Bishop of Lewes to visit Lancing church for 100th anniversary

The stone was laid by the then Bishop of Lewes, Henry Southwell, on March 18, 1924. The ceremony was the culmination of a 40-year wait since plans were first proposed for a new church in South Lancing.

The centenary celebration will see the current Bishop of Lewes, the Right Rev Will Hazlewood, visiting the church on Sunday, March 17, to mark the anniversary of the stone-laying ceremony.

Father Felix Smith, vicar of St Michael’s, said: "We’re trying to follow as much of the original service as we can, for example some of the hymns sung then are still sung now so we’ll be including those and we’ll have the same psalm and other prayers as we rededicate the stone.

"It was clearly a long wait for the people of South Lancing to get the church they so desired, and it would be more than 30 years more until the church was completed, as only part of it was built in 1924 due to available funds.

"We’re celebrating 100 years of our ministry in South Lancing – of all the weddings that have happened over the years, the tears shed at funerals, and the babies who have been brought to be baptised, not to mention the thousands of Sunday services which have been celebrated.

"This building has seen a great outpouring of prayer, celebration, love, memories, and joy expressed by one community over so many years. Everyone is welcome to come along for this special service at 10.30am."

The church was first mooted because all the residential developments over several years had been in the south of Lancing but there was only St James the Less Church, at the northern end of the parish.

A design competition was held and a winner selected but those plans came to nothing. Further progress was made before the outbreak of World War One and the proposals were revived following the appointment of the Rev Edward Paton as vicar of Lancing in 1920.