Welcome to St James Church Thornham. We are a friendly and active church community open to everyone who wishes to join us and explore the Christian faith. We seek to share God's love through our relationships with one another and through our service to the community.

We are the Church of England parish church for Thornham, located between Oldham and Rochdale in Greater Manchester. Please use this website to find out more about us and if you have any questions, please get in touch. We would love to hear from you and for you to join our service.  We are in a plurality with our sister churches, St Mary's High Crompton and Holy Trinity Shaw.

You are welcome to attend any of our services or those of our sister services.  However, we also need to continue to take sensible precautions and keep some restrictions in place to help keep us safe from coronavirus. Therefore, please note the following:

Do not attend worship in church if you have any symptoms of coronavirus or have been told to isolate; we ask you to continue wearing a face covering as we are indoors; please sanitise your hands when you arrive in church and before receiving communion; we will not be passing around a collection plate; if you can, please set up a standing order or, otherwise, please place your financial offering in the plate as you enter church; at the peace, please remain in your pew and share a sign of peace with others from a distance (for example, by waving); please respect that some people will want to keep a safe distance from others; whilst this may not always be possible due to the numbers attending, please do your best to be sensitive to others;  we will continue to receive communion in one-kind (bread only); there are no refreshments served after the service - please make your way straight outside where you may, if you wish, stop to chat for a while.

For those who do not feel happy attending services with lots of other people, you might like to come to our midweek morning communions instead, if you can, where numbers will be low and strict distancing will be kept.

 Mother Katy is issuing a weekly newsletter giving full details of services and other useful information.   If you would like to go on our mailing list please contact Mother Katy through the contact number given.

You can also apply to join our Facebook page St James' Church, Thornham which will give more details about our church. We would love you to join.

"The Parish of Thornham: St James is committed to the safeguarding of children, young people and adults. We follow the House of Bishops guidance and polices and have out own Parish Safeguarding Officer (PSO). The Diocese of Manchester's safeguarding pages contain vital links and information including contacts for the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor (DSA) who advisor PSOs. If you are concerned that a child or adult has been harmed or may be at risk of harm please contact the DSA.  If you have immediate concerns about the safety of someone, please contact the police and your local authority Children or Adult Services."