St Anselm's Church, Pembury facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Anselm's Church |
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| 51°08′39″N 0°19′22″E / 51.1441°N 0.3227°E | |
| Location | Pembury, Kent |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Tradition | Anglican Use |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Dedication | St Anselm |
| Consecrated | 2011 |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Completed | 1964 |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Tunbridge Wells |
| Diocese | Archdiocese of Southwark |
| Division | Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham |
St Anselm's Church is a Catholic church located in Pembury, Kent, England. It is a special part of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. The church started in the 1960s as a small chapel. It later became a place for services before becoming its own "quasi-parish" in 2011. This happened after many people from the Anglican church in Royal Tunbridge Wells joined the Catholic Church.
How the Church Started
St Anselm's Church was first built in 1964. It was meant to be a hall and chapel for a new Catholic church. This new church was part of the Pembury and Paddock Wood Mission. However, the main church stayed in Paddock Wood until 1978. At that time, Pembury and Paddock Wood became one parish.
The building planned for the church in Pembury was sold in 1978. This left Pembury without a Catholic place to worship. To help with this, a small chapel was added to the hall in 1980. But it lost its official status as a registered place of worship. Until 2011, it was used as a "chapel-of-ease." This means it was a smaller church used for people who lived far from the main Paddock Wood parish church.
A New Beginning in 2011
In 2011, St Anselm's got a new status. It became a "quasi-parish" by the Archbishop of Southwark. A quasi-parish is like a parish in training, on its way to becoming a full parish.
This change happened because the church became part of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. This is a special group within the Catholic Church. It allows people who used to be Anglican (from the Church of England) to join the Catholic Church. They can still keep some of their old Anglican traditions in their church services. Most of the people at St Anselm's were former Anglicans. They came from St Barnabas' Church in Royal Tunbridge Wells. Their Anglican vicar also joined and became the priest of St Anselm's.
For its first three years, the church was quite simple inside. It had few special decorations. Services were held using a temporary altar on wheels. The church space was also shared with other community groups.
With money from church members and nearby Catholic churches, things changed. They installed a permanent altar and Stations of the Cross. These are pictures or sculptures showing Jesus's journey to the cross. Other church furnishings were also added. A lychgate was built outside. A lychgate is a covered gateway to a churchyard. These improvements meant the church could be used only for Christian worship.
