Church Blog

Paul Foster asked, ‘Where do we go from here?’ in June following Father David Morgan’s departure, and since then there has been a great deal of work behind the scenes. The Bishop is developing a roadmap for reorganisation within the Diocese which the PCC has discussed and responded to. The PCC have appointed Paul Quinn and Rachel Houlberg as our Parish representatives. One of Rachel and Paul’s tasks will be to rework to the Parish profile, which sets out our vision for the future life of the Church to be used in the appointments process. In order to do this, we intend to hold an open meeting following the 11am Service on 16th October at 12 noon to which all Villagers are invited. This will [...]

From the Pews…. You may have noticed as you have walked through the churchyard new signs, painted by Teresa Negus. They explain the church’s commitment to becoming an eco-church, and as part of that the rewilding of some of the graveyard. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and this has proved to not be without controversy for those who visit their loved ones’ graves and find what they see as an unkempt churchyard. We hope our signs will go some way to explain to them that this is not the case, and perhaps look instead for the different beauty to be found in the rehabilitation of food sources and homes for our natural wildlife. Last year Hambledon church picked up a bronze award [...]

Click here to see our latest newsletter: Newsletter 28th August 2022

The last couple of weeks have been quite a whirlwind. It has been a time of lots of goodbyes; goodbye to my training friends at Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford; goodbye to my training friends at Portsmouth Pathway; goodbye to my friends at St. Peter and St Paul’s in Hambledon and the benefice. The goodbyes came as I completed my theological training for ordination in the Church of England. Then began the hellos; hello to family and friends as we gathered at Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral for the ordination service on Saturday 2 July 2022; hello to my Vicar and new friends at St. George the Martyr parish, Waterlooville for my first Sunday service the following day. Goodbyes and hellos seem to be what Jesus asks of [...]

Hambledon has been very fortunate in its recent history to have a vicar living and working in the village. Even for many who rarely engage with regular worship there has been a sense of belonging to a community that has a spiritual hub and a spiritual lead. Father David was in that role and had been given the additional responsibility of simultaneously managing Soberton and Netown parishes, a task he undertook with enthusiasm almost three years ago. Covid struck as did David’s own poor health and sadly he no longer feels that God wants him to continue parish work. We wish him and his family every blessing as they seek to find a way to use his many talents and serve in pastures new. The [...]

‘From the Vicar’ – Hambledonian April/May 2022 As I write this, the war in Ukraine is in its second week. It is impossible to tell what the situation will be by the time you are reading this. I am sure, however, that we are all hoping for the same outcome – a swift, just, and lasting peace. A wish that applies not only to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, but to all places in the world where there is war and violence. For obvious reasons, the idea of peace has been very much on my mind this Lent. We tend to associate this season of the church’s year with giving something up (I have given up chocolate – feel free to ask me how [...]