News

On Wednesday 17 July, the class of Year 6 children from the Royal Kent School delivered ‘Bags of Kindness’ to members of the St Andrew’s Church Lunch Club.

Having raised the funds to create these bags through a sponsored run around the school field, the children relished the opportunity to spread kindness to some older members of our community.

RKS Deputy Head, Mr Blaney and teacher, Mrs Mather noted how engaged and engaging the children were, putting both time and effort into listening to the fascinating stories being shared by the lunch guests. So captivated were they, that they retold all they had heard on their return to school, inspired by even former England Cricket players, here in the heart of Oxshott!

Phillip and Sheila Herbert had their Diamond wedding anniversary on 12 June, and we were thrilled to celebrate with them last Sunday (15 June) after church.

60 years is a big landmark – our best wishes and every blessing to you both!

 

It was a real joy to join together to celebrate the opening of our new, refurbished buildings at St Andrew’s at our Community Open Day on Sunday 8 June, Pentecost Sunday!

Following the church service in the morning, at 12noon we (very temporarily) closed the building – so that we could open it again, but this time with a little more ceremony! The official ‘opener’ was Martha, aged 7 – who is the fifth generation of her family to be part of the church and community at St Andrew’s Oxshott – and so, as she took down the blue ribbon across the front doors and officially opened the building, she represented both the past heritage, present life and future hope of our church – which we pray will be a place of blessing in our whole community for many generations to come.

A wonderful buffet lunch was provided, and all those who gathered were able to enjoy food and drink in the sunshine on the terrace, and around the church grounds, as families gathered from across our community to join with the fun and celebrations.

It was great to see the happy faces of all those enjoying the bouncy castles, garden games, scavenger hunt, and indoor activities – as well as those taking a more relaxed opportunity for cake and company around the church grounds.

We were joined during the afternoon by Bishop Paul – Bishop of Dorking – who at 2pm helped with the burial of our Time Capsule, containing a snapshot of life in Oxshott in 2025.

As part of the afternoon’s celebrations, we partnered with Oxshott Net Zero to plant wildflowers along the hedgerow near the crossroads, which we hope we will see springing up soon – a blessing to nature, and for all to enjoy!

A big thank you to all those who helped with the organisation of this very special day – and helped it to run so smoothly.  We have been so encouraged by the number of people who attended, and have let us know how much they would enjoy another Community Day – so, we hope we may be able to make this kind of community gathering a more regular event in the coming years.

It was wonderful to welcome almost 80 people into the newly refurbished hall, where eight teams battled it out for the St Andrew’s Oxshott Quiz Trophy. It felt like a good night was had by all, with many tables enjoying the plentiful supplies of food and drink that they brought along whilst testing their quiz powers with dingbats, picture and music quizzes and subject-specific rounds.

After 10 rounds of closely fought competition, the team from St Andrew’s Cobham lifted the trophy, meaning it will be proudly displayed outside the Parish for the next 12 months. Last year’s winners, The Quizzy Rascals, were the best-performing team from the parish of Oxshott and will no doubt be in training to reclaim the trophy next year.

Yet again the generosity of those involved in the quiz night, and those attending the Sunday service, was humbling; we have been able to contribute just over £2,000 to Christian Aid’s work.

Should you like to support Christian Aid’s work, please either donate to Mark’s Just Giving page or directly to Christian Aid.

All are welcome to join us for a Community Open Day from – 12noon – 4pm – to celebrate the completion of our recent building renewal project. There will be bouncy castles, refreshments, fun and games and we will be burying a time capsule filled with contributions from across the community.

The ‘Official Opening’ will be at 12noon, and we will bury the Time Capsule at 2pm.

Christian Aid Week takes place between 11-17 May when churches throughout the land turn their hearts and minds towards and offer prayers for those throughout the world that are suffering from poverty and from conflict. Pray this Christian Aid Week that famers facing hunger and hardship can access vital resources to protect their families, feed their communities and fight back against the effects of the climate crisis.

You can find out more about Aurelia, an inspirational farmer and community leader in Guatemala, whose story is typical of many in her country.

If you would like prompting each day to prayer for the world’s poorest people please make use of the daily devotional booklet.

Starting with our Palm Sunday Celebration – wonderfully planned and led by Chris and Karen – the Holy Week and Easter services at St Andrew’s offered us the opportunity to journey together through the ups and downs of the events surrounding Jesus death and resurrection.

A particular ‘thank you’ to Revd Andrew Winter, Chaplain at Reed’s School, who led a deep and thoughtful three hours of reflections on Good Friday, as well as to Ron, Jane and Jill who contributed daily evening reflections through Holy Week.

On Easter Sunday the wonder of Jesus’ resurrection was celebrated with many (many!) people of all ages gathering in church for the 10am service – even requiring some last minute additional seating to fit everyone in! Thank you, too, to all those who decorated the church with the fantastic array of flowers, which brought such brightness and joy!

Patrick

It was great to see so many people gathered for our APCM on 13 April.

Jane Berridge and Jack Jeffery were elected as new PCC members.

We are pleased to report that Ros Ebbutt-Hadman, Steph Rustom and Jill Perrett remain our Deanery Synod members.

We are delighted that Jill Perrett and Rebecca Mayhew remain as Churchwardens.

Carl Jackson presented the church accounts for 2024 and the budget for 2025. Both were endorsed by the meeting.