A MARSTON vicar has celebrated two decades in the parish.

The Rev Tony Price said although his congregation at St Nicholas Church may have grown slightly smaller over the years, he is still in love with the village.

The 61-year-old studied modern languages at Oxford University in the late 1960s and said it “had always been a dream” to return to the city.

He later studied theology and was ordained in St Albans in 1979, before taking the word of God to places including Durham and Swindon.

He said of Oxford: “I kind of fell in love with the place, and have stayed ever since.”

Two years ago, Mr Price was also joined in the church by his wife, the Rev Dr Alison Price, 61, who is his curate. He said: “It’s lovely to be able to be partners with Alison both in marriage and at work.”

“I feel a great sense of thankfulness and privilege that I have been able to share in people’s lives for all these years.

“From baptisms to weddings and funerals, you get to watch families grow through the various stages of life. Though I can’t yet say I’ve married someone I baptised!”

He admitted the congregation had grown “slightly smaller” over the years.

But he added: “A lot of people have moved on and we are gradually getting newer people into the community. At the primary school, St Nicholas, they now have children speaking nearly 50 different languages.”

“A lot of people aren’t with us any more, as they’ve died or moved on. It makes me sad, but I also get the nice feeling that they had good lives and that it’s all just part of life.

“We are happy to have a congregation that spans all generations but we’d always like to welcome younger people.

“I think a lot of younger families like to find churches when there are other similar aged-people, but our doors are always open.”

The couple raised their four children, Tony, Martha, Naomi and Esther in the village and last year and welcomed their first grandchild, Libby, now 10 months, with two more on the way.