Here at St. John’s we are deeply rooted and seek to grow up and reach out.
We cherish the Biblical and Gospel-soaked depth and riches of the Book of Common Prayer and we are nourished by the structure, prayerfulness and reflectiveness of Common Worship liturgy. Still others of us could be described as more contemporary evangelical in our worship and spirituality. We have a hunger for Biblical teaching and the dynamism of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives and community.
Our diversity is united around our shared desire to love and worship Jesus with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
We long to see our community blessed by the mission, ministry and worshipping life of the Church and to see lives, families and our community transformed by the power of the Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ according to the Gospel.
Lastly, we are incomplete, imperfect, and lacking. We don’t get it right all the time, but we do our best. We sometimes lack tact, patience, courage, grace and even faith. But one thing we are sure of: our Heavenly Father is making us complete, perfect and lacking nothing. We’re not there yet, but we are sure that one day, by God’s grace, we will be.
We also have a sneaking suspicion that one of the things we are lacking, one of the things that would draw us toward completion and a more perfect version of ourselves is, actually, you. You are welcome to join us for the journey.
Our Team
Revd Dr Peter Nevins, Vicar and Area Dean
Jane Collard, Church Warden
Jane has lived in North Holmwood for most of her life and has been a member of St John’s Church since she attended Sunday School here quite a few years ago!! In the intervening years she has served in many roles and has been a Church Warden since 2020.
She is also the Electoral Roll Officer for St John’s and assists our Treasurer with finance issues. Jane is an Actuary by profession, having specialised in the area of pensions, but has recently retired from full-time work.
Jane is a keen golfer, loves watching all sports (a West Ham fan for over 50 years, but regularly attends Brentford games too). Other interests include music (listening to all genres, all eras and attending live gigs), food and wine, and general knowledge quizzes!”
Michael Howard, Church Warden
Michael retired in 2018 after spending 40 years in banking and finance, mostly in connection to the Nordic region. He has four children and two grandchildren. Michael started worshiping at St John’s in the mid 1980’s, he was married in the church as was one of his son’s and all of his children were baptized here.
Michael often leads the Book of Common Prayer service at 8am on Sunday mornings.
Andrew Philipson, Treasurer
Colin Gibson, Vicar
Colin and his wife Elisa came to live in North Holmwood after he retired in 2022. They were planning to shop around for a church but after coming to St John’s on their first Sunday they were hooked! The warm welcome, uplifting worship, challenging biblical teaching and the presence of lots of children and young people made them feel they had come home.
Before retiring Colin was a vicar for 34 years in various parts of the country. As a retired Vicar he is happy to help in the parish, whilst leaving all the responsibilities to Peter! Colin loves literature, writing poems, music and tries to play the guitar. Colin and Elisa both enjoy wildlife and long walks in the country – Holmwood Common is perfect! Colin and Eilsa have four wonderful children and two amazing grandchildren.
Colin usually takes the Wednesday communion service and leads a monthly service for the staff and residents at Stanecroft Care Home and is available to fill in on Sundays when Peter is away.
Chris Bailey, Worship Leader
Chris leads our worship. He is married to Naomi, and they have four children.
Susan Froy, Safeguarding Lead
Susan ensures St John’s cares well for everyone who comes to the church, by upholding our safeguarding practices and delivering training.
Our Connection with Local Schools
Dorking is blessed. There isn’t a bad school in town!
However, we are really proud of our local parish school, St. John’s Primary. We enjoy strong and healthy links with the school and are so impressed with its quality provision in the heart of our parish community in Goodwyns Estate.
We also are proud of our local CofE Secondary here in Dorking, The Priory School.
Both are brilliant schools with a strong Christian ethos, educating for life in all its fullness. Peter, our Vicar, is a Local Committee Member at St. John’s and Chair of Governors at The Priory. He is regularly at both schools serving in various capacities.
Also, other members of our congregation are active and serve regularly at each of these schools.
