Ackroydon Church is a part of the Church of England, in Southwark Diocese. We wonderfully had a Bishop’s Mission Order awarded to the church in 2017.
How do you begin a church where people have no idea what church should be?
That sounds like a real opportunity. When the word ‘church’ means boring, irrelevant and outdated, how do you do church? When most people are concerned about their health, making ends meet, the security of their friends and family and getting through the day, what does God and the church have to do with that?
At Ackroydon Community Church we have made lots of mistakes, but we are happy to learn from our failures, keep seeking God for direction and help people find Jesus along the way.
Ackroydon Church grew organically through a number of local events and community groups. In 2011, a play group began for local families; in 2014, Open House, an elderly social club began to combat social isolation; in 2017, Brainboosters, a homework club, began for local children. Simultaneously, a number of people began walking around and praying for the area. Some one-off outreach events at Christmas and Summer began in 2015. We began to meet monthly for ‘Breakfast Church’ in 2015, and in 2016 we began meeting weekly for church services.
A significant step that emerged from a week of 24-7 prayer in 2018 was beginning a community lunch after our service each month. Then in Spring of 2019, we fundamentally altered our whole approach to church. Very few people from the community came, or literally left once our service started.
Instead of ‘serving people coffee at church’, we began ‘serving people church at lunch’.
We have a ‘home group’-style church service before lunch. People began coming to lunch, hearing about prayer and reading the bible, so came earlier for that. Now prayer is a natural and normal thing for everyone to be part of. We learn together from the bible with simple messages. We share bread and wine regularly. We eat together from a random collection of food that everyone contributes to.
It feels a little like the early church. Small. Vibrant. Close. Deeply reliant on God.
It’s our aspiration to see this happen:
“They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.”
We would love to welcome you to Ackroydon Church. Come as you are.
Our services are at 10.30am with fresh hot refreshments and a warm welcome.
After the service, we have a community lunch at 11.30am.
Join us for some of our other activities.
