Welcome!

So glad you’ve found the website of Dorking Methodist Church; also known as St Martin’s Methodist Church, Dorking, but don’t let that confuse you!  We’re delighted to have contact with you through the web and would love to meet you in person one day.

You’ll find us meeting for worship each Sunday in St Martin’s; that’s the stunningly beautiful church with the tall spire, right in the heart of Dorking town centre, just a few steps away from the High Street.  On most Sundays, a service in the Methodist tradition happens at 11.00am, but on some Sundays our services and activities are shared and at a different time, so check the website for those or give us a call.   Newcomers and oldcomers are assured an equally warm and loving welcome at St Martin’s. Just come as you are.

Next door to St Martin’s is the Dorking Christian Centre which we also share; a wonderful, lively community facility with a café, meeting rooms and lots going on all through the week.  There are links on this site to the Dorking Christian Centre and St Martin’s Anglican Church; do check them out and feel free to contact us about anything that interests you.

A bit more about Methodists

The Methodist Church is not a weird movement or a strange sect.  More than 75 million people around the world are members of or have strong links with Methodist Churches and we cherish our place in the worldwide Church of Christ.  At www.methodist.org.uk, there’s a lot more information about the Methodist Church, but for starters, here’s a traditional summary of Christian teaching in the Methodist tradition which begins with how the father of Methodism John Wesley expressed things.  He was passionate about teaching that God’s love and grace through Jesus Christ is a gift available for every person. He said;

All can be saved

All need to be saved.
All may be saved.
All may know themselves saved.
All may be saved to the uttermost.

So Methodists have always been clear that no-one is beyond the reach of God's love.  Salvation is there for everyone who turns to God, and not just for a chosen few.

Why do we need salvation?  What do we understand by salvation? Well, as human beings we find ourselves part of an unjust, sinful and violent world, which we may feel individually helpless to change.  We may feel driven by urges such as anger, lust or greed that we wish did not control us.  We may have personalities which are difficult to manage, for instance being prone to despair.  We may be enduring poverty, hardship or other problems.  The demands of modern life leave many of us stressed and overloaded, or isolated and feeling useless.  Loss, fear, grief or guilt may be weighing us down. We need saving from these things.

And what do Christians believe which helps?  We believe that Jesus preached the Gospel - the good news of the Kingdom of God. Through Jesus' death on the cross, and his resurrection, Christians believe that God has broken the power of all that is evil, in the world and in ourselves.  If we accept forgiveness and liberation, and are willing to be open to the Holy Spirit, God can enable us to resist evil, be transformed as new people and live a ‘real’ life.  What Jesus called ‘life in all its fullness.’

In the Methodist Church we do our best to believe these things and live them out.  We’re far from perfect and don’t consider ourselves better or worse than anyone else.  We simply try to be God-centred, Christ-like, Spirit-filled followers of Jesus who know our own need for salvation too.  And we trust in a God who loves us more than we ever deserve.

If you ever want to talk to us, visit us, worship with us, or even ask us difficult questions, we would love that.

Thanks for reading this and God Bless

Val

The Revd Val Ogden

Methodist minister