__NOTOC__

The Diocese of Guildford is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

covering eight and half of the eleven districts in Surrey, much of north-east

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

and a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

in Greater London. The cathedral is

Guildford Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Spirit, Guildford, commonly known as Guildford Cathedral, is the Anglican cathedral at Guildford, Surrey, England. Richard Onslow donated the first of land on which the cathedral stands, with Viscount Bennett, ...

and the bishop is the

Bishop of Guildford The Bishop of Guildford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Guildford in the Province of Canterbury. The title had first appeared as a suffragan See in the Diocese of Winchester in 1874. The Bishop suffragan of Guildford assis ...

. Of the two provinces of the church, it is in the Province of Canterbury.

History

The diocese was formed on 1 May 1927 from part of the

Diocese of Winchester The Diocese of Winchester forms part of the Province of Canterbury of the Church of England. Founded in 676, it is one of the older dioceses in England. It once covered Wessex, many times its present size which is today most of the historic enl ...

.History
The Church of England: Diocese of Guildford. Retrieved 28 October 2013

Organisation

Of the eleven secular districts of Surrey, eight and a half are in the diocese. The excluded parts are: Spelthorne, part of the Diocese of London;

Tandridge Tandridge is a village and civil parish in the Tandridge District, in the county of Surrey, England. Its nucleus is on a rise of the Greensand Ridge between Oxted and Godstone. It includes, towards its middle one named sub-locality (hamlet), ...

; and the Redhill and Reigate half of

Reigate and Banstead Reigate and Banstead is a local government district with borough status in east Surrey, England. It includes the towns of Reigate, Redhill, Horley and Banstead. The borough borders the Borough of Crawley (in West Sussex) to the south, the Boro ...

both in the

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...

Rushmoor Rushmoor is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. It covers the towns of Aldershot and Farnborough as well as Cove and North Camp. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Aldershot and the Farnbo ...

district in

and the eastern belt of

Hart District Hart is a local government district in Hampshire, England, named after the River Hart. Its council is based in Fleet. It was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of the urban district of Fleet, and the Hartle ...

are in the diocese, the belt being three-church

Fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles *Fishing fleet *Naval fleet *Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles *Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada * Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach ...

, Crookham (comprising

Church Crookham Church Crookham is a large suburban village and civil parish, contiguous with the town of Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England. It is west-southwest of London. Formerly a separate village, it figures as a southern suburb of Fleet. History ...

Crookham Village Crookham Village is located south-west of Fleet, in northeast Hampshire, England and lies within the Hart District. History Crookham (formerly Crokeham) dates back at least as far as the Domesday Book, although Crookham Village and Church Cro ...

Cove A cove is a small type of bay or coastal inlet. Coves usually have narrow, restricted entrances, are often circular or oval, and are often situated within a larger bay. Small, narrow, sheltered bays, inlets, creeks, or recesses in a coast are o ...

Minley Minley is a slightly depopulated rural, well-wooded village in the Hart District of Hampshire, England. It has the only church of the C of E ecclesiastical parish of Minley and is in the civil parish of Blackwater and Hawley. It straddles on the ...

, Hawley (which includes Blackwater) and ''Crondall &

Ewshot Ewshot is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It lies in the north east of the county, close to the Surrey border. The name Ewshot comes from Old English and means ''corner or angle of land where yew trees grow''. Ewshot consists ...

'' church parishes. Part of

Rowledge __NOTOC__ Rowledge is a village in England on the Surrey–Hampshire border, centred south of the A31 and Farnham. Neighbouring villages include Wrecclesham, Spreakley and Frensham. To the south west of the village is the Alice Holt Forest; ...

church parish is in East Hampshire district rather than Surrey.

Chessington Chessington is an area in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames within Greater London. Historically part of Surrey, today it is the largest salient of Greater London into that county. At the 2011 census it had a population of 18,973. The ...

(in Greater London) is in the diocese.

Bishops

The diocesan

(Andrew Watson) is assisted by the Bishop suffragan of Dorking (

Jo Bailey Wells Joanne Caladine Bailey Wells (née Bailey; born 24 June 1965) is a British Anglican bishop, theologian, and academic. Since 29 June 2016, she has been the Bishop of Dorking, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Guildford. Previously, she was a ...

). The suffragan see of Dorking was re-created in 1968, having briefly existed in the Diocese of Winchester from 1905 to 1909. The diocese usually operates an informal area scheme in which the diocesan bishop mostly oversees Surrey archdeaconry and the suffragan Dorking, dividing the episcopal workload between the western and eastern parts of the diocese respectively, and each to work with an archdeacon as well as the administrative staff.

Alternative episcopal oversight A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction, "are unable to receive the ministry of ...

(for parishes in the diocese which reject the ministry of priests who are women) is provided by the

provincial episcopal visitor A provincial episcopal visitor (PEV), popularly known as a flying bishop, is a Church of England bishop assigned to minister to many of the clergy, laity and parishes who on grounds of theological conviction, "are unable to receive the ministry of ...

, Norman Banks, Bishop suffragan of Richborough, who is licensed as an honorary assistant bishop of the diocese in order to facilitate his work there. There are also two former bishops living in the diocese who are licensed as

honorary assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case they ...

s: *2006–present:

Michael Baughen Michael Alfred Baughen (born 7 June 1930) is a retired Anglican bishop. Born in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, he was educated at Bromley County Grammar School, the University of London and Oak Hill Theological College. After ordination, he ser ...

, retired

Bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the ...

, lives in Godalming. *2009–present:

Christopher Herbert Christopher William Herbert (born 7 January 1944) is a British Anglican bishop. From 1996 to 2009, he was the Bishop of St Albans. Early life Herbert was born on 7 January 1944, in Lydney in the Forest of Dean. His father helped run the family ...

, retired diocesan

Bishop of St Albans The Bishop of St Albans is the Ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of St Albans in the Province of Canterbury. The bishop is supported in his work by two suffragan bishops, the Bishop of Hertford and the Bishop of Bedford, and three ar ...

, lives in

Wrecclesham Wrecclesham is a village on the southern outskirts of the large town of Farnham in Surrey, England. Its local government district is the Borough of Waverley. History It was once in the estate of Henry of Westminster and Blois the powerful 13th ...

and is also licensed in Winchester and

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

dioceses.

Archdeaconries

*Archdeaconry of Surrey (established 12th century) Archdeacon of Surrey: Paul Davies; generally overseen by the diocesan

**includes Deaneries of

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alder ...

Cranleigh Cranleigh is a village and civil parish, about southeast of Guildford in Surrey, England. It lies on a minor road east of the A281, which links Guildford with Horsham. It is in the north-west corner of the Weald, a large remnant forest, the m ...

, Farnham, Godalming, Guildford and Surrey Heath *Archdeaconry of Dorking (established 1928) Archdeacon of Dorking: Martin Breadmore; generally overseen by the Bishop suffragan of Dorking **includes

Deaneries A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

of Dorking,

Emly Emly or Emlybeg () is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Clanwilliam. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. It is situated on the R515 ...

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...

Runnymede Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, and just over west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with its adjoining ...

, Woking

Publications and work

Charitable work

Around 90 Church schools are financially linked to the Diocese of Guildford, including two Secondary schools. The Bishop of Guildford's Foundation supports faith-linked projects and groups that respond to local needs and help build stronger communities. It expresses a sense of communal solidarity with people in need and provides a mechanism for wealthier parishes and church members to channel support to needier groups. Grants are made to a wide variety of causes, including charities working with people who have disabilities, family support projects, youth and children's workers, organisations developing employment for vulnerable people, community organisations, projects for the homeless, school healthy breakfast clubs restricted to the most disadvantaged or troubled families, the Guildford Street Angels team, a less mobile elderly group in Box Hill, and play activities and facilities for children in two of the neediest housing estates.

Special ministries

Typically non-parochial ministry in the working hours of local priests, chaplains are appointed to 14 schools, to 10

further education colleges Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

/universities, 23 hospitals and homes, the four prisons, Guildford and Woking town centres, Community of St Peter and Acorn Christian foundation, to the Ambulance Service. The diocese subsidises a BSL qualified Chaplain Among Deaf People.Stories About Our Work
Diocese of Guildford

References

Bibliography

Church of England Statistics 2002

External links

Diocese of Guildford
{{authority control Christian organizations established in 1927 Guildford Christianity in Hampshire