At the moment, my home is in East London at St Saviour’s Priory, Queensbridge Road, Haggerston. Being here has given me the opportunity to survey the churches in this area in an attempt to build up a personal picture of what the Church of England looks like in this area of the Diocese of London. I had begun by worshipping in the three central London churches most familiar to me as being actively welcoming and open to LGBTQIA people: St James’s Piccadilly, St Martin-in-the-Fields and St Anne’s Soho. I came to realise that I need to be more adventurous, geographically and in terms of Church of England culture. I have been exploring by bus and on foot and have now visited, mid-week and in a few cases, on Sunday, thirty three churches.
In this blog I want to focus specifically on what for me was the potentially risky adventure of worshipping in churches that are part of the SAINT parishes. Information about them can be found in various places online. Here is the SAINT parish profile page – “bringing hope for the people of East London in Jesus’ name.” I have been wondering what the relationship is between the SAINT group, what happens in these church buildings, and the Church of England. The only reference to the Church of England on this webpage is at the very end under Finance:
Finances
SAINT is one church with multiple Church of England parishes, across East London, which are legally and financially independent charities that work together in collaboration. Each location has its own PCC and runs their own finances, supported by SAINT’s incredible Finance Team and Central Services.
There are references to Anglican terminology elsewhere on the page – PCC’s and vicars, etc. but in their church buildings, on noticeboards and in worship, there is almost no mention of the Church of England. I am left feeling really adrift and uncertain; are these church buildings and the forms of worship and the content of their theology really an integral part of the Church of England into which I was baptised as a baby and ordained as a priest in 1980? I’m still not sure.
The website introduces SAINT as follows:
SAINT is a diverse, dynamic and fast-growing church formed of multiple East London parishes. We have been commissioned as a resource church to serve young people, train diverse leaders and plant churches in partnership with a network of friends. We aim to play our part in seeing a renaissance: restoring lives, revitalising churches and renewing culture. We meet online and in 11 services across 5 parishes with an average Sunday attendance of over 1000 adults and young people.
There are a number of trigger words and phrases in this paragraph: “resource churches” and “revitalising churches” among them. I’ll return to this later.
Positive experiences
I decided to enter what I feared might be a lion’s den (given that SAINT churches and other HTB plants are often protected by security personnel in Hi-Viz jackets). I’ve been wondering who needs protecting and why? Two Sundays ago I joined a gathering (congregation doesn’t feel like the right terminology) at the 5pm event at SAINT Shoreditch (its dedication to St Leonard has been generally abandoned). About 75 people under the age of 30 were present – Gen Z: “the first generation to be fully digital natives, growing up with smartphones and social media, which profoundly shapes their communication, consumption, and social awareness.” It was my introduction to the formula familiar those attending charismatic worship – relaxed arrival and introduction, 30 plus minutes of songs led from the platform, a slickly produced video intro to future events, sermon, concluding singalong. ‘Welcomers’ guided people to seats and provided water. There was a brief opportunity to greet your neighbour. The young black woman next to me had been coming for a year She asked how I cane to be there. I swallowed deeply and told her truthfully. I wondered what the attitude to LGBTQIA+ people was in these congregations. She froze – not something she wanted to talk about at the end of a stressful day in a psychiatric unit.
St John at Hackney last Sunday
I decided to embrace my courage and join the 09.30 Family Service at what is clearly the most significant church building in the SAINT portfolio. The building sprang a surprise on me. You arrive at the grand entrance portico from an open church yard and enter between two security guys through beautiful glass doors and TV monitor displays to discover that the entrance faces north and the church internally is oriented east-west. It’s a beautiful space, having received a total makeover fairly recently, immaculate, perfectly configured for large scale events with dramatic lighting and sophisticated panelling and staging. I had a 10 minute conversation with a greeter when I arrived and was put at ease. For this person, at least, the presence of a gay activist priest wasn’t a surprise or a problem. About 80 people gathered. The leaders, singers and musicians opened what seemed to be a spontaneous, lengthy period of worship. The degree of amplification via 4 huge arrays of speakers was too much for me. I endured it for 40 minutes but couldn’t take any more, and wandered around for a while before leaving. What I discovered as a result was a projection of the worship song words onto the back wall, visible to the leaders on the platform, together with timings for each element of the worship and a calculation of the finish time adjusted for late-running of the timed programme. The worship, presented in an informal style, is actually very specifically prepared, choreographed and timed. The role of the person or people sitting at the back behind the control desk is integral to the success of the worship, as is the preparation in advance. Things, I decided, are not quite what they seem, including the sharing of the Word of God from the Bible.
Summer Nights at St John at Hackney Tuesday Evening
On Monday I spent time researching online more information about SAINT and decided I needed to go to the Summer Nights event on Tuesday evening from 7pm to 9pm advertised on the website. It was described as “an unforgettable series of evenings filled with worship, great talks, and moments for meaningful connections. Chill and Mingle: Arrive at 7pm for space to make new connections in a relaxed environment; Moments for Worship: Lift your hearts and behold Jesus through intentional moments of worship; Engaging Bible Teaching: Be equipped with great teachings that will renew your vision and strengthen your faith.”
You have to register in advance for the event which I duly did. Twenty or so young people were sitting outside, chatting, waiting for the doors to open. Inside chairs were arranged in interlocking horseshoe curves. People mingled and eventually sat. I joined an older black man who turned out to be a member at St Barnabas, Homerton. He was an LLM, a Licensed Lay Minister, probably in his fifties. We had a recognisably Anglican conversation and I began to understand better the dynamics affecting churches that were attempting to maintain a more “traditional” Anglican culture. After an extended period of praise a leader, an ordained Anglican, introduced a get-to-know-each-other exercise that worked really well and then expounded on Philippians 4, providing 3 questions for each group to discuss. After the service I hung around and connected with the preacher, Steve Opie who is the Lead Pastor and Training Incumbent with a particular focus on leading at the Leyton and West Ham locations (which I assume are in the Diocese of Chelmsford). I enjoyed a really good conversation with Steve for 40 minutes. Being gay wasn’t a problem. There are other gay members of these churches. I remarked on the amazing restoration of the church building and the amount of money that must have been spent to achieve such a sophisticated total make-over. I assumed a substantial amount of the money had come from conservative evangelical resources such as Revitalise, the charity with a £11M income a year which ‘renews’ churches and “bank rolls” St Mellitus theological college. Steve said the primary source of funding had been the National Lottery and indeed the SAINT website says:
“To facilitate our ambitious vision, SAINT completed a once in a lifetime restoration of Hackney Church and its surrounding churchyard. This £6 million project has turned this iconic building into a world class music and events venue, with thanks to lottery funding. The space is designed to be a cathedral of creativity for church, music and unique experiences. Hackney Church is one of the largest venues in East London. The design team included internationally renowned architectural designer John Pawson CBE, architect Thomas Ford & Partners, with an immersive installation from Es Devlin OBE.”
That’s an awesome amount of money. It has provided SAINT with a superb venue for their style of worship, a venue that with successful marketing will more than cover the costs of maintaining the building. It’s also an impressive lineup of architectural designer and immersive installation provider.
An elusive dynamic was present in the conversation. I was getting answers to my questions that were skilfully navigating around what I really wanted to know. There is virtually nothing to indicate that this is a Church of England church apart from the external architecture. The building is nowhere signed as Church of England. I noted in the conversation that such numerically and financially successful charismatic churches are likely to increase.
KXC- King’s Cross Church and St Mary’s, Bryanston Square
KXC was planted from St Mary’s Bryanston Square in February 2010. Since then St Mary’s has become an inclusive charismatic evangelical church. A comment on Facebook said that about 30 years ago they remember a rump of people from St James the Less Pimlico left and went to St Mary's. There had been quite a strong informal LGBT group at St James and some went with the group to St. Mary's. Today they know of many inclusive and LGBT+ people who go to St Mary's but it is not clear whether the inclusive charismatic evangelical ethos travelled in the planting of KXC.
Pete and Bee Hughes were sent from St Mary’s with a small group of leaders. Without a permanent place to call home, KXC began renting space for Sunday gatherings from the Lumen United Reform Church, and later from the Ethiopian Church on Pentonville Road, whilst meeting together midweek in homes and pubs. KXC is based in King’s House. Over time, the church has gradually grown, being joined by people who had given up on God and church but have since rediscovered faith and community; and welcoming people who have no faith in Jesus but just enjoy coming along. This suggests they are an open and inclusive church. Their vision is to be a hub of creativity, courage and compassion. They want to see God’s kingdom transform the spiritual, social, and physical landscape of King’s Cross.
KXC wants “to be a community that is shaped by the story of scripture, practising the way of Jesus, led by the power of the Holy Spirit, and extending the Kingdom of God through the church.” A team of twenty seven is listed on their website plus a board of six trustees who provide legal and financial oversight to the church. Three leaders are also listed on the website for Well City Church.
Well City Church
Well City Church in Stockwell operates out of the parish church of St Michael’s, Stockwell Park Road, SW9 0DA as a mission partner through a BMO and is led by the Revd. Lois Tackie-Oblie. In partnership with Well City Church St Michael’s offers a full range of C of E traditions including 1662 BCP, broad church CW and Modern Catholic. The incumbent, the Revd. Erica Wooff has a vision to offer differing traditions to appeal to many diverse worship tastes. The PCC has an excellent relationship with the KXC and WCC leadership teams and the full approval of the Diocese of Southwark and London Diocese.
Are these churches open and welcoming to LGBTQIA+ people?
This blog has been compiled by me from the personal experience I have had of visiting externally every one of these thirty plus churches in the area of Diocese of London bordered by the Thames, the A10, the A1207 and B112 Homerton High Street and the River Lee Navigation and checking information on the A Church Near You registry.
I was and am curious to build up a picture of the churches in this area, the particular version of Church of England culture they embody and their state of health. I have posted occasional reports on Facebook and these have resulted in people providing further information and posting comments that add to my personal picture.
Because I have been involved in campaigning for LGBTQIA+ equality for over thirty years, first through the Diocese of Southwark Lesbian and Gay Support Network and then Changing Attitude, my particular interest has been in whether churches are clearly welcoming and open, or clearly prejudiced against LGBTQIA+ equality or whether they are secretly one or the other. It isn't easy for me to 'map' these attitudes, inclusive or homophobic, especially for the various plantings and groupings that have their origins in HTB culture. It’s not monolithic or totally exclusive. HTB itself isn’t totally exclusive. I've met gay people who worship there.
My survey is by no means complete. I want to join as many congregation as possible on a Sunday to experience their worship and culture at first hand. But I am developing a picture. My impression is that churches that are HTB plants in origin and churches that are members of the comparatively new charismatic evangelical clusters are often quietly or invisibly open to LGBTQIA+ people. That’s something of a relief, but it’s nowhere near enough. The Church of England will only become an equal and safe place for LGBTQIA+ people when it has committed to full inclusion publicly and has changed the marriage canon to allow same-sex lay and clergy couples to marry in church.
At the moment there is a significant body of conservative and primarily evangelical movements, churches and individuals, members of General Synod, who are blocking progress towards marriage revision. Until this block is overcome, full equality will not be achieved. My impression, after three weeks spent visiting almost every church in one area of London, is that significant movement towards a much more open and welcoming attitude to LGBTQIA+ people is occurring within some of the charismatic evangelical groups. Catholic, inclusive, progressive congregations, on the other hand, continue to be reluctant to commit themselves publicly and visibly towards full equality and inclusion for LGBQTI+ people.
Further blogs will follow.