THE first latest parish within the diocese of Guildford for 25 years has been established at the positioning of the previous Deepcut army barracks in Surrey.
The former garrison church, St Barbara’s, built as a tin tabernacle in 1901, is currently being renovated, to accommodate a congregation planted in 2020 by St Paul’s, Camberley. Numbers have already grown from 20 to 100.
The barracks were closed in 2013 and, in 2016, construction began on a latest development of 1200 homes, Mindenhurst Village. The army began discussions with the diocese of Guildford concerning the way forward for the church, and it was agreed that the Revd Daniel Natnael, Associate Minister at St Paul’s, Camberley, would plant a latest congregation. He is now the Vicar of Deepcut.
On Wednesday, he described the challenges that emerged in subsequent years. Six weeks after the launch, the Covid-19 pandemic began and the church constructing — home to a small congregation — was closed. “It was an enormous testing time,” he recalled. “When socially distanced meeting was allowed, we thought ‘The automobile park is accessible: let’s start with that.’”
As the brand new school lacked pupils due to the pandemic, the congregation could lease the constructing for meetings. When an area hotel began to accommodate 170 asylum-seekers from Central America, the Middle East, and Africa, the church worked alongside charities and the council to offer food, clothing, and bicycles, and hosted a “bring-and-share” supper in Holy Week 2022. Dozens have since taken part in Alpha — offered in English, Spanish, and Farsi — and joined the congregation.
The church was inspired by the command to like one’s neighbour, “going to where the individuals are. . . We need to be visible and accessible,” Mr Natnael said. It holds a baby-and-toddler group in a care home, where a monthly communion service can be held, in addition to weekly coffee mornings in a pub, The Frog, where he has an office. A carol service and live tableau have been held within the pub garden.
Houses were being bought rapidly, and young professionals and families with young children were moving into the world, he said. Each latest arrival has been welcomed by the church: Mr Natnael, who lives on the estate together with his family, visits with a bottle of wine or chocolate. They had told the military from the start that they were “not fascinated by taking over a museum”, he said. “We are a church that’s alive, wanting to succeed in out to our community.”
The church, a Grade II listed constructing originally often known as St Michael and All Angels, was renamed St Barbara’s Garrison Church in 1967, after the patron saint of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC), whose operations and training were moved to Deepcut within the Nineteen Forties. In 2014, it was used as a location for the film Kingsman: The Secret Service.
External refurbishment has been accomplished. Internal work shall be carried out this 12 months, a latest community hall shall be built, attached to the church. Funding has been provided by the developers, as a part of a Section 106 agreement, however the church can be raising money for audio-visual equipment, lighting, and furnishings.
This week, Mr Natnael acknowledged that Deepcut had a “difficult history” in its recent past. Four recruits died from gunshot wounds between 1995 and 2002.
As many latest arrivals can be working hard to pay their mortgages, he hoped to assist people to explore the query “Is there more to life than what I do?” and to supply “a voice of hope”.
The plant was supported by the diocese with £799,000, including the fee of a house. A portion of the funding got here from a 2017 Strategic Development Grant of £1.1 million allocated for “latest opportunities for growth in housing developments and under resourced areas”. The diocese has already met its goal of developing 100 latest worshipping communities by 2027.
