Christ the King Church
Christ the King Church
In 1927 Mr and Mrs Charles Farmer moved from Ealing to Bagshot Hall, in College Ride. They wrote to Bishop Peter Amigo, bishop of Southwark who suggested Bagshot for a Mass centre. There they purchased and adapted an outbuilding to provide an oratory to serve the spiritual needs of Catholics in Bagshot, Lightwater and Windlesham.
On Sunday 30th October 1927, Canon Twomey, parish priest of Camberley blessed the Oratory and dedicated it to Christ the King. About 70 people attended the Mass on the opening day, 45 the following Sunday and 40 thence forward. The oratory seated 45 and the Farmer family provided the building and running expenses.
Between November 1927 and October 1930, Franciscans from Ascot supplied the Sunday Mass at 9.30am with Benediction after Mass one Sunday in the month.
The collection at Mass was paid into a fund to erect a new church at Bagshot. Fundraising took place with a rummage sale which raised £14. Later a fete raised £100.
At Easter 1929 Canon Twomey blessed an extension to the oratory made necessary by growing numbers.
On September 26th 1930, Bagshot received its first permanent priest, Fr Edward Gallagher who was on loan from the Irish Diocese of Achonry. He was appointed Assistant Priest to Canon Twomey and priest in charge of Bagshot.
From the 25th July 1935 we see the first Register of Baptisms appearing. Fr Steffe was now Priest in Charge Fr Steffe celebrated the sacrament of Baptism 100 times since the first register till leaving the parish.
The current site on Guildford Road, Bagshot was purchased on 29th September 1949 for £360. The licence to build the church was granted in 1953 and Messrs J. Corbett & Sons, commenced work. The completion date was 31 March 1954 and the building was insured for £8000. Fr Cremin, the Priest in Charge of Bagshot, celebrated the last Mass at the Oratory on Sunday 28th March 1954. Later the same day, Bishop Cowderoy, Bishop of Southwark, consecrated the new church and celebrated the first Mass there.
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Christ the King
Christ the King is a title of Jesus based on several passages of Scripture and, in general, used by all Christians. Many denominations, including Catholics, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and some Lutherans and Methodists, celebrate, in honour of Christ under this title, the Feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, before a new year begins with the First Sunday of Advent (the earliest date of which is 27 November). The Feast of Christ the King is thus on the Sunday that falls between 20 and 26 November, inclusive (however, the Catholic calendar of pre-Vatican II had this feast on the last Sunday of October). The title "Christ the King" is also frequently used as a name for churches, schools, seminaries and hospitals.
Origins:
The name is found in various forms in scripture: King Eternal (1 Timothy 1:17), King of Israel (John 1:49), King of the Jews (Mt. 27:11), King of kings (1 Tim 6:15; Rev. 19:16), King of the Ages (Book of Revelation 15:3) and Ruler of the Kings of the Earth (Rev. 1:5).
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Insigna of the Vendean insurgents who fought against suppression of the Church in the French Revolution. Note the French words 'Dieu Le Roi' beneath the heart-and-cross, meaning 'God (is) the king'.
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The ideological movement of Christ's Kingship was addressed in the encyclical Quas Primas of Pope Pius XI, published in 1925, which has been called "possibly one of the most misunderstood and ignored encyclicals of all time." [2] The Pontiff's encyclical quotes with approval Cyril of Alexandria, noting that Jesus' Kingship is not obtained by violence: "'Christ,' he says, 'has dominion over all creatures, a dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but his by essence and by nature.'"
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Pope Benedict XVI has remarked that Christ's Kingship is not based on "human power" but on loving and serving others. The perfect exemplar of that acceptance, he pointed out, is the Virgin Mary. Her humble and unconditional acceptance of God's will in her life, the Pope noted, was the reason that "God exalted her over all other creatures, and Christ crowned her Queen of heaven and earth."
