About Us

St Agnes, Kennington Park is a Church of England parish church and we worship here in the catholic tradition. This means that the sacraments are very important to us, particularly the Mass and Holy Baptism. At Mass we receive the body and blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ made present in the bread and wine consecrated through the liturgical action of priest and people. At Holy Baptism we are born again in the Spirit and begin our journey of faith by being incorporated into the life of the Church.

What happens in Church?
We use Church of England liturgy and traditional catholic elements of liturgical practice such as incense, sacred vestments, devotions to Our Lady and all the saints, the lighting of votive candles, and the Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament in a Tabernacle on the High Altar. Children are welcome at all services and we run a flourishing Sunday School. Mass is also celebrated in the Lady Chapel every weekday. Preaching the Word of God is also important to us and at a weekly Bible Study members of the congregation seek to deepen their knowledge of the scriptures

Our History

 Picture
The architect was George Gilbert Scott and St Agnes' was regarded as his masterpiece. Internally the Church was 140 feet long, 63 feet wide and 65 feet high. It could seat 1,000 persons. Most of the internal decoration and all of the glass was by Charles Eamer Kempe.
The Church immediately began to attract visitors. The Dean of Westminster, Dr Stanley, was in the congregation on the first Sunday after the opening. The Church was of Cathedral proportions (the height of the roof exceeded that of eleven Cathedrals!) and was greatly admired.
From the outset, St Agnes was conceived by Fr. Going as a possible refuge for his own parishioners in the event of Catholic worship being suppressed at St Paul's, Lorrimore Square. These were difficult times. Priests had gone to prison for wearing vestments and riots had taken place at St James', Hatcham where there were frequent protests against the Catholic teaching and practice. Fr. Going knew that his work at St Paul's could be undone when he left there. Most Bishops (then, as now!) were not in sympathy with the ideals of the Catholic movement working through the people in the pews.
The immediate concern was alleviated when in 1878 Fr. Going was able to exchange his living with Fr. WP Cay-Adams the Vicar of Hawkchurch, Dorset. However, in November 1880 Fr. Cay-Adams was taken ill and died. He was buried at Hawkchurch by Fr. Going.
A meeting of the congregation of St Paul's was called and a carefully written request was sent to the Bishop of Rochester. The Bishop of Rochester was the patron of the living of S Paul's and was therefore in a position to choose the next Vicar. They requested that he send a Vicar who would sympathise with the type of (Catholic) teaching that had existed at St Paul's for over 
20 years.
The Bishop of Rochester was particularly hostile to Catholics within the Church of England and he decided that he must speak directly to the people of St Paul's and so, on Advent Sunday 1880, Bishop Thorald preached at Evensong. He took the opportunity to announce the name of the new Vicar and said "whatever is illegal in the ritual of this church will have to be discontinued." At that time and in that place those words had a potent meaning. Several prosecutions of Clergy had resulted in prison sentences under the thoroughly unpopular Public Worship Regulation Act. The congregation audibly groaned in disapproval of what the Bishop was saying but he still went on to assert his authority and to make it very clear that he would use his power as Ordinary and Patron to suppress the ritual. The Bishop was escorted quickly form the Church after the blessing to the security of the Vicarage. The Bishop's carriage was sent for but by now part of the angry congregation had assembled outside to express their displeasure. The Bishop demanded to see the Churchwardens but they refused to leave the Church where they were doing their best to calm the many angry Parishioners. The crowd outside became violent and stones were thrown at the Bishop's carriage as he drove away.
The following Friday a letter was received from the old Vicar of St Paul's, Fr. Going. In the letter he begged the people of St Paul's to make no further trouble but to go in one body to St Agnes'. On Sunday December 5th 1880, the Second of Advent, the whole congregation of St Paul's were at St Agnes'. There were no services at St Paul's because the Churchwardens refused to be responsible for any riot that might take place, at 11am a mob from Deptford arrived but finding nothing going on they dispersed. The following Sunday only five people attended the first service taken by the new Vicar of St Paul's. The Bishop had succeeded in suppressing ritual at St Paul's but at considerable cost. These events further strengthened the position of St Agnes' as a focus for Catholic worship.