Church News

The Church Centre was packed with quiz teams for the St James’s Events Team’s ‘Mid-Winter Mystery Quiz Evening’ on Friday 30th January. Once again, Hilary, Martin, Jo and Derrick hosted the quiz.

The Events Team quizzes have become known for being a little bit different! All the questions were illustrated and projected onto the big screen to make the event as inclusive as possible. The quiz included pictures, video clips and music as well as more traditional questions.

All the rounds were linked to the overall Mid-Winter and Mystery theme such as Frostbitten Facts, Deceptive Dishes, Crimes and Conundrums, Baffling Buildings and Who Dun-its. The music round featured pop songs that ask a question such as ‘How Deep Is Your Love?’ and ‘Why Does It Always Rain on Me?’ And the film round consisted of video clips of some of the best (and worst) murder mystery movies of all time. There was also a TV Detectives tabletop quiz for teams to puzzle over.

This sell-out evening was not only great fun but raised £500 for Church funds.

Thank you to all who came and supported us.

Watch this space later in the year as we may be back by popular demand with a pre–Christmas Quiz.

A huge thank you to everyone and anyone who has knitted a square, hat , scarf or put a blanket together- over 1,720 squares have passed through our coffee morning . Knit for peace is a charity and the items go to Taunton Action for Refugees.
We are still keeping going so please ‘carry on knitting’

Welcome to Reverend Julian

We have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of our new vicar, Reverend Dr Julian Davies for several months and are delighted that he has now joined us here in the Benefice of Winscombe and Sandford with Churchill.

Reverend Julian was licensed by the Bishop of Bath and Wells at a special service held at St James’s on Thursday 15th January. Over 100 people attended the service including the Bishop, Archdeacon and Area Dean together with clergy from the local area. Friends and colleagues of Reverend Julian were also there to support him together with members of the congregations.

This was followed by a welcome reception in the Church Centre.

On Sunday 18th January, Reverend Julian celebrated his first service with us, Benefice Holy Communion at the Church Centre.

At the end of the service, he was presented with a hamper of local produce to welcome Julian and his family to the area.

We are all looking forward to a positive future working with Reverend Julian in our church and local communities. He is looking forward to getting to know us over the coming weeks.

Reverend Julian’s contact details can be found on the Home Page of the website

For many years we have been privileged to enjoy a Christmas concert by local folk group Badgerset and this year was no exception.

The group is made up of musically talented members of 5 families who each have a link to Mendip Morris.

We were entertained with an eclectic mix of Christmas music; folk tunes and songs from ancient to modern, dance and humour.

A fantastic evening which has raised over £10,000 for St James’s and All Saints Churches over the past twelve years.

This Christmas we decided to do the Christingle Service in a different way! In order to try to involve as many children as possible, the Children’s Society Committee approached Winscombe Primary School and asked if we might hold the Christingle there.

The Head, Mrs Baker, was extremely welcoming and in early December we went to Linden Class (Year 3) and explained to them how Christingle began and what it represents; they then each made a Christingle.

They used an apple to represent the world, red tape round the apple to show the love of God for the world, four orange sticks with a grape, some sultanas, a piece of carrot and a sweet to represent the four corners of the earth and the four seasons of the year. Finally, a candle was placed on the top of the apple.

We then went into the school hall for assembly where the children of Linden Class stood at the front and explained the meaning of the Christingles to the other classes in the school. We sang two songs, said a prayer and then the candles were lit, the lights were dimmed, and we all sang a verse of ‘Away in a Manger’.

It was a magical occasion and Mrs Baker has very kindly asked us to return for Christmas 2026

Remembrance Sunday was marked in each of our churches with a special service including marking the two minute silence and the laying of wreathes on our village memorials. Each church  was decorated for the occasion.

The service at St James’ the Great in Winscombe was attended by many members of the village’s uniformed groups including Beavers, Scouts and Explorers, Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers with each section parading their flag, behind the Union Flag and the colours of the Royal British Legion. It was wonderful to see so many young people joining in the commemoration.

A number of community groups were also represented and laid their wreathes on the memorial in the churchyard.

On Tuesday 11th November, Armistice Day, we  held a special Remembrance Coffee Morning in the Church Centre. The Union Flag was paraded followed by a short service of remembrance.

We were pleased to welcome Year 6 from Winscombe Primary School who participated in the service by reading a beautiful and very moving poem which they had written as a class. The children also shared some wonderful paintings that they had created on the same theme.

We were so impressed by their poem that we felt others may wish to read it.

The Fab Twins returned to the Church Centre to play in front of a sell out crowd at this year’s Autumn Supper.

Songs from the 50s, 60s and 70s were enjoyed by everyone and the dancers were in good form.

A delicious ploughman’s supper was served and the bar did a good trade too!