Church is moving outside on August 31st when we will be holding an outdoor service and picnic in the field next to Badshot Lea Community Garden at 11am.
It will be a united parish service (so no services in any of the churches that day) and everyone is welcome. Bring your own chairs, picnic blankets, picnics and your friends and enjoy worshipping God outdoors. There will be some gazebos to provide a bit of shade and the garden will be open for everyone to visit too.
Badshot Lea Community Garden is run by the Badshot Lea Bloomers and has allotment spaces to rent, heritage hops growing, a wildlife friendly pond and lots of plants encouraging biodiversity. They hold community events, support schools, encourage gardeners, keep the village tidy and colourful and are just an all-round good group.
Join us outside on August 31st at 11am. All welcome.
Enjoy a musical afternoon and raise money for the St John’s tower repair fund
St George’s will resound to the music of the 60s on the afternoon of Saturday, September 27th, when the band Out of the Shadows will give a concert to raise funds to repair St John’s tower which is crumbling and in urgent need of repair.
Out Of The Shadows are sixties covers band who enjoy putting on fundraising concerts in the Farnham area. This one will start at 2pm and will involve tea and cake! There will also be a cash raffle.
Tickets are £10 on the door or ahead of time – to guarantee entry – from Sue Lampard on 07596953138.
Come along and enjoy the music, tea and cake and raise money for the tower repairs.
The summer heat is really upon us but our magazine is full of cool news and events. Read about Rev’d Lexi, our new rector, meet her dog Bugsy and see what the Church Cat has to say about them. There’s a report on our fete, news of family workshops at the churches courtesy of Farnham Maltings, and yet another dog – Lilli, the Maltese, who is bringing her human, Jenny, to St John’s for a Regency evening of Pugs and Prejudice.
That’s just a brief glance at some of what you can read if you click below. And check out our advertisers too!
Pamela Marsham will be licensed as a Lay Associate Minister at Guildford Cathedral on Saturday, July 5th at 10.30am.
As a Lay Associate Minister, Pamela will continue work alongside Lexi and the rest of the ministry team. Her course has focused on preaching, teaching and discipleship and she has also done the diocese’s Worship Leaders Course.
“That for me is the most important as my focus is on leading worship. and Lexi is keen for me to continue to do that,” says Pamela. “I have been lucky really, in that I have been able to gain experience in this while training.”
During the course, Pamela particularly valued meeting others who were on the same path as she was. She adds: “We were all on a journey and it was exciting as we didn’t really know what it would actually lead us to do. I think there are some in the group who will continue the journey and probably go on to train to either be LLMs or even become ordained. Those roles are definitely not what I will do as obviously age is against me but I can lead worship and that is a great privilege. I hope, too, that I am showing that age is not a barrier to serving God.
“I am also reading more theology and am constantly learning more about what the Scriptures teach us.”
Tickets to the licensing have been allocated but if you would still like to attend you can do so and can have unreserved seating which will be towards the back of the cathedral.
There’s a new rector in town. After 16 months with no-one in post, the parish has welcomed Rev’d Alexa (Lexi) Russell as its new rector.
Rev’d Lexi was installed as Rector at a service at St George’s Church on Monday, June 2, attended by parish members, visiting clergy, councillors and other community representatives.
Rt Rev’d Paul Davies (Bishop of Dorking) installed Lexi as Rector, while other parts of the ceremony were conducted by Rev’d Robert Jenkins, Assistant Archdeacon of Surrey, and Rev’d Tara Hellings, Assistant Area Dean.
Lexi was Assistant Curate in the Wythenshawe Team in Manchester Diocese. She is in a civil partnership with Johanna, a doctor, and they have a nine-month-old son Leo.
Lexi said: “What a welcome we have had. I am incredibly grateful to all those who took the time to welcome us into the parish. The lead up to this moment has been immense not just for the parish but also for me, and I’m incredibly excited to see what God has planned for us all.”
Monday’s service had its origins far back in the history of the Church of England and involved giving Lexi the ‘cure of souls’ – the spiritual responsibility for the parish – and the ‘temporalities’ of the parish, that is, the physical buildings and their contents. Lexi was also led round the church in a symbolic series of acts which included having her hand placed on the door and receiving the keys, then tolling a bell; being seated in a chair (the ‘stall of the priest’); pouring water into the font; receiving a large Bible; and placing bread and wine on the altar.
The service was followed by a party with a celebration cake.
Lexi will preside at her first service in the parish at St Mark’s, Upper Hale, on Sunday, June 8, at 11am. All are welcome.
Pictured above from left: Churchwarden Pamela Marsham, Rev’d Robert Jenkins, Rev’d Alexa Russell, Rt Rev’d Paul Davies, churchwarden Kris Lawrence
Pictured below: Lexi and Johanna; Lexi cuts the celebration cake,
The parish runs the Farnham Poetry Competition on behalf of the Farnham Literary Festival. The entries are now all in and the winners will be announced at the awards evening and open mic on Saturday, March 15th, at St Mark’s Church, starting at 5pm. Coral Rumble and Linda Daruvala, the two judges will present prizes and also read from their own works.
The 16s-and-under awards will be presented first, and young people will have a chance to share their poetry if they wish. Then there will be an interval so that if any of the families need to go home, they can. The over-16s awards will be presented after the interval, and there will be an open mic.
All welcome to attend, to hear the poetry and to join in the open mic.
Join us on Saturday, March 8th at 7pm, for the top 10 hymns/worship songs. as voted for by the parish.
On Saturday evening we will reveal the parish’s favourite hymns and Christian songs and have a good time singing them. People across the three churches voted for their favourites and everyone is welcome to join in singing them.
We are entering a busy, hopefully warmer, time of year in the church calendar. This month, Lent begins and with that our preparations for Easter. Many of us use this time to reflect on our relationship with our loving God and seek to draw nearer to God through prayer, meditation and study. Joining a Lent group can help with this and there are several in the parish – see inside the magazine for further details.
Inside you will also find news and details of events such as the Farnham Poetry Competition Awards Evening and Open Mic, Draw Farnham at St Mark’s, our Easter Craft Market and Easter egg hunt, Top 10 Hymns/Worship Songs and much more.
Please do have a look inside, and don’t forget our advertisers. Check them out and if you use them, don’t forget to tell them where you saw their advert. They help us by placing their ads with us so we want to help them.
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 