'Exciting new chapter' ready to begin

Horley Baptist Church opens doors to new building after leaving its old one in 1999 

Horley Baptist Church in Surrey is making final preparations to move to new premises after a search for a new site going back many years.

Since leaving its cramped Victorian premises in 1999, the church has been using multiple sites, including Oakwood School and most recently the Innes Pavilion. From 5 July all activities will be based at the new site in Court Lodge Road, and the building will be a hub for a broad range of church and community activities.

The building was funded from gifts from members, the sale of the existing building, grants and a loan from the Baptist Union. In addition, there was support from other local churches.

Pastor Russell Braund (pictured) recently received the keys to the new building from Mark Davis, Construction Director of Caldera Construction Ltd, as all involved celebrated the end of a successful, year-long building contract.

The new building will allow the church to grow existing activities, such as Messy Church, Breakfast Church and Lunch Club, which it had to limit due to lack of space.

The church is also in discussions with organisations like SureStart to run activities such as parenting classes. Being situated in an area of relative local deprivation, its members intend to build on local community connections, for example through the food bank, which is run by the local churches.

'We start an exciting new chapter in the life of the church,' said Russell, 'and everyone is thrilled with the building and looking forward to putting it to good use.'

The building is the first phase of the development, with an auditorium planned once sufficient funds are in place.

Preparations are underway to get the building ready, with the first morning service at 10.30am this Sunday (5 July) and Messy Church at 3.15pm the day after (6 July).