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.
Bishop Andrew, Bishop of Guildford
Bishop Andrew, who had been diagnosed as suffering from terminal cancer, died on Tuesday 3 March.
Announcing his death, Bishop Paul of Dorking said:
“Whilst his family mourn the loss of a much-loved husband, father, grandfather, son and brother, we mourn the loss of a much-loved diocesan bishop – as well as an inspiring fellow disciple, dear brother in Christ, precious friend and special colleague.”
“In the midst of the shock and sadness of the last few months, Bishop Andrew has been an inspiration. For me, personally, he has taught me so much about how we should live and, in these past months, about how we should die.”
"Please be assured that in these months ahead I, with the Bishop’s Leadership Team, will give our very best, in the strength of the Holy Spirit, to love, lead and care for the Diocese of Guildford in the way in which Bishop Andrew did with such commitment and devotion."
Our Festivals Choir
Singers with the Leith Hill Choir singing with our organist David Hansell have been dividing their time between Christ Church and St James. This works well for most of the year, but is hard to sustain on Festival Days when we have services at both churches.
After much thought, we have decided that at Christmas and Easter the Leith Hill Choir will sing, and David will play, only at one service rather than both. This will have the benefit of enabling the services in the two churches to be at similar times. We will achieve this by alternating churches at which the Leith Hill Choir sings and David plays.
On those alternate festival days when the Leith Hill Choir isn’t singing and David isn't playing at Christ Church, Estelle is bringing together singers from Coldharbour in an informal singing group; they will be accompanied by a guest organist.
This Easter will be the first festival when the new Festivals Choir will be singing.
Would you like to be one of those singing in our new Festivals Choir? If so, please let Estelle know - estelleearnshaw@me.com
Even if you can't make this Easter but would like to sing in the future, Estelle would be pleased to hear from you.
Christian Stewardship
As explained on our Christian Stewardship page, it is the belief that everything - time, talents, money, possessions, relationships, and the Earth - belongs to God, and humans are called to be faithful managers (stewards) of these resources for His purposes, using them wisely, serving others, and reflecting His glory, not their own.
Across the two churches we are currently reviewing our stewardship policies in order to be able to respond to the needs of our churches, our community and the world. If you would like more information do please contact the Rev'd Kia.
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 Soup
- Tinned fish
- Tinned meat
- Tinned rice
- Tinned potatoes
- Tinned baked beans
- Tinned custard
- Tinned fruit
- Jars of jam
- Instant coffee
- Bottles of squash
- Shampoo
- Shaving foam
- Toothbrushes for adults
- Dog food
Nothing in packaging that mice can get into, please!
A date for your diary:
Coldharbour Village Fete 2026: Saturday 16th May from 2 p.m. at the Memorial Ground. See you there!
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!
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