History

From humble beginnings

The Church of the Good Shepherd, daughter Church of St Peter's, Farnborough, was born as people moved into the newly built houses on the Hawley Estate. The 26th April l950 saw the then Bishop of Guildford the Right Revd H C M Campbell lay the foundation stone. The Bishop returned on the 8th November to dedicate the new Church, and Captain Walker of the Church Army was the first full time member of staff. In June of l954 a modern new Parsonage (now the Vicarage) was ready for occupation, and the Revd Noel Palmer and his wife newly arrived from Canada were the first occupants.

The Church begins to grow

The Church family steadily grew, and by l956 the building was bursting at the seams with children and young people - thus heralded the arrival - for the princely sum of £100 - of the 'Green Hall' (later to become known as the Green Hut). This became the base for over 200 young people and a variety of activities. These early years saw links with the local community being established, even the Church field was in use, it was rented out to a horse owner who used it from l957 - l961! Over the next decade many additions and improvements to the building were made. A major milestone in l977 allowed the Good Shepherd to be licensed to solemnise marriages, which was wonderful for the young people who could now marry in 'their Church'.

Growing old gracefully

Hindsight is a great thing! Two things which perhaps should have set the alarm bells ringing which were probably early warnings of the subsidence problems to come - first a crack in the floor of the Chancel, hidden by carpeting for years, and secondly, during the building of an extension to the lounge in l980 the building inspector insisted that the fibrous sub-soil demanded extra foundation work.

The crushing blow falls

In l985 the Diocesan Architect identified extensive subsidence, and our lovely Church was pronounced unsafe. Major decisions by the Church family then had to be considered. In August l986 the entire congregation were presented with the options. In the November we spent the whole day together and felt that it was right to demolish the old buildings and build a new complex.

A new building rises up from the ground

On 14th February l988 the first appeal was launched to raise funds to build a new Church. A second gift day took place in May of l990. The total amount raised was an absolutely amazing £650,000! On Sunday 16th September l990 the final Service took place in the old building - a time of very mixed feeling for many people, those who had been married, had their children baptised or had been at the Church from the beginning found it very hard to watch the bulldozers move in to demolish the memories.

Family life continues

Throughout the building of the new complex the Church family continued to meet weekly at the Sixth Form College, who kindly let us use the Hall and some of the rooms - all under the very capable leadership of Revd Evelyn Hughes. The new Church started to take shape, only the stained glass window was retained from the old Church and was incorporated into the new Worship Area. On the 8th December l990 Bishop Michael Adie laid the foundation Stone - and returned under a year later on the 14th September l991 to dedicate the new Church.

Moving into the 90's

The Church family quickly settled into the new building, making full use of all the facilities. It's really great to have such a modern purpose built complex, but it is important to remember too that it is only bricks and mortar - 'the Church' is really 'the people' within that building, who seek to do their very best to share God's love to the immediate area outside that Church.

Independence

In July of l997 the Good Shepherd became a Parish on it's own, and broke away from under the protective wing of St Peter's who had helped nurture and support it unstintingly over a fifty year period. Today we are the Parish Church of the Good Shepherd, in a Team Ministry with St Peter's. We look forward eagerly to the Twenty First century, to what God will teach us and show us. If you have never been inside the Parish Church of the Good Shepherd, why not come in and take a look around? You never know what you might find?

The Staff of the Church of the Good Shepherd

Parish Rectors

1948 - Revd FB (Ben) Hutchinson
1978 - Revd Peter Renouf
1985 - Revd Alan Boddington
2002 - Revd David Willey

Curates-in-Charge

1948 - Captain Walker (Church Army)
1950 - Revd Trevor C Thorpe
1954 - Revd Noel Palmer
1954 - Revd Barry MacKay
1956 - Revd Peter P Ball
1958 - Revd Donald TM Service
1961 - Revd Bill H Andrew
1964 - Revd Harold WJ Harland
1968 - Revd Bernard Cotter
1972 - Revd Ernest Pettingell
1975 - Revd Tom Johns
1976 - Revd Brian Baxter
1979 - Revd Richard Hall
1984 - Revd Richard Crew
1988 - Revd Evelyn Hughes
1991 - Revd Steve Paynter
1997 - Consecrated Parish Church 31st July by the Bishop of Dorking

Team Vicars

1997 - Revd Steve Paynter
1999 - Revd Nick Sharp
2006 - Revd Rachel Bennetts