Rev Matthew Earwicker
Rector to the Oldbury Benefice since June 2018
History
Rector of the Oldbury Benefice Diocese of SalisburyDiocese of Salisbury Jun 2018 - PresentAssistant Curate at Salisbury St Marks and Laverstock St Andrews Church of England Jun 2014 - May 2018Ridley Hall, University of Cambridge CTM, Theology 2012 - 2014London School of Theology DipHE, Theology 2003 - 2004St John's College, Oxford BA (Hons), Loterae Humaniores 1996 - 2000
Matt arrived with us in June of 2018 and moved into The Rectory with his lovely wife and family. With the five churches of the Benefice under his direct care, together with his team of ministers, lay ministers and administrators he has looked after us through perhaps the toughest of times with the arrival of Covid 19 in our midst.
Services This Coming Month (December/Janary)
Carols and Crib Service
04.30 pm
Led by ?Rev Matt Earwicker
Holy Day Communion
11:15pm
Led by Rev Linda Dytham
Morning Worship
10:00 am
Led by Mrs Pam Evans
Evensong
4:00 pm
Led by Rev Matt Earwicker
SpecialServices From The Church
For regular church services across the Benefice please look at our services diary.
Christenings at St Swithin's
So you would like have your child baptised? Or perhaps you yourself are seeking answers and think that maybe baptism is the first step towards finding them.
Here you will find information relating to baptism
Your Wedding at St Swithin's
Arranging Your Wedding in St Swithin's
The moment when a couple face each other and make promises about spending the rest of their lives together is a moving as well as a joyful event and it is our desire to make your special day just that - very special.
Funerals at St Swithin's
A funeral is used to mark the end of a person's life here on earth. Family and friends come together to express grief, give thanks for the life lived and commend their soul into God's keeping. These can be a small, quiet ceremony or a large occasion in a packed church.
Verse of The Day
Portfolio
Take yourself on a quick walk around our lovely church using our portfolio of images
- All
- Nave
- Chancel
- Altar
- Aisles
- Font
- Grounds
Messages From Our Church
A Message From MATT
By The Rev Matt earwicker
Villages - March 2024...
Dear Friends
We are in the middle of the season of Lent, a time when Christians are encouraged to reflect on their lives and take steps to return to the promises of their baptism to turn away from sin and to follow Christ. For others in society, including those with little or no affiliation to Christianity, it can nonetheless prove a helpful time to focus on some aspect of life which needs changing or developing.
In my Ash Wednesday sermon, I drew an analogy between Lent and physical exercise. I try to keep moderately fit (unlike many of you, I am neither a runner, dog-walker nor yoga-enthusiast, but I do try to walk or cycle instead of drive where possible), in spite of my regular hours behind a desk studying. And this keeps my muscles in reasonable shape and my weight within a certain range.
Last summer, while visiting family in Austria, we went on a long walk in the mountains. At the time I managed reasonably well (physically, at least; I don’t have a head for heights). The following morning, however, I was reminded of why we used to warm up before sport when I was at school. My feet and legs ached terribly, and there was no way I could have done another such walk the following day.
There is a difference between being reasonably fit, and being ready for proper exercise. Before our next trip to Austria (or anywhere with walking planned), I will need to get my act together a few weeks earlier and make those short strolls around the village a little longer.
If you are anything like me, you probably spend much of your lives coping rather than flourishing. We get to the end of the week more than ready for the weekend. The holiday comes round at just the right time (or probably a little late, but we get there). It’s not healthy, but it’s normal. For all our best intentions, we fall into bad habits, or simply struggle to keep up with the extra demands placed on us on top of a full load.
Lent is the opportunity to stop, reflect, take stock. To look at how we are living, and slow down. To put some things on hold for a while so that we have the space we need to redevelop good habits, and build up a bit of mental and spiritual stamina to see us through the year ahead. It’s a chance to make sure we are only carrying those responsibilities that we really need to, so that we have energy left for the stuff that gives us life, too.
Because Lent is followed in the church’s calendar by Easter, and the reminder of Jesus’ death on the cross, it is easy to think of it as part of the same solemn series of events. Indeed, the introduction to the Ash Wednesday service specifically mentions how Lent is a time of preparation to mark Easter with appropriate devotion.
For Jesus himself, however, that was not the case. His 40 days of tempting in the wilderness were the beginning, not of his death, but of his life, if you like. We know very little about what happened in the 30 years before this, but from this moment on, it take off. He starts to gather a team around him, he does fantastic miracles that change lives, he sits on a mountain preaching to 5000+ people.
The purpose of Lent is not primarily sorrow—although as I watch the news this and most evenings, sorrow is never too far away—but life. Repentance leads to forgiveness, and forgiveness makes our hearts lighter and frees our hands to grab hold of the best things in life.
In the third chapter of the Gospel of St John, Jesus says,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
However you choose to mark Lent, and even if you don’t have any plans, I pray that you will find a new lease of life this March. But it is also my hope that you find that life that Jesus talks of, the spring of water that wells up to eternal life.
With every blessing, Matt
Midweek communion for Lent
In addition to our usual range of Sunday services around the Benefice, through Lent there will also be a short service of Holy Communion in St James’ Church, Cherhill, every Wednesday morning at 9.30am. It is just half an hour, with no singing, and no major sermon, but an opportunity to pause, reflect, and meditate on that source of life. Whether you are a regular church attender or not, you are most welcome to come and join us.
For clarity, the dates are:
6th, 13th and 20th March
In Holy Week itself, including the walk up to the cross, will be in next month’s Villages magazine or at our website https://www.oldburybenefice.org.uk.
A MESSAGE FROM THE DIOCESE
By BISHOP STEPHEN ~ BISHOP OF SALISBURY
Villages - March 2024...
Dear Friends
We are in the middle of the season of Lent, a time when Christians are encouraged to reflect on their lives and take steps to return to the promises of their baptism to turn away from sin and to follow Christ. For others in society, including those with little or no affiliation to Christianity, it can nonetheless prove a helpful time to focus on some aspect of life which needs changing or developing.
The benefits to our health from time outside are well known. Growing something from a small seed to a flourishing plant or flower requires care, skill and patience which not only brings us satisfaction but also slows us down. Unlike life in the modern world, nothing in nature is instant or immediate – it will not be rushed.
In this Easter Season, our scriptures also draw us outside. On Easter morning, Mary Magdalene finds herself in a garden, outside of Jesus’s tomb, so much so that she mistakes the resurrected Christ for the gardener. There is a vast passage of time between Adam and Eve’s banishment from the Garden of Eden to that moment when, in a garden, Mary realises that it is the risen Christ who calls her by name. Yet now in that garden, Mary and all who throughout the ages proclaim, ‘I have seen the Lord’ are restored to God’s eternal presence.
Maybe then there is something in the Easter Season when the resurrected Christ is ‘made known’ to us that can help us as we – as the Church of today – seek to make him known. Firstly, we need to go outside: to be active in our communities, in our schools and in reaching out to all as we show them the love of God; the God who – through Jesus – calls us by name. And secondly, all of this takes time. There can be an understandable anxiety about the often low numbers of people who come to church. Yet let us never forget that it took time for the good news of Jesus Christ to spread through active discipleship – like growth in a garden, nothing of this was immediate or instant – we need to persevere. As the Declaration of Assent made by all who are being ordained or licenced to a new appointment states, our faith is one that the church is called upon to ‘proclaim afresh to each generation.’
Team
Please meet our team
Rev Matthew Earwicker
Rector mattearwicker@gmail.comTel: 01249 821329
Rev Linda Dytham
Associate PriestIn the first instance please email or call the administrators office to contact Linda
Mrs Pam Evans
Licensed Lay MinisterIn the first instance please email or call the administrators office to contact Pam Evans
Emma Marsh
Administrator email: oldburybenefice@gmail.comTel: 07821 836233
Contact
The Benefice office is only open on select days but the benefice administtrator is working mainly from home. If you send her an email on the address below she will ensure yor message gets to right person in a timely fashion.
Our Address
The Oldbury Benefice
8 Court Farm Stables, Heddington
Calne SN11 0PN
Email Us
oldburybenefice@gmail.com
Call Us
01380 815198