Effingham Methodist Church, Effingham, Surrey UK - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

The current church was built in 1854 but the gospel has been preached and lives committed to Christ in Effingham since Saxon times, presumably since AD 674, when the Venerable Bede recorded dwellings here as having been granted to the Benedictine Monastery in Chertsey. There is now no remnant of a Saxon church, but the earliest part of St. Lawrence’s Parish church was probably built around AD 1260. A continuous line of vicars from 1237 proves an unbroken chain of witness to this day.
A key date in Free Church history is 1689, when William III (of Orange) promulgated an Act of Toleration permitting 'Dissenters' - today we call them Protestants - the right to places of worship if registered by the Anglican Bishop. Methodism, originally a ginger group within the Church of England, had taken root as a separate movement, and nowhere less than in Dorking. Wesley visited Dorking 21 times between 1764 and 1791, preaching to such effect that a meeting house was opened there on 23rd. December 1772.
It was in 1844 that a member of the Dorking Society, Aaron Langley, using the format prescribed in the Toleration Act as endorsed by Wesley, obtained from the Bishop of Winchester’s registrar a licence "that the dwelling of Mrs. Mary Cooke in Effingham be intended forthwith to be used as a place of religious worship by an assembly or congregation of Protestants". Mrs. Mary Cooke lived at 4, Church Cottages (still there), and after 10 years the flourishing Society built the current chapel, in the heart of the village.
In 1954 the hall (known in Methodism as the schoolroom) was built on to the Chapel to celebrate the centenary.
Membership of the Methodist Society fluctuated in the 1960’s between fourteen and twenty four; in these years were the beginnings of an awareness of the sister churches in the village. United services were undertaken (short of a con-celebration of Holy Communion). In December 1972, a joint service was held in the chapel during the week of Prayer for Christian Unity, with Father Loder, Rev. Leslie Perfect and Rev. Kenneth Vaughan Jones participating.
During the late seventies numbers were so low that closure was threatened but the Dorking & Horsham Circuit was persuaded to keep the chapel open as a going concern.
With fresh folk joining, the Society was confident enough to embark in 1991/2 on a major modernisation of the premises costing over £50,000, plus a new organ. During the building work services continued in the chapel of the Anglican Convent of the Sacred Passion, with refreshments afterwards in the RC hall belonging to Our Lady of Sorrows.
In the newly-restored premises was held a re-dedication in January 1993 in the presence of Wesley’s successor, Rev. Dr. Kathleen Richardson, the President of Conference.

The physical address of the chapel is:
Effingham Methodist Church
Chapel Hill
Effingham
Surrey
KT24 5NB

There is on road parking near to the Church and in a large layby a short distance away.

Most of the text above was taken from the history section of the official church website, details below.

Date the Church was built, dedicated or cornerstone laid: 01/01/1854 Age of Church building determined by?: Church website If denomination of Church is not part of the name, please provide it here: Methodist If Church holds a weekly worship service and "all are welcome", please give the day of the week: Sunday Indicate the time that the primary worship service is held. List only one: 10:00 AM Street address of Church: Chapel Hill Effingham, Surrey UK KT24 5NB Primary website for Church or Historic Church Building: [Web Link] If Church is open to the public, please indicate hours: Not listed Secondary Website for Church or Historic Church Building: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   07/13/2011 dave-harris visited it