Category Archives: St John’s Church

Christmas, Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Celebrate with us this Christmas

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas with lots going on in the parish, starting with our fabulous Christmas Tree Festival over the weekend of December 5-7 at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea; carols in the Hale Chapel Gardens (Hale cemetery) on December 5, followed by hot chocolate and mulled wine in St Mark’s Church; and a carol service at St George’s on Sunday, December 7 at 6pm.

The carol service will mark the end of the Christmas Tree Festival and the public’s favourite tree will be announced at the end of the service.

There will be a carol service at St John’s Church, Hale, on Sunday, December 14 at 6pm, and more outdoor carol singing on Monday, December 22, also at 6pm, at St George’s Church (inside if wet).

Crib services

On Christmas Eve there will be crib services at both St George’s and St Mark’s, starting at 3pm with a crib service especially for toddlers at St George’s. This will be followed by an interactive crib service at 5.30pm. At St Mark’s there will be an all-age interactive crib service at 5pm on Christmas Eve.

Midnight Mass and Christmas Day

There will be one Midnight Mass in the parish: at St John’s, starting at 11.30pm and on Christmas morning there will be a family communion at St George’s at 10am and St Mark’s at 11am. Both of these will tell the Christmas story using chocolates and sweets!

Please join us at any or all of these. Everyone is welcome.

Church Buildings, Giving and Fundraising, St John's Church

The Work Begins!

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St John’s tower restoration

The scaffolding is up and work is about to begin to restore the crumbling tower at St John’s. This is thanks to the generosity of individual donors and grant-awarding bodies, and the hard work of parishioners who applied for grants and put on fundraisers to find the cash for the repairs.

The work will cost at least £32,500 and we’ve been raising the money for several years through a mix of grants, fundraising events and donations. At the end of July, we launched a final push to find the last £5,500 so that the stonemason could start in September. Publicity, including in the Farnham Herald, brought forth a flood of donations meaning that Anstey & Stone, stonemasons, can begin work now.

Rev’d Lexi Russell, rector of the church, said: “Thank you so much for the incredibly generous donations which have been made. They mean that a Hale landmark which has stood there for generations past will be standing for generations to come.

“We do know that because the church is old – it is 181 now – it is very likely that there will be more work needed and we will need more funds, so please, if you feel able, do continue to donate. And thank you all again for what you have done.”

Restoration work is expected to take six weeks to complete and should be finished by the end of October. In the meantime, further fundraising events are in the calendar, including a concert of 60s music by popular Farnham band Out of the Shadows on the afternoon of September 27, starting at 2pm. Information is available here. There is also a fundraising page here.

If we raise more money than we actually need for the tower itself it will go into a fund specifically for work on St John’s and will not be spent on anything else.

Giving and Fundraising, St John's Church

Final push for St John’s tower funds

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St John’s Church needs just another £5,500 to fund repairs to its tower which, at 181 years old, is crumbling.

Repairs to the tower will cost more than £32,000 and we have raised almost £27,000 through donations, fundraising events and grants. As the work is urgent and a stonemason is available in mid- September, we need to find the final £5,500 in time to pay the bill. There is another fundraising evening coming up in September. For details, click here.

The church was opened in 1844 and was designed by Benjamin Ferrey, a pupil of the famous architect Pugin. It looks older than many Victorian churches as it is in the Romanesque style which dominated church architecture in the 11th to 12th century. It was extended in 1897 to accommodate a growing congregation following the expansion of Aldershot as a garrison town.

Rector Rev’d Lexi Russell said: “What an incredible effort from everyone involved! The community has come together with creative ways to raise the funds to repair the tower of our beautiful church. We are now on the home stretch, with one final push to reach our goal before mid-September. St John’s has stood as a beacon of hope on Hale Road for generations, and with your continued support, we can ensure it remains so for generations to come.”

The parish has received grants from Farnham Town Council, the Church of England, Marshall’s Charity, the Surrey Churches Preservation Trust and Benefact Trust, and has fundraised through events such as the recent Pugs and Prejudice, a celebration of dogs in literature, especially that of Jane Austen. Individuals have also given generously, meaning that there is almost enough money to repair the tower of this much-loved church which has been part of the Hale landscape for almost 200 years.

To donate to tower fund, contact Rev’d Lexi Russell on 07792 233477 or rev.lexi@badshotleaandhale.org, or visit our fundraising page here.

Events, Giving and Fundraising, music, St George's Church, St John's Church

Out of the Shadows and into St George’s

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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.

Badshot Lea Community Fete, Events, Leadership, magazine, News Releases, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Your July/August magazine is here

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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!

July and Aug 25Download

Giving and Fundraising, News Releases, Social Events, St John's Church

Pugs and Prejudice

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Join us at St John’s Church on Friday 4th July at 7pm as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, with Pugs and Prejudice, an entertaining talk about Austen’s life as well as the dogs and costumes of the Regency period. Admission is free.

The talk will be given by Jenny Colquhoun, a local Jane Austen expert and enthusiast. She will be assisted by her Maltese dog, Lilli (pictured above). The pair will be dressed in matching Regency outfits and there will be a selection of bonnets, top hats, waistcoats and cravats for you to try on, too.

To accompany the event, Margaret Emberson and Lesley and Bob Shatwell will play Regency music, and there will be refreshments, including homemade cakes. You will also have a chance to win some Maltesers from Lilli.

You may have visited Jane Austen’s home in Chawton, but did you know that her family also had a Farnham connection? Jane’s brother, Henry, became a curate in Farnham in 1819. This raises the question, did Jane ever visit her brother in Farnham? Henry has often been described as her favourite brother, so it seems hard to believe that she never travelled here. There is nothing in her letters to suggest that she did but, since some of her letters were burned by her sister, it is fun to imagine that perhaps Jane was familiar with our town too.

Join us on Friday, July 4th, at 7pm, at St John’s, Hale, for an entertaining evening of doggy tales and tails, bonnets and bows. Although admission is free, there will be the opportunity to make a donation towards restoring St John’s tower. Please let us know if you are coming as we need to know how many to cater for and Lilli wants to know how many packs of Maltesers to pop in her Regency reticule. Call 07842761919 or email admin@badshotleaandhale.org.

Pictured: Left: A Reticule bag. (Image from Look and Learn, Rijksmuseum).
Right: Jenny and Lilli at a recent Jane Austen event.

Giving and Fundraising, St John's Church

The St John’s tower: another fundraising push

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Like a beloved grandmother St John’s Church in Hale is beautiful, much-loved but showing her age. In fact, she’s just turned 180 so it isn’t surprising.

It’s her tower which is suffering the most and is in greatest need of repair and we are determined to do this, so ensuring that this historic centre of worship can stay open for many more years to come, and that the bell can once more ring to call people in Hale to services. (At the moment the bell is silent as vibrations from ringing it risk more damage to the tower).

Unfortunately, but inevitably, this will cost money – at least £50,000. We are applying for grants for this but also need to raise part of the money ourselves. We’ve already had some generous donations and thank you to everyone who has given money.

Visit our GoFundMe page

We’ve now opened a new fundraising page, this time with GoFundMe and invite everyone to give something – even a few pounds will make a difference. To do so click here.

Thank you again for your support.