As a school community we have always been welcomed into St John’s Church and have appreciated the opportunities we have had to have regular services and events in the church. Every year we celebrate Harvest, Christmas and Easter in church and are able to invite the children’s parents to come and be part of the service. We have a strong singing culture and the children enjoy performing as a school and individual classes.

It was with excitement and a little trepidation that Phil and I set out for a trip to an island in the Outer Hebrides recently: excitement, as it was somewhere we had not been before and had longed to go to and trepidation in relation to the travel which involved trains and planes – always a measure of unpredictability with both. In the event we were blessed with good connections and arrived at our final destination after a long day, in Seilebost, Isle of Harris late evening.

St John’s has always had a thriving Toddler Group, Sunday School and various Youth Groups but there was not a group for the “slightly more mature” members of the Congregation. Fellowship Friday was set up in May 2019 to meet this need and runs every other Friday, in the Refectory, throughout the year apart from August. We welcome everybody but actively encourage any person 50+ to come along principally for conversation, coffee and homemade cake, and a lot of laughs!

How do you know if you are in the right place? How do you know for sure that you are doing the thing that God wants you to do? I am thinking for me it was like a gradual revelation till I got the the point of “come on Jo you must get it by now!”

It is now a few years since we completed twinning all the toilets in our church centre, which was the final piece of many in the jigsaw to completing the Bronze level in the Eco Church awards scheme. Now, we want to make a concerted push for Silver – but we need your help! We will be holding a meeting on Thursday 30th April to make a concerted push to silver this year.

St John’s Community Centre is a vibrant hub of activity throughout the week and at weekends, offering something for all ages. Alongside venue hire opportunities, the Centre is regularly used by our church groups and community partners.

Help St John's Church support Christian Aid this year to ensure more people get the skills and knowledge they need to fulfil their hopes and ambitions. Join us at our Christian Aid Big Brekkie on Saturday 9th May and help someone push back against poverty. If you cant make it why not donate what you can via this link this Christian Aid Week.

As I approach the end of my three years as one of the Churchwardens here at St. John’s, I want to thank you all for your support, encouragement and kindness. It has been an honour to work alongside the many members of the congregation who work in employed or voluntary roles to help our worshipping community flourish. I am very grateful for the support that I have received from John and have enjoyed being part of his team.

There is so much to celebrate this Easter as we reflect on the growing and vibrant work happening with young people here at St. John’s in Redhill. We are delighted that we are now meeting in some form or other every week of the month. On the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays, our young people gather during the 10.30am service for dedicated group sessions.

As many will be aware, the Church of England’s Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process is now coming to a close.

Revision of Church Electoral Roll - Come Join Us! There’s an old joke that church is like a helicopter - because of the danger of being drawn into the rotas! Well, being on the Electoral Roll does not mean you are signing up to any new commitments and you may in any case already be committed to supporting our church as a volunteer, for which we thank you.

At Franklin Music CIC we are proud to call St John’s Church home for so much of our music and drama. From concerts to choirs and workshops, St John’s is a vibrant hub for the arts in our community.

Easter stands at the very heart of the Christian faith. It is the radiant morning that follows the darkest night, the triumphant declaration that death does not have the final word. For believers around the world, Easter is not merely a date on the calendar or a seasonal celebration—it is the living proclamation that hope has risen.

Philippa and I have spent the week before Passion Sunday on retreat in St Albans, somewhere I had never before visited. It has been enormously refreshing staying in the old part of the city just a few minutes walk from the cathedral, or abbey as the locals call it.

We are delighted to share with you the latest copy of the Parish Magazine. Copies are available at the back of the church or electronically on the website

Food waste is a pressing issue in the UK, with 60% of it occurring in our own homes. Each year, households throw away 4.4 million tonnes of edible food, worth £17.5 billion, & this waste generates 16 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. For a family of 4, this means roughly £1,000 lost every year. At a time when many face rising living costs & our planet faces increasing climate pressures, reducing food waste offers a simple & effective way to support both our househ

The Parochial Church Council (PCC) of St John the Evangelist Church, Redhill confirms that the sale of Meadvale Hall has now completed. Following a comprehensive marketing process and consideration of a number of offers — including some at a higher price — the PCC agreed terms with a preferred purchaser for the whole site. In reaching its decision, the PCC sought to balance its responsibility for prudent financial stewardship with its longstanding commitment to community use

Over recent months the PCC and Standing Committee have been continuing to consider the diocesan proposal to create a new benefice between St John’s, Redhill and Christ the King, Salfords, following the formal consultation opened earlier this year under the Mission and Pastoral Measure. Alongside this, we have been working through the detailed feedback received from the congregational survey, which offered valuable insights, concerns, and suggestions about how best to proceed

Every year at Epiphany, our nativity scenes gain renewed attention as the figures of the Wise Men—sometimes referred to as Magi or Kings—take their place beside the Holy Family. Their arrival marks one of the most intriguing and symbolically rich moments in the Christmas story.

Autumn seemed to arrive late this year and now the season of Advent is upon us, signalling that Christmas is not at all far away. In these four weeks before Christmas, we look forward with eager anticipation to the birth of the one who brings light into the world's darkness, giving all humanity real hope for the future.

The Year 7+ youth group has enjoyed a a very fulfilling Autumn Term, full of activities that have strengthened friendships, deepened faith and connected our young people more closely to the wider church family. We’ve been delighted to welcome several fantastic new members this term, and it has been heart-warming to see the sense of belonging grow as everyone continues to journey together in faith.

A lot has changed in the world since I stood here a year ago and, and unfortunately, not a lot of it has been positive. But none the world’s events can stop us coming together as friends, family and a community to remember and celebrate ordinary people who somehow found a way to come together when the nation needed them to achieve exceptional things.

We are delighted to share with you the latest copy of the Parish Magazine. Copies are available at the back of the church or electronically on the website

On 27th September, the Choir of St John's Redhill travelled down to Salisbury Cathedral, where they sang a special joint Choral Evensong with the Lay Vicars and Girl Choristers of Salisbury Cathedral.

After over two years of careful planning, fundraising, and prayerful discussion, we are delighted to share that the solar panel installation at St John’s Community Centre is now complete.

I was bell ringing at St Margaret’s church, Rainham (Kent) recently and my eyes wandered to a plaque on the wall recording a piece of ringing in 1926, with the name of the vicar also recorded on the ornate board - W.A.R.Ball.

I preached this sermon on Sunday, 5th October, at the 8:30 Holy Communion. I thought it would be nice to share this with you.

A few weeks ago, I went on one of the most amazing trips of my life — a pilgrimage to Lourdes in France.

As Trinity comes to an end, we look ahead to the Kingdom Season which runs from All Saints Day to Advent Sunday, culminating with the Feast of Christ the King on the Sunday before Advent and leading us naturally into Advent.

The latest Parish Magazine is now available on the website. A small number of hardcopies will be available at the back of the church or in the foyer of the community centre.

The PCC of St John’s, Redhill has been carefully considering the future of Meadvale Hall for some time. We are very aware of the hall’s long history of community use and the importance of local groups who have made their home there.

SparkFish is a local, collaborative, Christian organisation that engages with all young people who go to school in Reigate, Redhill,...

Might you be interested in doing a course in Christian theology sometime, to learn more than is possible just from church sermons and group studies? If so, read on.

On Wednesday 2nd July, we held our very first Dunottar Does Good Day - a celebration of community, compassion and collective action.

Ride & Stride is a fun way to spend time on a pleasant Saturday in September while getting to know some Surrey places of Christian worship and raising funds for this worthy cause. Why not make up a group and join in this year!

John, Allison and I had the pleasure of attending the annual Archdeacon’s Visitation Service in June, held this year at St Patrick’s Church in Wallington. As well as being sworn in as new churchwardens for the coming year alongside our colleagues from churches across the area, the service was also a formal opportunity for Reigate and Banstead to bid farewell to our departing Archdeacon.

The collaboration between St John’s Church in Earlswood and Franklin Music is beginning to catch the attention of local audiences. The Suppertime Concert Series, now in its third month, brings outstanding performers to the heart of the community — short early-evening concerts in a relaxed setting, with music that speaks for itself.

Church leadership is like gardening, it involves tending both new and existing aspects of church life so they can thrive, just as gardeners nurture their plants.

The latest Parish Magazine is now available on the website. A small number of hardcopies will be available at the back of the church or in the foyer of the community centre.

We want to say a massive THANK YOU for your generous donations to repair our church roof - your generosity means everything to us and to the community we serve. We are pleased to share that we have now raised £40,000 which enables us to commence the much-needed work on the south section of the roof as well as the bell tower over the summer period.

The church has applied for planning permission to install solar panels on the community centre’s roof. These panels are expected to supply up to 38% of the building’s electricity needs from renewable sources, which will not only benefit the environment but also lower our energy costs by an estimated £2,800 annually over the next 25 to 30 years.

We won't stop until everyone has the chance to live a full life, free from poverty. We are united in hope that, with your help, more young people will be able to transform their lives.

Please find below a list of our Easter programme. It would be lovely to see you all at church to celebrate this special time of year.

The new St John’s inclusion team was commissioned at an informal evening service in September 2024.

Unfortunately it is no longer financially viable to maintain Meadvale Hall so we've had to make the difficult decision to sell the property.

On Friday 9th October, I attended a retreat at Wychcroft in preparation for my commissioning as a children and families minister.

Most people perhaps think the folk who offer such care are somehow supercharged with wisdom and giftedness. This is a myth.

Advent provides an opportunity to showcase works outside the normal paradigm, and this year we have two special pieces in store.

In our December services, we shall travel together through Advent, preparing ourselves to receive Christ afresh into our hearts and minds.

The latest edition of the Parish Magazine is available for viewing and downloading on the church website