What were we like? Our History ... & our future!

 Then ...

It is not fully known why we were called Staneway Chapel, apart from the fact that we're very near Staneway. However, Staneway is named after Stane Street, the original Roman road that passed through Ewell on its way to Chichester from London.  Maybe it was this road that first brought the Good News of Jesus to Ewell?

Anyway, here is a transcript of a newspaper cutting reporting the opening of our current church building in 1955; it initially speaks of Ewell Christian Brethren which is what we were known as before the building came along:

'NEW CHAPEL 70 AT OPENING MEETING ~

Formed 15 years ago, Ewell Christian Brethren assembly now has its first permanent home.  It is Staneway Chapel, Cheam Road, the first part of which has just been completed and was opened last weekend.  It will be used for worship until the main chapel has been built and will then become the school hall. Simply designed, it has a glass enclosed porch and large windows which ensure plenty of light and air. There is a spacious kitchen and cloakroom accommodation.

About 70 people, including several former members, attended the opening meeting last Saturday when Mr A.T. Jardine, one of the founders of the assembly took the chair.  Two other founder members Messrs. Fay and B.W.F. Essam described how the assembly had been started with a week of prayer in people’s homes. Meetings had been held at West Street School and later Glyn Hall was used for some services.

The cost of the new building was given by Mr W.S. Hutton (Hon. Treasurer) as nearly £5,000 most of which has been contributed. Mr Jardine said that the clock, the organ, the communion table, hymn books and other articles had been given.  Women members had contributed sixpence a week to a fund which had paid for the kitchen equipment and linen.

On behalf of the younger members Mr G.C. Holmwood thanked those who had started the assembly. Mr S. Ashuburner, former Sunday School Superintendent also spoke and a closing address was given by Mr A.W. Darke.  Over 100 people crowded the building for the Sunday evening service. It was opened by Mr F.S.H. Rogers (Hon. Secretary) who said a prayer of dedication.'

And More Recently:

Members of Staneway Chapel asked Cheam Baptist Church (CBC) to come to help them maintain an evangelical witness in the centre of Ewell village in 2001. By the middle of 2002 a team of four couples had got together and, with the blessing of CBC, were involved at Staneway Chapel taking on the day to day running of the church. Christmas 2002 saw the relaunch of the church with its new name – Christ Church Ewell.

In the early stages we spent time getting to know one another, much of this was achieved with paint brushes in our hands! We also refitted the kitchen. Existing activities continued and a Toddler Group and Lunch Club were soon started. Stoneleigh Crusaders started to meet on the premises. CBC supported us in numerous ways with preachers and musicians for Sunday services and the pastor and elders were available for the leadership team.

We want to share Jesus in the community and were very happy to be asked to sing carols at Christmas shopping evening. We also enjoy making up a team for the Tuesday night quiz at The Spring.

At the beginning of 2004 we had our first “belonging” service and asked those who wanted to commit to the church to sign their name on a paper brick, we made these 40 bricks into a belonging wall. Each year we have a similar service – this year we have a belonging tree. May 2004 also saw the appointment of our first paid worker, Caroline Pile, joined us as a part-time Community Worker. During this year we also developed links with one of the cell groups of St Paul’s Church, Howell Hill.

We celebrated the church’s 50^th Anniversary in September 2005 with a fun day on the Saturday and a service on the Sunday when a number of past members of the church joined us. In this year we also got involved with Churches Together in Ewell and the Ewell Business Association.

Probably the most exciting thing in the church’s life in 2006 was a joint venture with the St Paul’s Ewell cell groups. We ran a children’s holiday club at the end of August for 40 boys and girls. Great fun was had by all!

The belonging service in 2007 was again encouraging with more people signing up than before. We were involved with the Rico Tice mission at The King’s Centre in Chessington. Caroline Pile is now working for a church in Harrow and in April we appointed John Stilwell as a full-time Community Worker. John is busy planning our second holiday club as well as special events and regular meetings in local schools.

The Future ..

More people are coming to our church on Sundays and throughout the week. A local architect has drawn up some exciting plans to enlarge the church and we are hopeful that we will be able to proceed with this project in the near future.

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