The Completion of Worth Abbey Church

A monastery church is at the very centre of a monastic community's daily life. That is especially true in the case of Worth Abbey, where the church is a pivotal link between the monastic community and the thousands of people served by the monks.  The experience of prayer lies at the heart of Worth; offering a profound relationship with God in Christ, centred upon the Eucharist celebrated each day in the Abbey Church. There is no more important building at Worth than this.  That is why the completion of the Abbey Church is our fist priority. 

The foundation stone of the Abbey Church was laid in 1968, and the building was consecrated in 1975 while still an incomplete structure.  The narthex, sacristies and other facilities were added later.  But, 40 years after the laying of the foundation stone, the church interior remains unfinished.  This comes as a surprise to many people familiar with the church.  A careful look, however, reveals that many concrete surfaces are substandard, the lighting system is minimal with heat stains now visible, the sound system is weak, the chairs were thrown out from other churches and moved to Worth temporarily but were never replaced.  There are still no choir stalls for the monks and no furniture such as the ambo for the proclamation of the Word of God.  The past cutting of corners has now caught up with us - and we have an interior unworthy of the beauty of the church structure. 

The new monastic choir stalls

Thomas Heatherwick has devised an interior design that enhances the Church's structure, deals definitively with all the missing elements and remedies the defects.  The result will be a harmonious interior that invites people to personal and liturgical prayer, with solid fittings that will endure over the long term. The project comprises:

Church interior : (cleaning of concrete, new sound and light systems, alterations to choir area, renew confessionals, renew balcony, ambo)                                                                                    £1,000,000

Furniture : new congregational pews and monastic choir stalls                                                                                      £   500,000

Expand car parking and improve the entrance from main road                                                                                       £   500,000

TOTAL                                                                                  £2,000.000

An aerial view of the Church and the new congregational pews

The total, amounting to £2 million, is being funded by donations and, in addition, the Abbey maintenance budget will fund external roof repairs and new window frames.  We have already received pledges of nearly £1.2 million and are hoping to secure a further £300,000 by the end of June 2010.  

We would be delighted to hear from any Worthian who might like to contribute towards the funding.  Please do feel free to contact the Development Office at Worth by phoning 01342-710274 or e-mailing jgriggs@worth.org.uk. Donations will enable work on the interior to begin and be substantially complete by Christmas 2010.

Abbot Christopher Jamison - May 2010