Worth Abbey Parish

Introduction

The Abbey of Our Lady, Help of Christians was founded at Worth in 1930 as a daughter house of Downside Abbey. The church was consecrated in 1975, with the first service held in 1970.

Architecture and furnishings

The church has a reinforced concrete frame clad in brick, with exposed concrete beams, floors and details, and tiled roofs with a felted central drum. The church is a central square church under a central circular top-lit drum, with a central altar, monastic choir, and two chapels behind. The church is entered by the laity from an entrance at first floor level, giving on to a long vestibule gallery and imperial stair that descends to the main church level. The other three sides of the church are encased by one and two-storey buildings for the monks, with cells, refectory and library.

The circular top of the drum has concrete gargoyles modelled on those by Le Corbusier at Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, and is surmounted by a cross. The interior has a raked floor leading to a near-central altar, with the monks' choir behind the altar and two large side chapels with curved and battered brick walls. The forward altar is a single stone, resting on two piers and raised up three steps. There is a plaque to Simon Dominic Woods, died 1972.

Pollen's first design, published in 1956, was for a tall, elliptical reinforced concrete building surrounded by an ambulatory with side chapels all the way around, and with a central circular lantern. In 1961 the design was revised in favour of a central, square building surrounded by conventual buildings for fifty monks and ten novices. The scheme was enlarged to provide seating for a congregation of 800, and the design took on its present form in 1963-4. Francis Pollen was trained at Cambridge and the Architectural Association, and his early career was influenced by Edwin Lutyens.

In 1958 Pollen adopted the tenets of the New Brutalism, preferring heavy brick and concrete construction. The church was built between 1964 and 1989 to the designs of Francis Pollen, with later additions to the conventual buildings. The monks of Worth Abbey gather six times a day to celebrate the sacred liturgy, with each office having its own character.

Regular events

The Christian Meditation Group, following the example of John Main OSB, begins with a teaching and then half an hour of prayer using silent repetition of a mantra.

Sacraments and pastoral care

The parish offers a dedicated Baptism Preparation Course for parents-to-be and parents, covering three sessions. Extraordinary Eucharistic Ministers can take Holy Communion to parishioners who are ill or unable to attend Mass. Young parishioners prepare for Confirmation as members of the Family Formation Inspired Group, which replaces the former Confirmation programme. Marriage requires a minimum of one year's notice prior to marriage at Worth.

Couples complete four diocesan preparation sessions covering Faith and Marriage, Married Life Beyond the Wedding Day, Loving Relationships, and Living the Sacrament. The Ministry of Consolation in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton provides personal contact, warmth, and support for people who are bereaved or dying.