New horizons at Foreign Missions Club

An American aid worker stressed out after ministering for many months to victims of the Chechnya conflict.

A Palestinian Christian couple serving fellow Palestinians in refugee camps. A Californian doctor on his way to help for several weeks in a mission hospital in Ethiopia. The director of a large Australian missionary society touring their areas of operation with his successor. A group of Norwegian Lutherans returning to missionary service in Madagascar. A Finnish agriculturalist, long retired, meeting up with former colleagues from the United Mission to Nepal. A Peruvian doctor about to begin a new career as a theological teacher in Colombia. City missionaries from all over the UK attending a conference in London.

Highbury

The list is endless, since for 114 years the Foreign Missions Club in Highbury, north London, has proved to be an ideal place ‘for the relief and security of pilgrims’. But even the most venerated of institutions can’t stand still, and FMC is no exception.
Change has been in the air for the last decade at FMC. The first reason was an increasing awareness that the centre of world missions is switching from the West to the rapidly growing Christian churches in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Not only do they need many more well-trained leaders, but they are hearing the call to evangelise in the once privileged, now often spiritually moribund, nations of the West. The trustees of FMC found themselves asking: ‘Can we do something more to serve these many new servants of Christ, as well as our traditional missionary clientele?’

The second reason was that the premises in Aberdeen Park, Highbury, did not belong to FMC. As the Christian charity which owned them reflected on its particular ministry, it came increasingly to feel that it should no longer have its assets tied up in property. Their trustees informed FMC of their intention to sell, which led to several years of negotiations, and an eventual agreement that FMC should, with their help, buy the premises at a price of £3.5m. So it was that, at a thanksgiving service, the first-ever appeal for funds in its century-old existence was launched by FMC. Since then, initial donations have been received, part of the property has been sold and a mortgage has been taken out to cover the remaining shortfall of just over £1.1m.

What’s new at FMC?

Most obviously, there is a new name: The Highbury Centre (home of the Foreign Missions Club and the Centre for Global Christian Leadership). Mission, and service to mission, is still at the heart of The Highbury Centre’s ministry, but for many who make use of its facilities, the words ‘mission’ and ‘missionary’ are not advisable in the areas where they communicate the gospel. Nor is ‘foreign’, with its sometimes imperialistic or paternalistic overtones, the most appropriate word to use. And, thankfully, the Centre is open to all involved in Christian service, not just the members of some exclusive Club.

The best of the old remains, however, combined with exciting new ventures. Amazingly, these elements can be seen in the account of pioneer gospel outreach, described in Acts 18. As Paul and his missionary colleagues arrive there, they find accommodation and fellowship with Priscilla and Aquila, and later on this Jewish Christian couple give wise counsel and encouragement to the gifted preacher, Apollos. The spirit of The Highbury Centre shines through in what happened in that ancient city.

A welcoming home

What a blessing for Paul, often tired, lonely and persecuted, to find a welcome in the home of warm-hearted Christians! What a blessing to meet there with other believers, sense their shared commitment to Christ and find himself enfolded in their loving embrace. For over 100 years the Foreign Missions Club has provided just such an environment in the quiet conservation area of Aberdeen Park, near the centre of London and yet secluded. Many thousands of missionaries have arrived after strenuous activity in often hostile environments and have experienced the truth of the Bible text they see in the entrance: ‘They came weary, and refreshed themselves there.’ Whatever future developments there may be, this aspect of The Highbury Centre will not change. Nor will the valuable international networking.

A business enterprise

Paul and his friends Aquila and Priscilla worked as tent-makers in order to put food on the table and to have time free for the preaching of the gospel. They knew that ‘there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch’, and The Highbury Centre knows that too. Money has to be spent, bills have to be paid, renovations have to take place, beds have to be filled, people have to pay the charges. And never did that come home to the Trustees of The Highbury Centre with greater force than when they were presented with the challenge of finding a huge sum they didn’t have, realising that unless the payment was made, the Centre would have to close. But, as they reflected on their ministry, they felt sure that for thousands of beneficiaries and for the missionary cause worldwide, closure was unthinkable. So the appeal went out for donations from the wider Christian public in the firm belief that God was behind the work and would inspire many friends to contribute.

A teaching centre

Apollos was an eloquent preacher, but he lacked a full knowledge of the gospel. All over the world there are rapidly growing churches without trained leaders. We in the West are all too aware of our dwindling churches, with some glorious exceptions; however, we do have resources and facilities for training that they so signally lack. By bringing the two together in such a strategic world centre as London, we can do in our day what Aquila and Priscilla did in theirs. So The Highbury Centre not only continues to be the home of the Foreign Missions Club, but also of the Centre for Global Christian Leadership. This will involve the co-operation of Langham Partnership International, with its well-established training programmes in London for church leaders from developing countries, and also Houghton College, a Christian liberal arts college in New York State, which has been sending students to London for ten years.

Now that the future of the premises has been secured, there are plans to erect a new building on the current tennis court. This will have a lecture room for 50 students, smaller seminar rooms and kitchen and toilet facilities. The existing dining room, which finds it difficult to cope with 60 guests, will be extended, and other improvements will also take place. But the delightful gardens, children’s play area and pleasant lounge facilities will remain unchanged. This ambitious programme depends, of course, on the availability of funds.

Find out more

Visit the newly constructed website: http://www.thehighburycentre.org for details of the facilities offered and the rates charged. There is a fund-raising page to inform you about the progress of the appeal. You can email the Manager, Sue Scalora, at enquiries@thehighburycentre.org; or the Chairman of the Trustees, John MacPherson, at johnmmacpherson@btinternet.com; or write to The Highbury Centre, 20-26 Aberdeen Park, London N5 2BJ.

John M. MacPherson,
Chairman of the Trustees of The Highbury Centre