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The 1990s - A Steady Period
The 1990s saw steady growth, but were not
without their difficulties and challenges!
Early in the 90s, the decision was taken to
cease applying for support for Home Mission. This needed a great
leap of faith by the membership, but was a decision that proved to
be the right one. By the 1992 the loan for the extension work in
1983/4 at the back of the church was paid off, and the church
could really start to look forward.
The Church had a flourishing Youth Club and the
re-launching of the Sunday School as "Sunday Live" was a
great success, bringing many more young people into the Church. In
July 1992, 15 members of the Youth Group and 4 adults took part in
the recording of the BBC's "Songs of Praise" programme
which was being filmed at the Alton Towers Theme Park. The Group
managed to get to the front of the crowd and made several
appearances on television!
However, in the mid-1990s, some of the Youth
Club leaders felt that it was time for them to move on from the
Church. The Youth Clubs continued for a while but eventually had
to close, although the youth work has carried through the Sunday
School, albeit on a much smaller scale.
Partnership Mission
The Surrey and North East Hampshire Baptist
Association organised a Partnership Mission in September 1994 with
a team from the United States coming to work with nine of the
Association's churches. A team of six Americans came to our Church
and a full programme of mission events and outreach was
undertaken, using the visitors as an introduction (or excuse) to
get into places and meet people. This ranged from visits to
Coldingley Prison, Knaphill and Woking Police Stations to local
schools. A special series of events was also arranged in the
Church. One of the American Missionaries, Anne Colson, brought
with her some puppets and we were thrilled when we discovered that
she intended leaving them with us.
 New
classroom
One rainy Sunday morning in 1998 it was
discovered that the flat roof above the back room had started to
leak and the floor had to be mopped up before the Sunday School
could use it. As the Sunday School desperately needed more room,
this was seen as being very definitely an "Act of God"
and the decision was taken to extend the upstairs vestry to create
a new room upstairs above the backroom.
Here you can see the steel beams being craned over the length of
the church at 6am one morning, and the finished classroom
upstairs.
NDBA now!
The Surrey and North East Hampshire Baptist
Association took the decision to rename itself, and we are now
part of the North Downs Bapist Association. Is NDBA better then
SNEHBA?
Coffee Shop / Churches together
The King's House Coffee Shop opened in November
1994 as an initiative of four Knaphill churches - Holy Trinity, St
Hugh's, the Methodists and the Baptists. The vision was for a
joint venture where the Churches would be seen working together to
serve the community by the provision of food and drink in a
welcoming and caring environment. The Coffee Shop celebrated its
10th Birthday in 2004. You can read more about the Coffee Shop
here.
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