A Church of England school house was built beside the church at the same time and served Ranmore Common families until 1972.

Since then we have been involved with St Martins Church of England School, on the edge of the parish, where clergy serve as governors and lead assemblies.

There have also been recent links with St Theresa’s School in Effingham: clergy from the benefice lead chapel assemblies at the school, groups from the school visiting the church, and we intend to develop these interactions..

We welcome visits from all schools to explore the Victorian church building and its extensive grounds. Please contact the church office if you would like to organise a school visit to the church

These produce a form of church music first perfected in this country and quite unlike chiming heard elsewhere.

We have our own band of ringers and are always keen to recruit more, so all eight can be rung. The Tower Captain can be reached via the Ringing Band Facebook site (Facebook).

Organ music accompanies our regular Sunday services, and our services include plainchant, Anglican chant and traditional hymns. Polyphonic settings are included when our services are choral.

We sing a wide variety of well-known traditional hymns through the year to mark the passing liturgical seasons.

In services: music comprises an important part of our worship. We have our own organist who accompanies but also provides spirited voluntaries and organ interjections.

The Whyte Effect Choir

We are blessed to have the services of this remarkable, cathedral standard choir, who come monthly to augment our worship. Their repertoire extends from early polyphonic to modern. Accompaniment is not only organ based and sometimes involves exotic and unusual instruments. 

Organ tuition

Our organist encourages playing of this ‘king of Instruments’ and will arrange tuition for budding players of all standards.

We seek to be a place of reflection, stillness and peace, where to encounter the love of God. Please enjoy this early Victorian gem and the Memorial Chapel. Many visitors sit quietly in the church to enjoy

The life of our church community offers a generous orthodoxy that is rooted in scripture and the sacraments.  At its core is:

• Community: we seek to be a congregation that supports one another and reaches out to the wider community to be a blessing to it
• Hospitality: we seek to be a community that welcomes strangers and pilgrims into our midst to share God’s love and generosity
• Tradition: we seek to hand on the faith that has been given to us and offer the rich cultural inheritance we have to others.

Regular opportunities for study and Christian discipleship are offered through the benefice.

Read our most recent Church Newsletter to find out more about what's going on at St Barnabas, Ranmore.

We worship every Sunday with a sung service and a sermon.

We also celebrate with Occasional Worship and Church Festivals with Choral Evensong, Compline, and services during Holy Week and Easter, Christmas, and to celebrate St Barnabas (Patronal service).

Liturgical Tradition

For information about all the above services, please contact one of the churchwardens.

St Barnabas has a welcoming and friendly traditional liturgy. We make full use of the lectionary, calendar and seasons from the Book of Common Prayer to celebrate a full liturgical year. We use the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 to guide our worship and the Authorised Version of the Bible for most readings. The church is affiliated to the Prayer Book Society and is linked with the Guildford branch of the Society. 

St Barnabas maintains a broad and gently catholic liturgical tradition that emphasises the importance of the sacramental life and worship of the church. Our worship includes visual elements, such as seasonal liturgical colours, candles and oil for anointing.

The Eucharist is celebrated regularly (on second, fourth and fifth Sundays), and Christ’s presence in the Eucharist is at the heart of our church life. Here we encounter Christ, his sacrificial death and the consolation that he gives to each of us. When a choir is present a full polyphonic mass setting is sung, and on other Sundays we use the congregational setting by Merbecke. 

We also value the Anglican tradition of the sung services of Matins and Evensong. The service of Matins takes place usually twice a month and is much enjoyed especially because it provides the opportunity for congregational singing of the versicles, responses and canticles. Evensong takes place on an occasional basis in the summer months.

For further information, please contact the churchoffice@stmartinsdorking.org.