[3][4] The era coincided with a revival in Anglican Christian worship: this was especially marked in Brighton, Worthing's larger and more illustrious rival resort further along the Sussex coast, whose vicar Arthur Wagner funded and built many churches across the town.

[5] Sussex was a religiously conservative county,[6] and by the middle of the 19th century—after the Catholic Emancipation—serious disputes arose between traditionalist Protestant Anglicans, who regarded Catholic-style worship with suspicion, and the newly emerging Anglo-Catholic practices of Anglicans who were influenced by the Oxford Movement (Tractarianism) of practitioners such as Edward Bouverie Pusey and John Keble.

[18] As debate over this issue continued, more controversy erupted when in late 1886, as the church was being completed, it was discovered that a Lady chapel with a statue of the Virgin and Child had been included in the design.

[2] To opponents of Anglo-Catholic worship, the representation in statue form of Jesus's mother symbolised a return to the practices that the English Reformation had sought to end: it was claimed that idolatry and ritualism would be encouraged and Anglican churches would start to be decorated in the same manner as Roman Catholic places of worship.

[20] The consecration of the church, set for 1886, was postponed because of the strength of feeling in Worthing (and possibly in an attempt to prevent religious riots similar to those of the Skeleton Army two years previously).

[2] The vicar of the Holy Trinity, other Worthing vicars, a local army Major-General and the local magistrate were among a group of people who presented a petition to the Bishop of Chichester asking for the consecration to be stopped,[13][21] arguing that the Madonna was "at variance with the spirit and teaching of our Reformed church".

[21] The Bishop, Richard Durnford, held out against the protests, cautioning against the disrespectful use of the term "Madonna" and recommending that the group's grievances be taken to a higher court.

[22] The consecration was eventually scheduled for 1888, two years after the church was finished; a final appeal to the House of Lords was unsuccessful,[12] and the ceremony was held on 1 August 1888 by Bishop Durnford.

[23] Since its opening, the exterior of St Andrew's Church has experienced little change, and there have been only gradual increases in the decoration of the interior.

[14] Like many 19th-century churches in Worthing, St Andrew's established a mission hall as the population of Anglican worshippers grew.

Standing on a wide, narrow east–west site between Victoria and Clifton Roads, the cruciform building occupies little ground space but is correspondingly tall.

[14] The plan features a nave with aisles and transepts to form the cruciform shape, a baptistery, a chancel, Lady chapel and a sacristy.

Charles Eamer Kempe provided most of the stained glass and an intricately carved wooden reredos.

[12][13][25] The "Worthing Madonna" represents the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus, stands in a recess in the apse of the Lady chapel, and was executed in Caen stone by sculptor Harry Hems of Exeter, Devon.

[14] Kempe's stained glass is extensive: all but four windows in the church feature his designs, and these exceptions were the work of his cousin and collaborator Walter Tower.

[26] The flint and stone structure has gently arched Perpendicular-style windows at its east and west ends; each have five lights.