A brief history

Starting the Journey

In 1996 there were two churches in Ruxley Lane – St Francis of Assisi parish church, which had stood on rising ground since 1939, and Ruxley Methodist Church, built by the river in 1965. By 1999 there was only one, as the old St Francis building had been declared unsafe for public use and demolished. Its congregation had nowhere else to go, so in 1997 the kind-hearted members of the Methodist Church offered their building as a temporary home until a long term plan could be formed.

That plan turned out to be the amalgamation of the two congregations into a new one, a project started in 2000, agreed almost unanimously in 2001 and ratified by the London South-West Methodist District and the Diocese of Guildford in January 2002. Since 2000 all of our services have been united, and although we are fully part of both parent churches we’ve been called Ruxley Church from the beginning to emphasise that we’re followers of Jesus Christ before anything else. Our ministers lead worship in both traditions and there’s nothing we do separately. Even though many of the original members of Ruxley Church have since moved away or died, we continue to thrive and welcome many newcomers and visitors to our varied range of services.

Why do we do it this way, did you ask? Isn’t it more difficult and time-consuming? Well, it certainly offers some unusual challenges, but probably no worse than any other church faces. And although this ‘local ecumenical partnership’ (an LEP, if you see us called that!) began because circumstances dictated, we realised long ago that whatever our differences, working together as Christians to bring God’s kingdom to our community is far more effective and important than spending too much time on organisation and meetings.

Views of the old St Francis Church, now demolished

Next Steps

The latest step in our Christian journey together, is that we have decided to build a new Church building. This is a major project, as well as a step of faith, and prayerful planning is now well underway.  In May 2007 we received planning permission for a new church building on the old St. Francis site, involving relocating the Anglican Minister's residence; building a new Church with integral hall and meeting rooms; and using part of the remaining land for residential accommodation.  The new Minister's House is now complete and is located on the corner of Ruxley Lane and Scotts Farm Road, adjacent to the church.