Join us to celebrate our patron saint with a Praise Service.

Churches dedicated to St Nicholas are the highest in the league table of saints but Ickford is one of the few to keep up the tradition of installing a child bishop to preside over the service. Our child bishop, in cope and mitre, also lights the first candle on the Advent wreath.

Who was St Nicholas?
St Nicholas is the origin of Santa Claus leaving children their presents on Christmas Eve. But where did the story come from? Three girls are being sold into slavery by their father who is too poor to provide them with a dowry. After praying, the girls wake up to find that Nicholas has intervened and left them three bags of gold in the night. Watch as children from Ickford School enact the saint’s tale.

Can you find the gold?
After the service, children can hunt for St Nicholas's 'golden coins' hidden around the church. There’s piñata too, filled with sweets, and coffee and cake for the adults. Look closely at the Churchwardens' staffs for the emblem representing three bags of gold.

Join us at our Christingle celebration, accompanied by the Shabbington handbells! All ages welcome.

'A Christingle is a symbolic object used in the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany services of many Christian denominations. It symbolises the birth of Christ, the Light of the World. A modern Christingle is made from a candle in an orange (representing the light and the world respectively) which is typically decorated with a red ribbon and sweets or dried fruit. It has been a feature in Moravian churches across the United Kingdom since before the World Wars. As members of Moravian churches moved away from their home congregations, they took the custom of Christingles with them and introduced it to other denominations. In the 1960s John Pensom adopted it as a fundraising tool for the Children's Society of the Church of England.'

Start Christmas in style with wine, nibbles and carols in at St Nicholas, Ickford. Everybody welcome. No charge but a donation is welcome to support the Friends of St Nicholas.

Join the whole community at the pub to get in to the Christmas spirit.

Our annual crib service at St Nicholas with a visit from The Puppets. Come and help us bring the Holy Family to the stable.

This year, our parish midnight communion service (midnight mass) is at St Nicholas. Come and welcome Jesus with the angels at the first service of Christmas Day.

A praise service for Christmas Day (no communion).