Contact Details

Here are some of our contact details:

The address of the church

St James Church, Church End, Biddenham, MK40 4AS.
There is a small square outside the church where cars can be parked.

Vicar

Rev Eric Lomax,

01234 328452   or   07805 879537

rev.ejlomax@gmail.com

Church wardens

Laurie Hurn   01234 364251

Lois Price  01234 961826

Verger

Hilary Hurn 01234 364251

Members of our Parochial Church Council (PCC)

The PCC is the executive committee of the parish:

Eric Lomax – Chair
Jenny King – Secretary
Simon King – Treasurer treasurer@stjamesbiddenham.com
Laurie Hurn – Churchwarden
Lois Price – Churchwarden
Edwin Martin – PCC member
Michael Hurford – PCC member
Chris Haydn-Jones – PCC member
John Lambert – PCC member
Peter Leverkus – PCC member
Margaret Lowe – PCC Member

Safeguarding

Vacant safeguarding@stjamesbiddenham.com

Barn Hire

Our church hall is an old and attractive barn which has a kitchen and other facilities suitable for holding a meeting or celebration. For more information and to hire the barn please contact:

For more information and to hire the barn please contact:

Email: stjamesbarnbiddenham@gmail.com (this is our preferred method of initial contact)
Jane Knight: 07831 172320
Rebecca Balmbro: 07769 944727

Baptisms

baptism-footer

If you would like to have your child baptised, please contact the Vicar as above.  We would be delighted to baptise your child in the church before God and to commit ourselves to help to pray for and care for your child.

A member of the congregation visits each family, if they are happy to be visited, before the baptism service.  The purpose of this is to provide a link between the church and the family and to give you an opportunity to ask about anything that you are not sure of. It is particularly important for families who are making their first contact with St James’s at this time. We encourage you to bring your children to join us in our regular worship services and activities when they are old enough.  The baptism service is discussed and you will also be asked if you have a special hymn that if possible can be included in the service.  You, your family and guests are invited to join us for coffee in the barn following the service.

We like to give all children a Children’s Bible at their baptism as this is the book around which our faith centres.

If you would like to be baptised as an adult, we would be delighted that you are committing yourself to be a follower of Jesus.

Please contact our vicar Eric Lomax.

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Presenting the children at a baptism

Confirmations

Confirmation is a time when a person declares publicly that the declaration of faith and promises of following Christ which were made on their behalf at their baptism are accepted and will be followed by that person. It is also the time when one becomes a full member of the Church of England. If you would like to take this step and be confirmed, please contact the vicar.

What about all those promises that were made at our baptism? When we are baptised (as children), promises are made for us by our parents and godparents. These are that God will be our god, that we will turn from evil, that is repentance and that we accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Master.

As we get older we need to state that we personally hold to these promises and that they were not just a part of a traditional service repeated by our parents and godparents because that is the culture. When we can honestly state that we will follow God as our god, we repent of our sins and we will follow Jesus as our Saviour and our Master we become true children of God, that is true Christians. Jesus says in the Bible, that this commitment to God, repentance for our sins and acceptance of Jesus as our Saviour and Lord needs to be repeated in public and for us Anglicans this is what confirmation is. It is as we make this commitment that the Holy Spirit comes into our lives and helps us to lead a life pleasing to God.

The bishops are concerned that many people who are baptised never take this step of affirming these promises for themselves, and there are many baptised but unconfirmed adults in our churches.

They are encouraging such adults to take the step of affirming their baptismal vows in public at confirmation. This is particularly important in our secular age and at a time where the majority of practising Christians in the UK are not members of our Anglican church.

Please contact our vicar Eric Lomax.

Weddings

weddings

Our church is an ancient, beautiful and holy place to celebrate your wedding and to make your vows before God.

Please contact our vicar Eric Lomax.

Funerals

At a time of loss we as a church family would aim to be a comfort and support to you.

Please contact our vicar Eric Lomax.

Other links

All Saints Church Kempston, our sister church: http://www.allsaintskempston.com

St Albans Diocesan website:  https://www.stalbans.anglican.org

“The Loop” publication:    loopeditor@gmail.com

Biddenham village website:  http://biddenham.org.uk