Worth Abbey is wholeheartedly committed to engaging with people and reconnecting them to the Church.
Our English Benedictine connection links us right back to St Augustine and the missionary monks that Pope Gregory sent in 597 AD to bring the Gospel to this country. So it’s natural for us to continue this mission, encouraged by Pope Francis and his predecessors, today.
After seeing the BBC TV series The Monastery in 2005 (still viewable on YouTube), spiritual seekers of all kinds, many with no active church connection, came to us. Monasteries offer something special: the Christian faith in a contemplative setting. They are a sanctuary at the service of people’s spiritual needs, and can help people reconnect with the Church.
We offer this service through our school and parish, and to the many who participate in The Open Cloister’s retreat programme.
This life of communion has also prompted Worth to engage in mission work beyond the monastery, among the poor in Peru; first setting up a farm and mission in a remote area, and later in Lima a parish and health centre. Since 1990 this connection has continued through the charity Outreach Peru.