St John’s Wood is west of Regent’s Park in London, a neighbourhood made famous by Lords Cricket Ground. The Edgware Road is also a centre for London’s Arab population.
At the heart of this community is St John’s Wood Road Baptist Church, a Grace Baptist church that has served this area for well over a century. In 2005 it had fallen on hard times, but Chris and Helen Hawthorne came to revitalise it, gathering a growing community around God’s word. During their time they sent a member to church-plant in Bordeaux, and another returned to serve in Assam, India. Finally, in 2018 the church sent Chris and Helen through GBM to head up Proclamation Institute Zambia, leaving Scott Little as the new pastor.
The church is very multicultural, and there are new visitors almost every week, many of them unsaved. This shapes the whole approach to Sunday worship. Scott says: ‘As a multicultural church, things may progress slower ecclesiologically, but we are focussed on growing an “Ephesus-model” of church rather than a homogeneous one. In our preaching we try to use language that is accessible and clear, and complement this with PowerPoint images to aid those with a weak grasp of English.’
Central London churches have a large ‘churn’ of people, most staying for about 18 months, so the aim is to be ‘bringing in, building up and sending out’ believers.
Scott and Justine have a young family, so they started the church’s toddler club when they arrived. ‘This has been a slow-burn ministry which we have considered closing. However, after 18 months we’ve suddenly grown to about 15 adults and 15 children – with parents and nannies from several cultures.’ A number are Japanese, with no previous contact with Christianity. Each week includes a Bible story and Bible song, helped by Maria Amoako-Britten, Home Mission worker with AGBC. ‘In the secular culture in which we live, we desperately want little ones to have an exposure to the Christian message,’ commented Scott.
Church Street Market is at the heart of the Arab community. The church does outreach in the market every Tuesday, with a team of workers from OM, London City Mission, Pioneers and IMB. Maria and others go and make conversation with Muslim women in the cafés, while the men talk to Muslim stallholders.
Scott says: ‘I’m always nervous when we head out, but I love speaking about Jesus with our Arab friends on Church Street. They are open to talking about religion, God and holy books’, so conversation tends to develop when you show them inconsistencies and contradictions, and do that in a way they’ve probably never heard before, then point them to the genuine Jesus.’
Pray for this church as they seek to reach out, finding their way into the lives of people in this crowded neighbourhood. And if you are coming to study or work in London, why not join this active church in reaching such a multicultural community?
