The Church of England

The Church of the Good Shepherd, Shoreham Beach, is an Anglican church. This means it is part of the Church of England, and expresses itself as being both 'Catholic' and 'Reformed'. Traditionally, the Church of England has, therefore, tried to hold the middle ground between the traditions and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church in which it had its origins, and those of the Reformed movement which split from Rome following the teaching of reformers such as Luther and Calvin. At present, while the Church of England is part of the establishment, the Head of the Church is the reigning monarch, and some appointments (eg. of Bishops) still have to go through the elected Government of the land.

Our spiritual leaders are the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and more locally, we are a part of the Diocese of Chichester and come under the authority and guidance of The Right Reverend John Hind, the Bishop of Chichester, and the Archdeacon of Chichester, the Venerable Douglas McKittrick.

We are part of the Rural Deanery of Hove, and are members of the Shoreham and Southwick Group of Churches, which also includes in Shoreham: St Mary de Haura and St Nicolas and St Giles and St Julian's, Kingston Buci; and in Southwick: St Michael and All Angels.

In terms of the wider Christian church, we are members of Shoreham Churches Together, sharing with our brothers and sisters in Christ from the Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist and Free Church families, along with the other Anglican Churches in Shoreham mentioned above.

For more information about the Church of England, you can take a look at The Church of England website.