Welcome to All Saints Church, Witley

A Message from our Churchwardens
We are now in the period between Vicars known as a Vacancy. We hope we are well on the way to finding a new Vicar. We have produced the formal document that describes our parish and church to interested applicants and by the time you read this, the first advertisement will have appeared.
The Executive Team has continued to meet regularly and we are pleased to report that our plans to replace our ancient boiler are moving along nicely. We are so blessed by Ann's ministry and all our volunteers who ensure that church activities continue during the Vacancy.
We look forward to giving you a warm welcome at All Saints whether you are a regular worshipper or are visiting and exploring our lovely ancient church for the first time.

Brenda & Christine, Churchwardens. All Saints, Witley.

A Good Time - Revd Ann Fraser
Time! Do you have enough of it? Do you have too much? Are you always 'chasing time' or 'trying to find it'? Does time really move more quickly now than ever before? In this season of the year, it seems that we have less time, there is so much to do and only a few weeks to the big day.
We all have the same amount of time, twenty-four hours in one day, seven days in one week and so on. Time is a gift from God to help us live our lives here on earth. How we use that gift is an individual choice, but at the end of one year and the start of the next, maybe this is the time to stop and think about how we use God's gift of time.
Are there things that take up too much of it? Are there things that we want to do, but never have time? As a new year approaches, should we be planning a new (and better) lifestyle? How are we going to show our love to those who are dear to us? Could we give them a gift of our time?
Recently, I had some spare days of holiday, and it was a great joy to meet up with some friends that we hadn't seen for ages. Renewing our relationships in person was a real bonus.
God gave us not only a gift of time, but the gift of family and community. We need each other in so many ways. There are clubs and groups and charities, all looking for more people to join them, all places where we can relax, share our interests and care for one another.
Our Church is one such place, where we meet regularly to chat, to drink tea and coffee, to share ideas, play with toys and of course to worship together. There are traditional services with beautiful music, informal worship on the third Sunday of every month and a reflective short communion service each Wednesday. Church is also the place where we can 'take time out' and just sit quietly or pray.
Spending time with God is one of the important things that is often pushed out by 'having to do __' or 'must get on with __'. Let's try in this particularly busy season to spend our time being the person that God created us to be and enjoy his gift of time.

Ann Fraser

Safeguarding
Here at All Saints Witley, we take the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults very seriously. We have adopted the national Church of England's robust procedures and guidelines. Details about the national policies and procedures can be found HERE.

Our Safeguarding Officer is Phil Lewis. If you have any safeguarding concerns, Phil can be contacted by email at: safeguarding@allsaintswitley.org.uk. Alternatively, you are welcome to contact the Guildford Diocesan Safeguarding team at safeguarding@cofeguildford.org.uk or on 01483 790379.

If you have reason to think that a child or vulnerable adult is in immediate danger, you should contact the police straight away.

Please click HERE to view our DATA PRIVACY NOTICE.

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VISITING THE CHURCH

All Saints Church has a huge wooden door, which, while being very old and attractive in its own way can be a physical barrier to those who have never entered All Saints before - don't let it be like that. Turn the handle, push the door and come in, all are welcome. Inside you will find a building that is filled with the prayers of 1000 years, a wall painting that is 900 years old, a 700-year-old Lady Chapel with medieval stained glass, signs of the conflict in the 16th and 17th century with an unfinished memorial tablet in the sanctuary and several other family memorials. The 18th century put in a gallery which was removed by the Victorians who added so much more, including a whole aisle on the North Side. The Victorians with three generations of Chandler Vicars built the organ, the bell tower and the vestry. They refurbished the chancel ceiling, floor and altar and put up memorials to the eminent people of the day as they passed on. The beginning of the 20th century completed the collection of stained glass windows and introduced the pews we have now, instead of the previous box pews. All Saints is full of history reflecting the needs of the generations who have worshipped here before us. There have been many changes in the past few years which help us now to use the church on a daily basis for many different groups. There is a children's trail available with many interesting things to find out and see.

Please do come inside and explore and have time for yourself, the church is open from 9.30am to 4.00pm. Or come and meet with others to worship or chat everyone is welcome.


If anyone would like to speak to Ann, please ring or email and we will endeavour to meet you as soon as we can.

The All Saints Parish Office, is in the grounds of Witley Infant School, opposite the Church.

Wishing you every blessing

       
               Ann Fraser

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The parish of Witley is made up of the villages of Witley, Brook, Wormley and Sandhills. The Parish Church of All Saints dates from about 1040 and is situated just off the main Petworth Road (A283) in Church Lane, opposite the White Hart public house. Witley CofE Infant School is opposite the church and has close links with it.

Apart from a regular pattern of worship on Sundays and Holy Days, the church serves the whole parish and after recent refurbishment is available every day for a variety of uses. The door is open in daylight hours for anyone who may wish to spend a quiet few moments or longer in the peace and quiet of this ancient building.

The mission of the church in Witley is to bring the love of God to all who live and work there. The church is open to all people, and here to serve the entire parish. Everyone is welcome at all services and other events and anyone is welcome to use the space in church for their own charitable or social events where appropriate. Click here for more information on using the church for your event.

If you are new to the area you are very welcome! There are a wide range of activities going on around the church that may interest you.

A team of Pastoral Assistants visit the housebound, take Communion to those who can't get to church for whatever reason, and generally help the clergy keep an eye on pastoral needs.

Ann would be pleased to talk with and welcome you. Enjoy the web-site!

Please feel free to click on the links above or on the right to find out more about us.

Be sure to visit our Parish News section which is updated weekly.

Our site offers documents in Adobe Acrobat format. If necessary, please click here to download the latest version.