Worthing Tabernacle

Worthing Tabernacle is an independent Evangelical Christian church in the town and borough of Worthing, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The present building, with its distinctive pale stone exterior and large rose window, dates from 1908, but the church was founded in 1895 in a chapel built much earlier in the 19th century during a period when the new seaside resort's population was growing rapidly. In its present form, the church is affiliated with the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

Many places of worship were founded in Worthing after its incorporation as a town in 1803: the following decades were a period of rapid growth as a prestigious seaside resort. One such chapel was built in 1839—probably by Charles Hide, a locally important architect and builder—on Montague Street , for independent Christian worship. The chapel was known as the Tabernacle. It later became associated with Calvinism and Congregationalist worship, and was also used briefly in 1854 as an Anglican church . By 1893, when local architect Resta Moore had designed a new Classical-style façade, the building had been renamed Montague Hall and had been used for many purposes: it held concerts, theatre productions and lectures as well as the religious services of various Christian denominations.

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