Ginny Thomas Reflects on Her Career and Time at St Luke’s and Christ Church

My association with St Luke’s and Christ Church began before I was appointed honorary curate in 2000. The Revd Christopher Kevill-Davies had kindly agreed to sponsor me while I was preparing for ordination after I had completed my Masters of Divinity at Yale. As is customary in serving for my title, I served as deacon in my first year and was priested in 2001. I was then able to fully participate in serving the congregation and parish.

Some activities that gave me particular pleasure included being part of the Bible study group that met at Vickie McNair’s, visiting parishioners – both on the Sutton Estate and further afield – and introducing and leading a regular play and worship morning for pre-school children.

Morning and Evening Prayer, which were said regularly in the PIFFA chapel, came to have special resonance when we visited our daughter in Pakistan in 2022. During our visit, we were able to visit St Luke’s church in Abbottabad where there are many memorials to the British presence.

In the autumn 2004, I took up a position at St Mary The Boltons, initially for three months before being appointed as priest-in-charge and subsequently as vicar. I spent 10 happy years there serving the congregation and parish. In addition to daily clergy responsibilities, highlights included pilgrimages to Lindisfarne, Spain, and Waldsassen in Bavaria. The latter was in connection with the handblown glass for the striking Craigie Aitchison memorial window.

I had planned to retire in 2012 when my husband, Patrick, retired but stayed on to see the dedication of the Craigie window in 2013. But a chance (?) meeting with the Bishop of Dorchester in the Oxford diocese led me to apply for the position of vicar of the Tew Benefice, near Chipping Norton, to which I was appointed in the summer of 2014. The benefice consisted of three churches: St Michael and All Angels, Great Tew; St John the Evangelist, Little Tew, and St Nicholas, Heythrop.

Each parish had its own identity but through joint services and activities we were able to come together as a community. The services included an Advent carol service in the Norman chapel (once belonging to a priory on the site) in Heythrop but little used due to the absence of heat and light. Another service saw an animal blessing that included lamas, monkeys, skunks and a giant tortoise from ‘Amazing Animals’ in Heythrop. At Little Tew, the children in the Benefice came together to take part in Easter and Christmas stories on Good Friday and Christmas Eve.

A major project at St Michael’s and All Angels was the building of an extension to house a vestry, small kitchen, storage space and loos. Thanks to the generous support of Nicholas Johnson, the owner of the Great Tew estate, and many others the vestry was completed in 2020.

With the vestry nearing completion, the time had finally come to retire after 20 years of ministry. Patrick and I moved to Headington, Oxford, where we are happily settled and now worship at St Andrew’s, Old Headington, where we were married 54 years ago.

I always enjoy visiting St Luke’s and catching up with the clergy and administrative staff. It is a great privilege to be invited to preach during St Luke’s 200^th anniversary year and I look forward to seeing you at St Luke’s on Sunday 8 September.

Ginny Thomas