Maintaining spiritual wellbeing with worship at church

Being centrally located in North Oxford Fairfield is surrounded by excellent churches, many of which provide transport to get residents to church for services and social gatherings

 

Being located in North Oxford we have a range of churches of different denominations close by that Fairfield residents can attend to worship.

The closest is St Andrews Church in Linton Road, Oxford. St Andrews has an active programme of social and educational events as well as Sunday services and we are lucky to have some very helpful volunteers who visit Fairfield twice a week to offer lifts to those residents who choose to attend the church. Residents really enjoy the senior’s community at St Andrews, which includes a Lunch Club on the third Thursday of the month. They also run a group called Outlook, which meets occasionally and organises a number of outings that the older generation enjoy.

Two Fairfield residents who are regular visits and worshipers at St Andrews are Miss Meredith and Miss Kurtz. Miss Meredith has been visiting St Andrews church for over 6 years and thoroughly enjoys attending both the social events and the services. Miss Kurtz, who has been visiting St Andrews for many years, said “Everyone is so friendly and welcoming there.”

St Andrews is not the only church where residents can worship. Some of the other churches close to Fairfield also have wonderful volunteers who come to Fairfield to pick up our residents to drive them to the church so that they can join in with the Sunday morning worship.

For those who would rather worship from the comfort of Fairfield, we also hold regular Church of England Communion and Evensong services and we can arrange visits by representatives of other faiths if required.

The importance of worship for some of the older generation and providing continuity in terms of familiar rituals and routines can help them to sustain memory and thus wellbeing. Alison Parry, Fairfield manager said, “Being able to worship is often very important to the older generation and we respect their desire to attend a church of their choice. We are lucky to be centrally located in North Oxford and to be surrounded by excellent churches who offer transport to our residents to get them to church for services and social gatherings.”