News
The Parish News for Abinger and Coldharbour, which is published 10 times a year and is delivered to every house in the Parish, includes a report on Coldharbour life; a copy is available by clicking here.
On this page we focus on news directly relating to Christ Church.
The VE Day 80 Fete!
Thanks to the great support of so many in and around the village, the 2025, VE Day 80 Village Fete was a really enjoyable and successful event. The atmosphere around the Ground and the Church on the beautiful, sunny May Saturday was incredible. We had record attendance and heard so many nice comments: it’s the best fete in the area; such a perfect setting and a classic village fete; best fete ever; an amazing afternoon with lots of people having lots of fun.
Many thanks to everyone who ran stalls and activities, set up/took down, staffed rotas, donated, grew plants, baked, entertained, and came on the day. We are very grateful for this support, enthusiasm, ideas, time, generosity, and a lot of hard work before, during and after the fete.
Net proceeds are provisionally estimated to be just under £10,000 (there have been several offers to round it up!) an amazing amount. The funds raised for Christ Church will help to maintain our village church, village hall and churchyard and to pay those regular bills that come with the responsibility for looking after them. Charitable donations include the National Trust to support our local area, and Dorking Friends of Cancer Research UK.
Thanks are due to the National Trust for use of the Memorial Ground, to our generous sponsors and advertisers, and to the Village Band for putting us all in the mood to celebrate. With red, white and blue everywhere and some fabulous outfits, it’s safe to say Coldharbour did VE Day 80 well!
In her sermon for Sunday 25 May, Virginia Smith said:
.... what does all this mean for us today. Reflecting on this, I am reminded of what someone said to me after last week’s oh so successful Coldharbour fete. What they said was in effect that the fete was such a success because, even if villagers do not themselves attend church, they want the church always to be there central to the village. The church is important to them though they might be hard pressed to explain just why. And who of us knows how many of them might just occasionally slip into the open church and sit quietly in a pew? Maybe, they have some very real sense of God’s presence.
The whole sermon can be viewed by clicking here.
A date for your diary:
Coldharbour Village Fete 2026: Saturday 16th May from 2 p.m. at the Memorial Ground. See you there!
The Dorking Area Foodbank
Christ Church supports the Foodbank, with collecting boxes by the font in the Church - only rodent proof packages and no fresh produce, please.
Needs include:
Tinned Custard
Jars of jam
Bottles of squash
1Kg bags of rice
Sponge pudding (long – life twin packs.)
The10th Anniversary Concert of the Coldharbour Village Band
The Coldharbour Village Band held its 10th anniversary concert on Saturday 19th October. It was a wonderful programme of music conducted beautifully, as ever, by Debby Chapman. The music drew on Coldharbour and Christ Church’s local connections to Ralph Vaughan Williams, with O Little Town of Bethlehem and Linden Lea, Virginia McKenna with Born Free, and the latest composer to live amongst us, Bronnie R, a debut performance of a new composition Fanfare for the Coldharbour Man. We were treated to other film and TV music, music from ballet, pop music and three pieces from the newly formed Swing Band. The interval for refreshments resulted in over £300 of donations for the upkeep of the church. The planned programme ended with audience clapping along to the Can Can but such was the enthusiasm of the audience the band was obliged to play another. The afternoon was simply superb!
Is God nudging you to explore your gifts and talents?
Have you ever been curious about how you can better serve God in your life?
Do you want to study God with a bit more depth and be challenged?
There is a wealth of opportunity to explore these questions and more through various training available locally.
You can dip your toes into a module on the Local Ministry course – looking at diverse subjects such as Ethics, Worship and Spirituality, Christine Doctrine and Theological Reflection.
There are training days on Pastoral Visiting, Occasional Preaching and leading Worship.
If you feel called/nudged or just want to find a little more, I would love to talk with you!
Rev’d Kia
Celebrating 175 Years of Christ Church here in Coldharbour
Over the weekend of 21 and 22 October we celebrated the dedication of Christ Church in 1848 - 175 years ago. The building of our Church was funded by John Labouchere, who lived in Broome Hall, on land given by the Duke of Norfolk. Pat Newberry, a former resident of Coldharbour and a great historian has written a short history of Christ Church which you can download by clicking here.
The weekend began on Saturday 21 October with two organ concerts by our organist David Hansell and colleague Philip Drew, complemented by two recitals by soprano Jenny Hansell. In each concert, the first organ piece was a fine duet by David and Philip playing Mozart’s Adagio and Allegro K554. This was followed by three William Blake songs with music written by Vaughan Williams not long before his death: Infant Joy, The Shepherd and The Lamb. We then enjoyed a second organ duet, Beethoven’s Adagio for a Flute Clock, followed by another three William Bake songs to settings by Vaughan Williams: A poison Tree. Ah Sun-flower and Eternity, sung by Jenny Hansell. The concert ended with an organ due – Sonata in G , BWV530, by J S Bach.
On Sunday 22 October we hosted the other three Leith Hill Benefice churches to a special service, which opened with the Village Band playing in the gallery; they also accompanied the choir and organ through much of the service. After a practice of the Coldharbour Hymn written for the occasion by Rev Virginia Smith with music by David Hansell, the service commenced with Leith Hill choir singing Psalm 122. The full order of service, including the words of Virginia’s Coldharbour Hymn, can be downloaded by clicking here. Virginia's sermon is on our Christ Church - Words and Thoughts page.
On completion of the service, the choir, the village band and the congregation together with Kia, Virginia and David got together for an excellent ‘bring and share’ lunch.
A real celebration, with thanks to John Labouchere and the 1848 Duke of Norfolk!
Dorking Food Bank
A reminder that donations to the Dorking Food Bank remain very necessary - they can be left by the font at the back of the Church and or in the box in the drive to Plough Haven - just to the right of The Plough. Because of mice, packets they can eat through should be left at Plough Haven not in the Church
Julian Meetings
We usually have a Julian meetings on the fourth Sunday of each month at 6.00pm.
They are named after the Mystic, Julian of Norwich, who had a powerful encounter with Jesus in the 12th Century. Following this she spent the rest of her life as an Anchoress writing about her experiences. Her 'Revelations of Divine' love is the earliest surviving English language works by a woman.
Our Julian meetings are open to those of any faith and none. Following a short reading or reflection, we sit in stillness for half an hour for a time of contemplation.
It is a wonderful way to gather our thoughts and still our minds before the week begins.
We look forward to welcoming you,
With love
Rev’d Kia
Do you have a question for Kia?
Just to make it clear – I am not a theological guru, I am more of a pastoral and practical theologian than an academic one (by the way a theologian is just someone who thinks about God!) - and this makes my very point!
Do you have random, poignant or (what you may think) silly question about faith, life and God? Like ‘what does ‘theologian’ actually mean? Will my dog go to heaven? What is communion all about, really?
Do you have question that you haven’t found the right time, or the right person to ask? Well, now may be your chance!
We are starting (trialling!) a new slot in the monthly parish news for you to ask those questions you’ve been holding onto or have just occurred! Nothing is too ‘simple’ or too complicated. I may (definitely!) not have all the answers but I can perhaps point you in the right direction.
Open to all ages, those of faith and those with none. All correspondence to me will be treated in confidence and I will only publish answers if permission is given, and you can always be anonymous.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Please write to rector@abingerandcoldharbour.org
With every Blessing
Rev’d Kia