News

An announcement from the Bishop of Guildford

Announcement made at St Andrew’s Church, Oxshott at the main morning service on Sunday 21 April 2024

The Bishop of Guildford is delighted to announce that Revd Patrick Davies has been appointed as Vicar at Oxshott, subject to DBS and medical clearance. As you will know, he is currently Associate Minister. Patrick will be having a break, which will be agreed with the Archdeacon, between finishing his current role and being licensed as your new Incumbent. Final arrangements are yet to be confirmed, but it is expected that this licensing will be in September.

Patrick says: …..

“It is an absolute joy and a real privilege to have been appointed as the next Vicar of Oxshott – and, with Belinda and the children, to have the opportunity to love and serve God, the church and community in our village. Since arriving in 2020 as Curate, through highs and lows, we have been so blessed to be a part of what God is doing here, and look forward with excitement, anticipation, trust and hope for the years to come.”

Please pray for Patrick and his family as they prepare to move.

on behalf of the Churchwardens

Friends, ‘Romans’ …

As we look at Paul’s letter to the Romans together in Church on Sundays, the online resources from the Bible Society are really helpful to enrich our understanding together.

Each week there is a video which further unpacks the themes, and a study guide with thoughts and questions to consider – both of which can be used in groups, or on your own.

Access the resources

Watch or listen to the sermon series

In addition, at the moment the ‘Kindle’ version of the book: ‘Romans: A Letter That Makes Sense of Life’ by Andrew Ollerton is available for 99p on Amazon, or physical copies of the book are available from Eden.co.uk (£16.17).  (Please be in touch, in confidence, if you would like a copy of the book, but would find the cost too much.)

APCM information

You are invited to join us on Sunday 24 March at 7 for 7.30pm as we hold our annual meeting (officially known as the APCM – the Annual Parochial Church Meeting).

If you come at 7pm you will be offered a free glass of wine!

This year’s meeting will be led by our Area Dean, Renos Pittarides, who will also lead a short service of Holy Communion at 6.30pm.

Come prepared by reading the APCM Report and Budget If you need a hard copy please ask the office.

Come and vote for new members on the PCC.*

Come and pray for the year ahead.

*Please note that only those who are on the Electoral Roll can vote.

Thank you from Tanka Subedi


Tanka Subedi has sent his grateful thanks for the Christmas gift from St Andrew’s on behalf of his family and the children of the Ashish orphanage. The children love their warm clothing and they were able to have a joyful Christmas celebration. They were able to invite other villagers and it was a really blessed time for all in the village. The Subedi family were able to have a welcome and refreshing weekend break in Pokhara.

 

BYC – Latest update

The main news since our previous update is that our application for funding from Your Fund Surrey was submitted on 29 December. You will recall that the tenders we received were all considerably higher than our original budget, but success in our application to Your Fund Surrey will reduce, or even eradicate, the funding gap.

You will also recall that Your Fund Surrey’s timeframe means that we will not get a decision from them until March 2024 – and one of their requirements is that we cannot start work before then. But in the interim we are continuing our preparations, including for vacating the ancillary buildings, and by further discussions with Ash Contracting, our preferred partner for this project.

At the close of 2023, it is worth reminding ourselves that a year ago we had no firm plans, incomplete governance for the project, much less funding, no agreement from the Diocese and no planning permission!  The church leadership remains strongly behind the scheme and this month the Archdeacon also confirmed that the forthcoming Vacancy in the parish would itself be no reason to delay progress; we are therefore very encouraged to explore all options to make it happen.

For more information about the project see Building Your Church

Making a difference at home and abroad – Thank you

Our Christmas collections on behalf of B@titude in Leatherhead and
for 50 orphans at the Ashish children’s home in Nepal, a charity run
by Tanka and Rita Subedi, have raised a total of £1440. This collection
will be split equally between these two charities, for which we are very
grateful. Thank you so much for Making a difference at home and abroad.

BYC – November update

We were pleased to receive four responses to our Tender invitations from the list of potential contractors, but disappointingly, each one quoted a figure over £1 million (excluding VAT). The best is from Ash Contracting, who acted in this role on Phase 1 and consequently, whilst much work remains to be done, we are now in further discussions with them as our preferred partner on this project.

The figure is much higher than we had hoped for, even allowing for the inflation that we had anticipated, and is a significant increase from our original budget. We need to redouble our efforts to ensure we only do what is really needed to better provide for our existing activities and to develop new ones.

This is entirely consistent with our application for funding to Your Fund Surrey, as their motivation is to help fund spaces and projects that reach new people of all ages in our community. Your Fund Surrey’s timeframe means that we will not get a final decision from them until March 2024 – and one of their requirements is that we cannot start work before then.

Our focus now is to see how we can reduce the project costs to a manageable level and to finalise our application to Your Fund Surrey. The Parochial Church Council agreed with this approach, and that we should continue in our endeavours to complete this exciting project, based on the significant approvals and funding already in place, and on the basis that minimal costs are incurred from now until we achieve full funding. The church leadership remains strongly behind the scheme and the BYC team are encouraged to explore all options to make it happen.

For more information about the project see Building Your Church

An Announcement from Revd Frances Trickey

This is a letter I had hoped I would not have to write for some years. However, after discussions with my oncologist and the Diocese of Guildford, I am writing to inform you of my retirement through ill-health as the Vicar of St Andrew’s, Oxshott. The date set is 31.12.2023, although Jolyon and I will continue to live in The Vicarage for at least January 2024.

It has been the privilege of my life to be the Vicar of this community and church. Thank you to all of you who have sent me good wishes throughout my treatment this year, for those who have prayed, the encouraging cards and for all the practical expressions of loving care.

Thank you too to each individual and organisation that make up our lovely community: for welcoming me into your homes at times of great joy as well as great sadness; for the welcome into the various village organisations and the opportunity to work alongside many seeking to work for the good of all who live in Oxshott.

And a special thank you to my Church Family who have allowed me to lead them, despite my failings and inevitable mistakes, and for the love and joy we have shared as followers of Jesus Christ.

I do hope that there will be an opportunity for me to say goodbye face to face at an event to be arranged in January.

Blessings,

 

 

Revd Frances Trickey
Vicar

Here is a video update which was shown during our service on 19 November.

Update from Tanka Subedi

The core of Tanka & Rita’s work that we support is Iteen. This uses a simple but powerful model of Biblical Learning that transforms lives and equips leaders. This is simply explained in a new animation that can be viewed here:

In Nepal Tanka and Rita were the first to use this model, starting in their home, with one small group (like the one in the picture), soon after they were married 27 years ago. Rita translated the materials from English into Nepalese. Today Iteen support over 6,000 students across Nepal, training group leaders and translating materials at many different levels.