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A London congregation seeks to become ‘all things for all men’
The Stratford Church of Christ, which meets about 8 miles from Buckingham Palace, looks beyond its West African roots.
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LONDON — The Stratford Church of Christ packed into the cafeteria of the St. Francis Catholic Primary School on an overcast Sunday.
Once, this was a spacious accommodation for the small church. These days, it’s often overcrowded. Men sat on mats stacked against the back wall. Some members joined via Zoom. By class time, there were hardly any empty seats.
Minister James Tambe said that the church experienced a steep increase in membership after the COVID-19 lockdown.
Worshipers fill the cafeteria of a Catholic school for the Stratford Church of Christ’s Sunday worship.
“We first had an internal growth, because all of the members’ children were not baptized,” Tambe said. As the children chose to be immersed into Christ, the number of church members increased.
“Then we grew externally,” Tambe said. “In two years, we have had more than 110 percent growth. The first Sunday we worshiped here in November 2021, we were 38. We are now about 150.”
The multigenerational congregation is predominantly West African. The majority of members immigrated to England from Nigeria and Ghana.
Emmanuel Boateng hopes that with the growth will come more diversity.
Worshipers pray during the Sunday service of the Stratford Church of Christ in London.
“We want to be intentional, because the Gospel is for all,” said Boateng, a founding member of the congregation who serves as one of its two elders. “It doesn’t reflect well that this is a cosmopolitan city and then you come in and it’s all people from the same background. So if the Gospel is for all, where are they? Where are the Asians? Where are the Caucasians?
“So we are trying to become all things for all men,” he added. “We‘ve had meetings about how services must not just be what is familiar to the Nigerians or Ghanians.”
The church recently raised about 467,000 in U.S. dollars to purchase a more permanent worship space. But real estate is not cheap in the East London suburb of Stratford — about 8 miles from Buckingham Palace — where the congregation has worshiped since its founding 2002.
Worshipers pray before taking the Lord’s Supper during the Sunday service of the Stratford Church of Christ.
“There’s a challenge of finding a good place, but it’s more a challenge of affordability,” said Chakido Opefi, a deacon for the Stratford church. “London has become more expensive than we can really afford.”
Only weeks ago, Stratford’s leadership narrowly lost a bid on an available meeting location.
But space isn’t the only challenge. The current rental has no baptistery.
In past months, church leadership has relied on elders’ bathtubs or neighboring Churches of Christ to baptize new believers. In the warmer summer months, the congregation occasionally travels to the North Sea.
The Stratford Church meets in a rented facility that members must vacate shortly after worship services.
There are also time restrictions. The congregation is only permitted to use the cafeteria from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday mornings, leaving little time to socialize before or after service.
“Our challenge now is to find a place of worship,” Tambe said. “Because if you have your own place of worship, things like a baptistery can be on hand.”
In the background, a school staff member herding church attendees out of the cafeteria shouted over the minister, “Time to go, time to go, time to go!”
AUDREY JACKSON is the Managing Editor of The Christian Chronicle. Contact [email protected].
