High Weald Churches

These are difficult times for ecumenism. There was great hope and optimism in the 70s and 80s after the Second Vatican Council that in England, at any rate, the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church could confidently move forward towards full communion. Those days seem a distant memory, and now, instead, we have to be content with the aim of understanding each other better and living amicably with each other in a spirit of patient waiting.

High Weald Churches is the name given to our local Churches Together region. It covers the area of the Worth Abbey Parish and so includes the villages of Turners Hill, Crawley Down, Balcombe and West Hoathly. The clergy of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches gather together about four times a year and all Christian churches are welcome.

Contact Alan Carr, Vicar of West Hoathly, on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Worth Abbey Parish
Efforts are made in each of the villages to establish and develop good relations with Anglican clergy in particular. In most of the villages there is a social clergy fraternal meeting which is where any joint action planning will take place. There is a particularly strong link with St. Leonard’s, Turners Hill where the vicar, Fr. Stephen Huggins, acts also as the Chaplain to Anglican students at Worth School.

Six times a year a Sunday Joint Service is celebrated in St. Leonard’s.

In addition, in all the villages joint services take place in Christian Unity Week and in some, more frequent worship and discussion is shared in Lent, Advent and Christmas.

Lenten Reflection Evening, Tuesday, March 2nd at St Leonard's, Turners Hill led by Deacon Chris

Balcombe Lent Course at the United Reformed Church beginning on Wednesday, February 24th for five weeks on the theme of 'How do I live as a Christian today'

St Leonard's, Turners Hill 2010

March 21st - Father James presiding followed by bread and soup lunch

May 30th - Anglican Service followed by wine and nibbles

August 8th - Father James presiding

October 10th - Anglican Service followed by Harvest Lunch

The Richard Stewart Memorial Lecture 2009

Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor's lecture given at Worth Abbey on Thursday, October 29th can be read here

Bishop Kieran, Abbot Christopher and Fr Tony Churchill at the Richard Stewart Memorial Lecture

Photo credits Mazur/www.catholicchurch.org.uk

Walsingham Ecumenical Pilgrimage 2010

This is being planned for the weekend of 16th-18th July 2010. There are only 20 places available and the accommodation needs to be booked as soon as possible. A deposit of £25 will be required to secure your place. If you are interested please contact Marguerite Pointer on 01342 321672 or at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ecumenical joint activities include the Day Centre at Worth Abbey, Anglican and Catholic sharing of responsibilities at the Crawley Open House, and sharing of Assembly-taking in local schools.

Some useful links:

www.ctbi.org.uk
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland

www.churches-together.org.uk
Churches Together in England

www.catholicchurch.org.uk
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales has a Department of Dialogue and Unity which sets out to engage in dialogue and outreach with other Christian faiths and traditions

www.focolare.org.uk
Focolare is an international movement, inspired by the gospel, working for unity in all spheres of life