How do you plant a church in a place where people have no concept of church?

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 When the word ‘church’ means boring, irrelevant and outdated, how do you do church?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 started 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. We began to meet monthly for ‘Breakfast Church’ in 2015, and in 2016 we began meeting weekly for church services.

Then 2017, in partnership with St Michael’s Church Southfields, Ackroydon Church was awarded a Bishop’s Mission Order from the Bishop of Southwark to minister on the Ackroydon Estate. Alongside this official recognition of us as a church by the Church of England, 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 if they did, they left once the service started.

Instead of ‘serving people coffee at church’, we began ‘serving people church at lunch’. Consequently, we developed a home group-style church service before lunch. People began coming to lunch, hearing about prayer and the Bible. Then something amazing happened, more and more people would come early for lunch so they could come to the service too.

Where is the church now?

Since 2023, the church has grown significantly in number and spiritual depth on a Sunday and in our mid-week activities. We have had many new families join our congregation which has been a massive blessing. We now hold a service in the hall every Sunday with a live worship band, interactive talk and moments for prayer, reflection and meeting with God. We recently have developed a Ackroydon Kids Team to provide the growing number of children who come on a Sunday with their own fun, faith-centred activities during the service.

In 2025, we launched an All-Age Service on the first Sunday of each month. This service has grown so rapidly that it has outgrown the downstairs hall where we normally meet on a Sunday and instead meets in the larger upstairs hall. This service now regularly exceeds 50 people and comprises of action songs, games, a child-friendly talk and craft.

Although Ackroydon Church has continued to develop and change through the years, many things have stayed the same. At Ackroydon Church, we still prioritise eating together after every Sunday service. We still see this post-service lunch as crucial to developing community, connection and friendship. We still look to encourage and empower the estate community to be part of church and be part of making a difference on Ackroydon estate. And the church still feels a little like the early church: vibrant, close and deeply reliant on Jesus to sustain it.