Christ the King Church is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in the

Wimbledon Park Wimbledon Park is the name of an urban park in Wimbledon and also of the suburb south and east of the park and the Wimbledon Park tube station. The park itself is in area. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is immediately to the west ...

area of

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in the

London Borough of Merton The London Borough of Merton () is a borough in Southwest London, England. The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton ...

. It was founded in 1913, and built in 1926 by the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

. The architect was

Adrian Gilbert Scott Adrian Gilbert Scott (6 August 1882 – 23 April 1963) was an English ecclesiastical architect. Early life Scott was the grandson of Sir Gilbert Scott ( George Gilbert Scott), son of George Gilbert Scott, Jr. (founder of Watts & Company in ...

.Christ the King Wimbledon Park
from

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

retrieved 16 March 2014

History

In 1877, The Jesuits came to

at the request of Edith Arendup, a member of the Courtauld family, from

Roehampton Roehampton is an area in southwest London, in the Putney SW15 postal district, and takes up a far western strip running north to south of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It contains a number of large council house estates and is home to the U ...

where they had their novitiate, Manresa House. In 1887, she commissioned the building of

Sacred Heart Church, Wimbledon Sacred Heart Church is a Roman Catholic church and parish in Wimbledon, South West London initially run by the Jesuits, that serves the Catholic community of Wimbledon and surrounding areas. It is in the Archdiocese of Southwark and is situate ...

. From that church the Jesuits ministered to the Catholics of the area. From 1913, Fr Ignatius O'Gorman SJ travelled to the Catholics in the Wimbledon Park area. Originally, the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the Sacred Heart Church only allowed one Sunday Mass to be said in the area. In 1926, the rector and the Bishop of Southwark,

Peter Amigo Peter Emmanuel Amigo (26 May 1864, Gibraltar – 1 October 1949) was a Roman Catholic bishop in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. He founded The John Fisher School in 1929. Biography Peter Amigo was born at Gibraltar, the ninth of eleven c ...

allowed for Fr O'Gorman to have the church built.

designed the church and it was completed in 1928. The church, a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

of Sacred Heart Church was going to be dedicated to Saint Austin, but in 1925,

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

instituted the

Feast of Christ the King The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, commonly referred to as the Feast of Christ the King, Christ the King Sunday or Reign of Christ Sunday, is a feast in the liturgical year which emphasises the true Christ the King, kin ...

, so the church was dedicated to

Christ the King Christ the King is a title of Jesus in Christianity referring to the idea of the Kingdom of God where the Christ is described as seated at the right hand of God. Many Christian denominations consider the kingly office of Christ to be one of ...

. The church hall remained dedicated to St Austin.About
from Christ the King Parish, retrieved 5 February 2014 In 1955, the church ceased to be a chapel of ease and became a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

. The first parish priest was Fr Jordan SJ. In 1959, administration of the church was handed over by the Jesuits to the

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...

who continue to serve the parish.

Parish

The church has five Sunday Masses. One is at 6:00pm on Saturday evening, at 8:30am and 10:30am on Sunday morning and at 5:30pm on Sunday afternoon. There is also a Mass in Polish at 12:45pm every Sunday. There are weekday Masses at 9:30am from Monday to Saturday.Christ the King, Wimbledon Park
from Catholic Directory, retrieved 16 March 2014

Interior

File:Christ the King Church interior, Wimbledon Park.jpg,

Nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

File:Christ the King Church chancel, Wimbledon Park.jpg,

Chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

File:Christ the King Church lady chapel, Wimbledon Park.jpg,

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chapel or a Marian chapel, an ...

References

External links

*
Christ the King Parish site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wimbledon, Christ the King Roman Catholic churches in the London Borough of Merton Roman Catholic churches completed in 1928 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Churches in the Diocese of Southwark Italianate architecture in England 1928 establishments in England Adrian Gilbert Scott buildings Italianate church buildings in the United Kingdom

History

Parish

Interior

See also

References

External links