them. But more than this, we also want to help people find practical help in growing in Christian faith, experiencing more of the life changing love, joy and peace of Christ amidst the many challenges of modern living.
Everyone is welcome at our services and events. We would love to have you come along. If you are a newcomer do make yourself known to us over coffee, or even drop us a message on the contact form. One of the ministry team would love to meet with you. If you’d like to find out more about our Benefice, or about the Christian faith, please do get in touch.