On Sunday 23rd March it was announced that Revd Oliver Harrison has been appointed as Team Vicar for the parish, see here. He will be officially licensed at a service in St Mary’s Kidlington at 8pm on Thursday 4th September so do book that date in your diary now.
For those of you who would like to know a bit more about Oliver here’s some info he’s sent:
Hello! My name is Oliver and starting in September I’m going to be the new Team Vicar, based around St John’s but serving the whole parish. Coming to Kidlington feels a little like coming home: I was born about 5 miles from here, on the Woodstock Road in north Oxford. That was in 1971, and I was one of the last babies to be delivered at the old Radcliffe Infirmary before the new John Radcliffe hospital was built. (By an amazing coincidence my daughter now works in the very same building doing medical research for the university.) I grew up in Witney, where my parents still live. My dad is very local: Oxfordshire all his life and an Oxford United season ticket holder. My mum is from Bergen in Norway, which is a little further north (just up the M40, past Banbury and keep going . . . .)
I’m married to Jessica and we have two daughters: Daisy (27), who lives Oxford, and Lucinda (23), who lives in Egypt. I was ordained in 1997 and have been Vicar of Holy Trinity, Wilnecote (part of Tamworth, just north east of Birmingham) for the last 17 years. I’m really looking forward to coming to Kidlington to work with Felicity and the here team serving God, the church and the people. It will be nice to move from a town to a village. (I am reliably informed that Kidlington IS a village and anyone who says otherwise will be punished without mercy. So, a village it is then.)
In my spare time I like fly fishing, reading old novels, and listening to the radio. I try to keep fit at the gym (don’t ask me how that’s going!) I also love tortoises (slow) and motorbikes (fast). These hobbies help my mental health, although I also take medication. (And most of the time I’m mostly OK.)
I’m really excited to be joining the team here; see you after the summer holidays!
God bless
Oliver
